1) Colombia ▶
Would Colombia have benefited from facing Luis Suárez on Saturday? There is an argument for it. Their counter-attacking rat-a-tat has beguiled and Rodríguez’s brilliance has filled the senses, but there is a nagging concern that they are yet to face a sustained attacking threat. A plucky Ivory Coast, a Japan in their death throes and a toothless Uruguay don’t inspire the same concern as Neymar and Brazil; while José Pekerman’s side is thus far hard to fault, the number of high-speed risks they take on the ball may leave them open to punishment by efficient opposition. Regardless: Colombia’s blend of individualism and cohesion is wonderful to observe and, in a World Cup with no stand-out contenders, their claims seem as good as anybody’s.
Match report: Colombia 2-1 Ivory Coast
Match report: Colombia 3-0 Greece
Match report: Colombia 4-1 Japan
Match report: Colombia 2-0 Uruguay
2) France ▲4
The turnaround in France’s image will surely be complete if they overcome the Germans in Rio and, on recent evidence, you would be brave to bet against it. France had to bide their time against Nigeria but deserved their breakthrough in a game notable for Paul Pogba’s consistency. The 21-year-old overran a physical Nigerian midfield at times and worked superbly in tandem with Blaise Matuidi, even if the latter’s challenge on Ogenyi Onazi was unacceptable. Germany will provide a bigger test, but France look solid at the back and inventive further forwards – Mathieu Valbuena was particularly perceptive from his right-sided perch on Monday. Didier Deschamps’ biggest quandary appears to lie in whether to select Olivier Giroud or the less predictable Antoine Griezmann: if he backs the right horse on Friday, then France will take some stopping.
Match report: France 3-0 Honduras
Match report: France 5-2 Switzerland
Match report: France 0-0 Ecuador
Match report: France 2-0 Nigeria
3) Holland ▼1
Forget the outrage regarding Arjen Robben’s admission that he dived during the Mexico game. Time is more wisely spent admiring the fact that a winger can, in his 31st year, keep getting quicker, faster and better. Along with James Rodríguez, he has been the most exciting player to watch this summer and may just be able to carry an inexperienced team on his shoulders. Holland also benefitted from Louis van Gaal’s quick thinking – drinks’ break or not – against Mexico; their success in this tournament has been iterative, with the coach happy to shapeshift throughout, and further realignment will be needed now that Nigel de Jong is injured. If Costa Rica are beaten on Saturday, they will only be one more irresistible Robben performance away from a second consecutive final.
Match report: Holland 5-1 Spain
Match report: Holland 3-2 Australia
Match report: Holland 2-0 Chile
Match report: Holland 2-1 Mexico
4) Brazil ▼1
Some believe it to be only a matter of time until this Brazil side is “found out”; others believe it more likely that Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team are four-sevenths of the way through an inexorable grind to the inevitable. Chile were a significant hurdle to overcome, no matter how victory was achieved, and if a gifted Colombia side are beaten then belief in – and pressure on – the Seleçao will approach crescendo. Plaudits for Brazil have been thin on the ground, but Scolari’s bloody-minded resolve in picking the players (Fred, Jô) to fit his tightly strung schema should be admired and, for all that Neymar’s ingenuity gives the team a significant edge, any success on home turf will surely be down to the manager above anyone else.
Match report: Brazil 3-1 Croatia
Match report: Brazil 0-0 Mexico
Match report: Brazil 4-1 Cameroon
Match report: Brazil 1-1 Chile (Brazil win 3-2 on pens)
5) Germany ▼1
“What do you want from me? We’re in the last eight!” a riled Per Mertesacker volleyed after the win over Algeria. He had a point – Germany were eventually worth their win – but the problem is that, while they do need to offer more, it’s hard to say exactly what. The balance is not quite there at the moment. For one there is a suspicion that, while Philipp Lahm has been fine in midfield for Pep Guardiola, his deployment there for Germany has unbalanced the team in two positions. Benedikt Howedes looks uncomfortable at left-back and Joachim Löw may be tempted to move Lahm to his old position and reunite the axis of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira. The French, in their current form, will expose any weaknesses that are not attended to.
Match report: Germany 4-0 Portugal
Match report: Germany 2-2 Ghana
Match report: Germany 2-1 Algeria
6) Belgium ▲1
That was more like it from Belgium. They were always going to have to raise the tempo against USA and a sense of extra attacking purpose was evident when Divock Origi missed an early chance. They should have won comfortably inside 90 minutes, but Marc Wilmots used his cards well: Origi’s pace having tired the Americans, Romelu Lukaku was introduced to make the decisive impact. The final few minutes were more flustered than anyone could have envisaged, but it felt as if Belgium are finally up and running. Thirty-nine goal attempts was a remarkable statistic and one not lost on Wilmots. “I said we’d create a team that would play football and we’ve done it,” was his post-match salvo. If Eden Hazard joins in against Argentina, Belgium might just make good their pre-tournament billing.
