The Round of 16 of the World Cup starts today. Following one of the most entertaining group stages in World Cup history, fans will want equally good knockouts.

As it is said, ‘nobody remembers the runners up’. Heartbreaks are certain for 15 teams and on 15th July, a set of 23 players will go down in history as the world champions.

While fans will miss Germany, this round has some mouth-watering clashes.

Big guns like Argentina, Portugal and Spain struggled to qualify from their groups while Croatia are the surprise package of this tournament.

They bulldozed through one of the most difficult groups of the tournament and should fancy reaching the quarter-finals. They destroyed Argentina and defeated Iceland with nine changes in their first choice XI.

The eight winners will qualify to the quarter-finals and take a firm step towards lifting the trophy in Moscow.

In the last set of articles, I analysed and previewed every group of this tournament. The series was followed by 15 lesser known gems of this tournament.

In this piece, I will speculate how the first stage of knockouts is likely to pan out.

The qualifiers from every group to the Round of 16
Group A: Uruguay (Winners), Russia (Runners-up)
Group B: Spain (Winners), Portugal (Runners-up)
Group C: France (Winners), Denmark (Runners-up)
Group D: Croatia (Winners), Argentina (Runners-up)
Group E: Brazil (Winners), Switzerland (Runners-up)
Group F: Sweden (Winners), Mexico (Runners-up)
Group G: Belgium (Winners), England (Runners-up)
Group H: Colombia (Winners), Japan (Runners-up)

Among the last 16, ten are from Europe, four from South America, one from Asia and one from North America.

The biggest team to miss out on knockouts is Germany. Defending champions and the most successful team is World Cup’s modern history, they finished last in their group. While Die Mannschaft will be missed, prospects of a new champion should entice the fans.

World cup knockouts draw
The 16 qualified teams from the group stage have not been drawn at random. The winner of each group plays the runner-up in their opposing group.

Here are the match ups for the knock-out rounds.

• Uruguay versus Portugal
Suarez versus Ronaldo. Patricio versus Cavani. This should be cracker of a match. The pick of round of 16.

Portugal could have emerged group winners had it not been for debatable VAR decisions. They are drawn against Group A winners Uruguay, one of the only three teams with a 100 per cent-win record in group stages.

Except for Ronaldo’s heroics against Spain, they have not hit the top gear yet. Their rock-solid defence, crucial in their Euro 2016 win is not looking as tough.

On the other hand, Uruguay booked their place comfortably in this round. Playing to their potential in Russia’s 3-0 drubbing, they started the tournament slow with unconvincing wins against Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

It’s a match which can go either way as both teams have potential match winners. Uruguay have Godin, Suarez, Cavani, and Bentancur while Portugal are with Pepe, Moutinho, Bernardo Silva, Patricio and Ronaldo. Both the sides are evenly matched.

However, for their experienced XI and Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal should back themselves to nick this highly competitive clash.

Predicted winners: Portugal

• France versus Argentina
France arrived in this tournament as one of the favourites. One of the most balanced squads, they won their group comfortably.

However, their star players are yet to find top form. They have been defensively solid, but players such as Pogba, Mbappe and Griezmann have struggled to play to their potential.

Facing them will be Argentina. This team fancied by many to have a strong case of challenging for the trophy crawled through the group. Dwindling player morale, discord between squad andamp; manager and poor defence- midfield are some of the challenges faced by la Albiceleste.

Lionel Messi finally scored, and Ever Banega galvanised the midfield to beat Nigeria. However, France will be a much difficult opposition than the Africans.

Fans would have loved to see them face off in the finals. Such is their class. However, with a much-balanced squad and the midfield trio of Pogba- Kante- Matuidi, France should beat Argentina and book their place in the quarter-finals.

Predicted winners: France

• Brazil versus Mexico
One of the most consistent teams over last few international tournaments, Mexico were one of the best sides in the group stage.

They dominated Germany and dismantled South Korea. However, a 3-0 loss to Sweden has come back to bite them as they face tournament favourites Brazil in this round.

Brazil had a far from comfortable group stage with their fancied names struggling in first two matches.

In their third match, they bettered Serbia 2-0 and won their group. Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho has been their standout player.

However, fans will want Neymar to perform better and justify his claim as world’s third best player behind Ronaldo and Messi.

Mexico, with one of the most attractive football of the tournament must not be fully discounted.

Winger Lozano has been tremendous, Moreno has been solid, Chicharito has found his scoring boots and Ochoa is replicating his 2014 heroics.

The team has numerous players from the 2012 Olympic gold medal team which defeated Brazil in the final and drew 0-0 against the same opposition last World Cup.

However, Brazil is likely to be a challenge, too difficult for the North Americans to prevail. The South Americans are balanced and raise their game in crucial situation under the management of Tite.

After Germany knocking out, Brazil should back themselves to go a long way in the tournament.

While the match will be interesting, Brazil should not lose too much sweat to defeat the Mexicans.

Predicted winners: Brazil

• Belgium versus Japan
Coming into this tournament with the best squad in their history, Belgium are one of the only three teams to have 100 per cent-win record in the group stage.

They defeated England to win the Group G. While Panama and Tunisia were easily dispatched, their third game saw both England and Belgium playing with virtually second teams.

They have been attractive in this tournament and under the influential leadership of Edin Hazard, they will want to go deep into the tournament.

