The knockout stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup has finally delivered a total knockout to the giants of international football. The underdogs punched way above their weight and stunned the traditional favorites. Brazil managed to pull the game back in the death whereas Germany got knocked out by Paraguay. Netherlands, too, suffered a similar fate at the hands of a fiery Moroccan team.
Japan and Hajime Moriyasu’s men displayed an impeccable disciplined performance to contain a bubbling Brazil for 90
minutes. However, the stoppage time blow from Carlo Ancelotti’s men delivered Brazil to the Round of 16 without any further drama. Germany on the other hand did not enjoy the same fate. Paraguay dragged Germany into penalties where they sunk the four-time champions.
The Netherlands were the favorites against Morocco despite being ranked just below them in the FIFA rankings. A strong run of form in the group stage gave the edge to the Dutch. However, Achraf Hakimi and team put Ronald Koeman’s side to the sword as they created chance after chance. The game ended 1-1 and the penalties put Mohamed Ouahbi’s men through to the next round as deserved winners.
Japanese precision vs Brazilian magic, a battle of polar opposites
This matchup was bound to be a surefire entertainer. A dark horse in Japan going against perpetual favorites and record World Champions in Brazil. Tactical and structural precision vs instinctual and flowing football.
The Japanese side under Hajime Moriyasu were drilled to maintain shape and not allow space to the Brazilians under manager Carlo Ancelotti. The Samurais in particular relied on a 5-man backline in defense. The midfield and attack combined in dynamic 2-3 or 3-2 ahead of the backline to periodically press a Brazilian or fall back to cut off passing lanes.
Japan’s strategy proved to be quite effective and forced Ancelotti’s men to resort to long balls or runs in extremely wide areas of the pitch. The Japanese bore fruit from maintaining a resilient shape when they won a crucial interception courtesy of Kaishu Sano. The midfielder bolted immediately at Alisson’s goal all the way from the middle of the park. Caught in transition, the Brazilians fumbled and let Sano take a free shot into the bottom corner and score the first goal of the game.
Brazil on the other hand preferred to man mark and press the player in possession. While this did allow Japan more space behind the player pressing, they did not have much time make decisions. Brazil relied on being the better side to make quicker decisions and also to make audacious passes despite being surrounded by multiple Japanese players.
A remarkable 87 percent passing accuracy for Brazil in the final third of the pitch reflects the key factor that ultimately unlocked the Japanese low-block. Ritsu Doan and his men had to constantly readjust in the box and this opened spaces for Brazil. The centre half Gabriel was allowed all the time and space needed to put in a cross headed home by Casemiro.
Despite Zion Suzuki’s incredible efforts until that point, the equalizer was inevitable. The fatal moment however came cruelly late for Japan. Gabriel Martinelli’s winner was executed perfectly. It was a result of Brazil’s vigorous counter pressing in the second half. Kaishu Sano was caught ball watching and Bruno Guimarães just needed half a moment to find Martinelli in the box. A cruel end to a valiant effort from Japan. Brazil at the end of the day were the perfect team to break open a well executed low block. With this, Carlo Ancelotti and Brazil will be heading to the Round of 16 and Japan will be headed back home.
Germany shoot themselves in one foot and VAR shoots the other
Germany started the game and showed what not to do for the first 45 minutes. There was barely a minute of decent play that Nagelsmann’s side could stitch together. Paraguay on the other side came out of the gates flying. It was too much for Joshua Kimmich and co. The duels and fifty-fifty battles seemed lost long before they even began.
Paraguay’s energy and vigor in challenges clearly caught Germany off guard. It took a long time for the Germans to adapt to the intensity of Paraguay’s game. Despite dominating 80 percent of possession, Germany were the first to go down on the scoreboard. The goal from Julio Enciso gave La Albirroja the perfect situation to be in as they seemed comfortable absorbing attacks for the rest of the game.
Deniz Undav had a rare start on Julian Nagelsmann’s team sheet. However, his presence was totally negated by Paraguay who cut off service for the German striker. Undav had just 9 touches in the 63 minutes and found himself constantly surrounded and cut off from his teammates.
Julian Nagelsmann made some critical changes that allowed his team to respond better to the opposition. Bringing on Goretzka, moving Kimmich’s to midfield, pushing his players to make more crosses coupled with the tiring Paraguayans made the gulf in quality between the two teams more apparent as the game dragged on.
Wirtz and Havertz linked up beautifully to score the equalizer. This duo almost scored the winner but Orlando Gill made a crucial stop to keep the scores level. Jonathan Tah’s header in extra time was deemed illegal by VAR due to Waldemar Anton’s perceived foul on Gill. The officiating was not consistent as Paraguay got away with far worse and this intervention seemed very soft.
With extra time not resulting in anything of consequence, the ref called for penalties to decide the winner of this fixture. Nagelsmann’s team who had been frustrated by the fouls and some of the ref’s calls would be up against a jubilant Paraguay who managed to dig in and take it to penalties. This gave Paraguay an edge over Germany as Alfaro’s men owned the penalties and sucker punched a giant out of the tournament.
A total of six penalties were taken by each side with Paraguay beating Germany 4-3 in the shootout. Of the three misses for Germany, the two strikers Havertz and Woltemade were shocking inclusions aside from Tah skying his penalty. Manuel Neuer made just the one save compared to two from Gill. José Canale shot the winner for Paraguay taking his country to the round of 16.
The Atlas Lions clip the wings and ground the Dutchmen
Manager Mohamed Ouahbi set his Moroccan side up beautifully. The pace and direct nature of attacks coupled with an energetic press meant the Netherlands hardly saw meaningful time on the ball. Despite the gulf between the two teams being very little, Morocco dominated possession with 70 percent.
The Dutch attempts to break away was met with a committed backline that had the pace and precision to match the Dutch attackers. But, counter-attacking was the only way to score for Oranje get ahead in the game. Cody Gakpo’s goal in the 71st minute nearly got them through the line a the heroics from their keeper Bart Verbruggen held back wave after wave of Moroccan attack. Summerville made a beautiful assist despite tumbling to the ground inside the penalty box.
The story on the other side was a completely different one. There was fantastic chemistry between the Moroccan attackers and the team in general. Their coordinated press resulted in winning back the ball constantly and efficiently. The opposition only made 2 successful dribbles and 371 passes compared to 8 dribbles and 871 passes by Morocco.
Ismael Saibari, Achraf Hakimi, Ounahi were causing problems all game for the Dutch. Saibari in particular was a handful as his movements and layoffs led to 2 of the 5 chances created by his team. The stats reflect the one-sided nature of this fixture. Despite all of Netherlands efforts, they could only manage to create one big chance.
However, with Gakpo scoring from the only big chance, his team were suddenly in a position to knockout Hakimi’s side against run of play. Issa Diop’s late header in stoppage time rescued Morocco and gave them the opportunity needed to pin the Netherlands and finish them off in the penalties.
The Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou showed up big time to make a crucial save off the last Dutch penalty taken by Summerville. Saibari who took the all important last penalty for his side with the scores at 2-2, displayed great composure under pressure to score the winner.
A deserved win for Morocco. If they can improve their efficiency in front of goal, they have it in them to knockout another giant in the rounds ahead. For now, Canada awaits them in their next fixture.
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- New, improved notifications system!
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