Match report: Belgium 1-0 Russia
Match report: Belgium 2-1 Algeria
Match report: Belgium 1-0 South Korea
7) Argentina ▼2
The parallels with Brazil are so clear – relentless winning machine or on borrowed time? – that it would be brave to back against the two meeting on 13 July. Argentina look laboured: only Lionel Messi and Ángel di María show any real propensity to move the ball with speed and urgency at the moment, and it was they who combined to make a superbly-taken decider against the Swiss. There is a lack of devilment to their general play and, at the back, a dearth of pace and authority – issues upon which Switzerland, and especially the embarrassed Josip Drmic, had ample opportunity to capitalise. The most relevant fact is that they have found ways to win four out of four; the biggest question is whether they can step it up against the Belgians.
Match report: Argentina 2-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Match report: Argentina 1-0 Iran
Match report: Argentina 3-2 Nigeria
Match report: Argentina 1-0 Switzerland
8) Costa Rica ▲3
If it stops here, it will be a tale well worth retelling. If it goes any further, Costa Rica will have written the greatest World Cup story ever. They were out on their feet at the end of Sunday’s marathon against Greece – Joel Campbell’s wade through setting concrete as he attempted to embark upon a 120th-minute run was an enduring image – but composed themselves to take the best set of penalties seen in this tournament. Instinct says the Dutch will be too strong, but Costa Rica have made fools of too many for this to appear a dead cert. One thing is certain: their colourful coach, Jorge Luis Pinto, will not be entertaining any thoughts that Louis van Gaal and company cannot be outdone in Salvador.
Match report: Costa Rica 3-1 Uruguay
Match report: Costa Rica 1-0 Italy
Match report: Costa Rica 0-0 England
Match report: Costa Rica 1-1 Greece (Costa Rica win 5-3 on pens)
9) Chile ▶
If Mauricio Pinilla ever scores a decisive goal for Chile – maybe on home soil in next summer’s Copa America – then his latest piece of body art will require only the smallest of alterations. Pinilla wasted little time in having his 119th-minute rap against the woodwork immortalised on his back, and the image told Chile’s tale well. They had raised the bar against Brazil, but not quite enough – a performance of characteristic intensity being undermined by weakness defending set-pieces and, perhaps, insufficient depth in attack. It was especially cruel that a missed penalty was Alexis Sánchez’s reward for one of this World Cup’s most enthralling individual performances. A harsh truth, though, is that many of this side are getting no younger: are they and their Bielsista principles destined to be mythologised for their vision of an unattainable perfection?
Match report: Chile 3-1 Australia
Match report: Chile 0-2 Holland
Match report: Chile 1-1 Brazil (Brazil win 3-2 on pens)
10) Mexico ▼2
They will bristle about Robben’s “invented” penalty, but Mexico again fell short when it mattered. Forget the Bayern Munich winger’s fall: the momentum was firmly in Holland’s favour after Wesley Sneijder’s driven equaliser and that goal had been coming. Mexico controlled the game’s first hour and deserved their lead, but struggled with van Gaal’s changes and showed little sign of being able to adapt to a game not being played on their terms. Their gradual dismantling of Croatia in sticky Recife had been one of the group stage’s most impressive performances, but it was their own game that atrophied in searing Fortaleza. Mexico have super-talents in Hector Herrera and Giovani dos Santos, but still lack the substance to rank among the world’s best.
Match report: Mexico 1-0 Cameroon
Match report: Mexico 0-0 Brazil
Match report: Mexico 3-1 Croatia
Match report: Mexico 1-2 Holland
11) USA ▼1
Had Chris Wondolowski achieved what looked so simple, would USA be looking at the last eight? Perhaps it was a good job the clearly-onside San Jose Earthquakes striker blazed high and wide in stoppage time: the linesman’s flag had gone up and USA might have been haunted by possibly the tournament’s worst decision. The bigger picture is that they fell short against an improved Belgium – but the manner of their response to going two down told us more about Jürgen Klinsmann’s team than Tim Howard’s record number of saves. To produce the free-kick routine that Clint Dempsey almost finished at the death required a rare nervelessness: USA lacked outright quality in Brazil, but their relentless approach earned plenty of friends both abroad and at home and a fine set of younger players gives hope for the future.
