2018 World Cup Bracket Challenge

[truenorth]

I was fortunate to arrive home after a morning of work to catch the last 15 minutes of regulation and all 10+ minutes of stoppage time.  What an amazing game.  The South Koreans were poised and tenacious.  The Germans were profligate, and I was so pleased to see Neuer finally pay the big price for roaming out of his half of the pitch (let alone his box).  Sweden goes from 3rd to 1st in the group on day, and Germany goes from 2nd to last!

[Gray Fox]

So who saw that coming? Sweden handles Mexico 3-0 to win the group while South Korea takes it late to relegate Germany to the bottom. Germany now the 4th defending champion in the last 5 Cups to be knocked out in the group stage.

"relegate"    

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Costa Rica is the last of the 32 teams to score at this World Cup. 30 of the 32 have scored at least 2 goals with Panama and Poland having an opportunity tomorrow to get their 2nd.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Advancing to the knockout stage:
UEFA: 10/14
CONMEBOL: 4/5
CONCACAF: 1/3
AFC: 1/5
CAF: 0/5
OFC: 0/0

Europe gets 10 in the final 16 without the likes of Germany, Italy or Netherlands

[Ralph Turner]

WOW!  First time the Germans have failed to make it out of their group since 1938!

Ominous....

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Two big saves in the shootout sees Russia headed to the quarterfinals over Spain. Apparently it's the 3rd biggest upset by rankings and the largest in the knockout stage at the WC.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

4 minutes into Croatia-Denmark and they've already matched the scoreline after 2 hours of Spain-Russia. Hopefully it stays open like this and doesn't turn into the struggle the first game was.

[Ralph Turner]

How many brackets around the world were just destroyed by the Russians?

[blooter442]

How many brackets around the world were just destroyed by the Russians?

I didn't have them getting out of the group (I sentimentally went with Egypt), so I guess I'm in that group.

[blooter442]

Unofficial standings after the Group stage (hastily done on lunch break — let me know if you see any errors):

OffPitch: 20
EB2319: 19
Bloots, JFPIV: 17
Mr.Right, truenorth: 16
Easy, Grizzly: 15

[blooter442]

SETTING: KITCHEN AT WORK

Bloots walks in to fill up a glass of water. On the television, Japan has just taken a 1-0 lead against Belgium, who was highly-favored going into this game. Hazard has just hit the post for Belgium, but the game remains 1-0. A coworker stands nearby, filling up a glass of water. Though he is not a soccer fan, he recognizes that this is not expected, but is curious to know more about this upset-in-the-making.

BLOOTS
Well, this goal makes things interesting, but this happens a lot. The underdog scores against the favored team, it wakes up the favorite, and they go on to tie and then win convincin...

* Japan's second goal flies in. *

BLOOTS
Oh, wow.

[blooter442]

Well, that potential movie scene died a quick death.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Belgium wakes up and now it's tied 2-2  After Mexico's loss earlier, Japan is the last non-Europe/South America side left

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

1) Germany - group stage
2) Brazil - QF vs Belgium
3) Belgium - QF vs Brazil
4) Portugal - R16
5) Argentina - R16
6) Switzerland - R16 vs Sweden
7) France - QF vs Uruguay
8) Poland - group stage
9) Chile - missed WC
10) Spain - R16
11) Peru - group stage
T12) Denmark - R16
T12) England - R16 vs Colombia
14) Uruguay - QF vs France
15) Mexico - R16
16) Colombia - R16 vs England
17) Netherlands - missed WC
18) Wales - missed WC
19) Italy - missed WC
20) Croatia - QF vs Russia
24) Sweden - R16 vs Switzerland
70) Russia - QF vs Croatia

We have #14 vs #7, #2 vs #3, #70 vs #20 in the quarterfinals with #24 vs #6 and #16 vs #12 tomorrow

Of the top 20:
4 missed the World Cup (Chile, Netherlands, Wales, Italy)
3 eliminated in the group stage (Germany, Poland, Peru)
5 eliminated in the round of 16 (Portugal, Argentina, Spain, Denmark, Mexico)
3 still to play round of 16 (Switzerland, England, Colombia)
5 in the quarterfinals (Brazil, Belgium, France, Uruguay, Croatia)

[rudy]

1) Germany - group stage
2) Brazil - QF vs Belgium
3) Belgium - QF vs Brazil
4) Portugal - R16
5) Argentina - R16
6) Switzerland - R16 vs Sweden
7) France - QF vs Uruguay
8) Poland - group stage
9) Chile - missed WC
10) Spain - R16
11) Peru - group stage
T12) Denmark - R16
T12) England - R16 vs Colombia
14) Uruguay - QF vs France
15) Mexico - R16
16) Colombia - R16 vs England
17) Netherlands - missed WC
18) Wales - missed WC
19) Italy - missed WC
20) Croatia - QF vs Russia
24) Sweden - R16 vs Switzerland
70) Russia - QF vs Croatia

We have #14 vs #7, #2 vs #3, #70 vs #20 in the quarterfinals with #24 vs #6 and #16 vs #12 tomorrow

Of the top 20:
4 missed the World Cup (Chile, Netherlands, Wales, Italy)
3 eliminated in the group stage (Germany, Poland, Peru)
5 eliminated in the round of 16 (Portugal, Argentina, Spain, Denmark, Mexico)
3 still to play round of 16 (Switzerland, England, Colombia)
5 in the quarterfinals (Brazil, Belgium, France, Uruguay, Croatia)

Nice job with this list. Japan was oh so close to being an underdog moving on...Belgium managed to bounce back though!