Facing them will be the Samurai Blue of Japan. Qualifying at the expense of Senegal, they were one of the luckiest teams to make the knockouts. They sealed their place with a better fair-play record over the Africans.

However, Japan must not be taken lightly. Manager Nishino knows the squad from inside out. The Asians have defied odds to reach this far.

A large credit must be given to their experienced players stepping up. Alongside them, talented players such as Honda and Kagawa have led this team from front.

However, with Lukaku finding his scoring boots and everyone in the team contributing, Belgium should back themselves to reach the quarter-finals.

They are world’s third best side for a reason and Japan will have their task cut out to contain the super talented Belgian attack.

Expect Belgium to make a short work of Japan and reach the quarter-finals of another international tournament.

Predicted winners: Belgium

• Spain versus Russia
With eight goals in group stage, Russia are one of the most clinical teams of the tournament so far.

They started the World Cup with a bang after defeating hapless Saudi Arabia 5-0. While main attacking threat Alan Dzagoev’s injury could have caused headaches, Villarreal midfielder Denis Cheryshev ensured a comfortable passage to the knockouts.

They seem inspired while playing in the home conditions and manager Cherchesov has been tactically astute. However, their 3-0 defeat to Uruguay can affect their morale adversely.

The home side finds itself drawn against former world champions and one among the tournament favourites Spain. They have uncharacteristically struggled so far and won their group in last five minutes of that stage.

Goalkeeper David De Gea has made some uncharacteristic mistakes and the combination of Ramos- Pique has been brittle. However, Diego Costa and Isco are two of the positives of their campaign so far.

While Russia will want to cause one of the upsets of this tournament, Spain are a very dangerous team.

The team has a solid playing XI with talent all over the field. Russia have overachieved so far, and Spain should win this match to book their place in last eight.

Expect a match with nervy moments, but Spain emerging comfortable victors at the end of 90 minutes.

Predicted winners: Spain

• Croatia versus Denmark
The best side of this tournament so far, Croatia are the only team with a 100 per cent-win record except Belgium and Uruguay.

What makes their achievement even more impressive is that they bulldozed through their tough group. While their opening victory against Nigeria wasn’t easy, their performance against Argentina was the top-class.

Such is their morale that their B team (with nine changes in regular XI) bettered Iceland 2-1 in the last group match.

Perisic has been menacing, Lovren has been solid and Rakitic has been a nuisance. However, captain Luka Modric has led this team from the front.

With impressive performances, he has stamped his name as world’s best centre midfielder in the eyes of many.

In the first round of knockouts, Croatia face fellow Europeans Denmark. Runners up to France in group C, Denmark had a nervy victory against Peru followed by a tricky draw against Australia.

However, their goalless draw against France is the only match of this tournament where both teams failed to score.

The Danes have a solid defence and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has been one of the best goalkeepers of the tournament so far. Alongside this, they possess an utterly talented Christian Eriksen to construct their attacks.

While Denmark won’t be an easy clash, and anything can happen in a knockout, Croatia will likely be too good for the Scandinavians.

In an entertaining clash, except Croatia to emerge victorious with a dominant display!

Predicted Winners: Croatia)

• Sweden versus Switzerland
Apart from Uruguay versus Portugal, this may be the most evenly matched clash of this round. Sweden won the group with a resounding 3-0 win over Mexico while Switzerland were impressive in their draw against Brazil and comeback victory over Serbia.

Few expected either of these teams to make the knockouts, but they find themselves gunning for a place in World Cup’s last eight in this match at Saint Petersburg.

Both teams will want to make the most out of this opportunity. They are not the best endowed on top and will hope to get maximum returns from the midfield.

It can narrow down as a clash between Xherdan Shaqiri and Emil Forsberg. Wide attacking midfielders, both are the best players of these respective teams. The match seems so evenly matched that whoever wins small moments can emerge victorious.

Expect Switzerland to reach quarter-finals following a highly charged clash.

Predicted winners: Switzerland

• Colombia versus England
The last match of this round will pit the South Americans against ‘Three Lions’.

Colombia left it until late to ensure their qualification to the knockouts let aside winning the group. The 2014 quarter-finalists faced an uphill task in this evenly matched group featuring Poland, Senegal and Japan after a 2-1 defeat in their first match against the Asians.

A James Rodriguez-inspired performance let to 3-0 drubbing of Poland and Mina scored in 75th minute to knock Senegal out.

While Cuadrado has been their most consistent player, Falcao has failed to replicate his club form. In the round of 16, the South Americans are drawn against a resurgent England side.

England failed to leave a mark on any international tournament in recent years. It was appalling how this side of fancied players never performed at the global stage.

In this World Cup, they seem like a very different outfit. Manager Gareth Southgate seems to have found the trick and this young team is causing eyebrows to raise.

Uber-talented captain Harry Kane is leading the golden boot charts for the tournament. This Spurs forward has scored England’s five out of eight goals of this World Cup.

This team is pacey, persistent and makes up to their less experience with energy. Sterling and Rashford have complemented Kane well and Southgate will want Dele Alli to be fit.

Like many other matches of this round, this one can go either way. However, uncertainty if Rodriguez will feature and a better all-round balance makes England the favourites to reach the next round.

Expect England to reach the quarter-finals following a highly entertaining match where both sides score.

Predicted winners: England

Expect the quarter-final line-up of the World Cup to be:
• Portugal versus France
• Brazil versus Belgium
• Spain versus Croatia
• Switzerland versus England