Match report: USA 2-2 Portugal
12) Algeria ▶
There is an argument that you finish where you deserve to, and Algeria’s final ball was not quite good enough to give the Germans more than a hefty scare in Porto Alegre. But few nations will emerge from this tournament with their stock as enhanced. Algeria matched Germany blow for blow before tiring towards the end of the 90 minutes – the lapse by right-back Aissa Mandi that contributed to André Schürrle’s goal at the start of extra time had been on the cards – and did so with a brand of clever, fluent, counter-attacking football that none of their African peers came close to matching. Vahid Halilhodzic, who will not carry on as coach, should have some good offers after this showing – and his likely successor Christian Gourcuff should be a safe pair of hands to continue his work.
Match report: Algeria 1-2 Belgium
Match report: Algeria 4-2 South Korea
Match report: Algeria 1-1 Russia
Match report: Algeria 1-2 Germany
13) Switzerland ▶
Switzerland are not the first side of late to feel that they missed an excellent opportunity against the teetering Argentinians. It is hard to imagine that Josip Drmic or Blerim Dzemaili, whose misses of varying degree proved costly, have slept since their late defeat, and it was a shame that Ottmar Hitzfeld could not pull off one last heist before his retirement. Switzerland’s high-pressing style was effective for the first time in the tournament, and Xherdan Shaqiri was for long periods the best player on the pitch; the eventual impression, though, was that they lack the depth of quality to support him. Drmic’s ill-advised dink should not detract from his immense promise and Granit Xhaka had his best game of the summer, but the Swiss were too light in key areas to pull many trees up in Brazil.
Match report: Switzerland 2-1 Ecuador
Match report: Switzerland 0-1 Argentina
14) Nigeria ▲1
It is difficult to know what to make of a Nigeria side that brimmed with intent in wide areas but lacked genuine creativity. They certainly gave France some problems before Didier Deschamps’ side pulled clear; they were unfortunate, too, that the otherwise excellent Vincent Enyeama chose the worst possible moment to flap at a corner for Paul Pogba’s opener. Nigeria return home with pride intact but having evinced flaws that were predictable before the tournament, primarily a stodginess in central midfield and sluggishness at centre-back. The impressive Stephen Keshi probably made the best of his lot and, now that he has stepped down, it remains to be seen whether Nigeria’s FA can (or indeed wants to) recruit a successor with his levels of purposefulness and forbearance.
Match report: Nigeria 0-0 Iran
Match report: Nigeria 1-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Match report: Nigeria 2-3 Argentina
Match report: Nigeria 0-2 France
15) Greece ▼1
“Few will be sorry to see the Greeks depart” is usually the line here but, in fairness to Fernando Santos’s side, they were not entirely one-dimensional in Brazil. After outplaying and outlasting Ivory Coast, they showed their resilience again when Sokratis Papastathopoulos qualised against Costa Rica, but subsequent events against exhausted, 10-man opponents proved less flattering. If Kostas Mitroglou was a sharper centre-forward and Keylor Navas a dopier goalkeeper, Greece would now be preparing to play Holland, but they wasted a number of inviting situations in the extra half-hour, perhaps unused to taking such initiative. It seemed harsh that stalwart Theofanis Gekas should miss the decisive penalty after that but, even if he and fellow veterans Giorgos Karagounis and Kostas Katsouranis do not return, we should probably assume that Greece will.
Match report: Greece 0-3 Colombia
Match report: Greece 0-0 Japan
Match report: Greece 2-1 Ivory Coast
Match report: Greece 1-1 Costa Rica (Costa Rica win 5-3 on pens)
16) Uruguay ▶
What do you remember of Uruguay’s performance against Colombia? Were it not for Rodríguez’s stroke of genius, the 90 minutes would have been completely drowned out by a maelstrom of Luis Suárez-inspired blame and counterblame that, while its timing could have been no worse, was entirely self-defeating. Blocking out the background noise, we got what we expected: a committed but uninspired performance from a team that, without its star, showed few signs that it could turn a deficit around, and Edinson Cavani ending his uncomfortable tournament mutely. Óscar Tabárez, a decent man, deserved better than all this – but, despite the flat manner of their exit, the post-Suárez air of defiance ensured there was little opprobrium upon their return to Montevideo.
Match report: Uruguay 1-3 Costa Rica
Match report: Uruguay 2-1 England
Match report: Uruguay 1-0 Italy
Match report: Uruguay 0-2 Colombia
The teams already knocked out of the tournament finished in the following order:
17) Ivory Coast
18) Ecuador
19) Spain
20) Croatia
21) Italy
22) Bosnia-Herzegovina
23) Portugal
24) England
25) Australia
26) Russia
27) South Korea
28) Japan
29) Iran
30) Honduras
31) Ghana
32) Cameroon
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