Quarter Finals Preview

Finally back again. Unfortunately I haven't been able to see too many games of the Round of 16, so I'm gonna skip talking in full depth about all the 8 matches. Instead, I will look forward to the future and take a look at what the quarter finals can bring.

Uruguay-France: The first match on the schedule. The World Cup has been a cemetery for the big nations so far, but France isn't among the victims. France progressed through the group stage with a minimum of effort: two narrow wins against Australia and Peru, and a shameless 0-0 draw with Denmark. The clash with Argentina turned out to be the first major test for Les Bleus. The sky was dark when they were trailing 2-1 in that match. But in desperate times, you need quality players and let that be what France has in abundance. Pavard scored a superb goal but it was Kyllian Mbappé who stole the show. The 19 year old scored 2 goals and led France to the quarter finals. Whoever was not convinced that Mbappé can become one of the best in the world, will think differently now. With France slowly reaching top speed, they are considered by many as the top candidate to win the World Cup. France will face their third South American opponent already, but probably the toughest one yet. Uruguay reverted to the familiar recipe which gave them success in the 2010 World Cup. Their defense is solid as ever: they conceded just 1 goal in 4 matches, against Portugal. A footnote: their defense never got tested in the group stage. They don't create too many chances, but it can't be considered a weakness so far. They just don't need that many chances with their two world class strikers. Cavani was their big man with two fantastic goals against Portugal and has scored three goals now. He and Suarez will have to keep their good understanding and form alive if they want to stand a chance against France.

Who will win? France are the rightful favorites in this fixture. But it would be foolish for them to start thinking about the semi-final already. As I said in my preview of Uruguay before the tournament, Uruguay can make life difficult for any opponent. They will punish any mistake France makes. Nevertheless, my money is on France. If there is one team with the attacking power to break down the wall that are Godin and Gimenez, it is Les Bleus.

Brazil-Belgium: I don't think I have to say that this is the match I'm looking forward to the most. But I dare to say that with me, the neutral fans will want to check this one out. Both teams have been among the better playing teams this tournament. Brazil has probably known the least troubles to get here of all the remaining teams. The start was rocky with a draw against Switzerland, but Brazil and especially Neymar are growing towards their best form. It might not be 'o jogo bonito' we always hope to see from the Brazilian team. But their football is effective and complete, and that is how you win a World Cup. They haven't conceded for three matches in a row. Although Neymar is standing out more through this theatrical behavior on this World Cup, his statistics are there was well: 2 goals and 2 assists. It will be hard for any team to keep this Brazil team from winning their sixth World Cup, but Belgium is one of the teams that can be capable of doing it. Belgium is the team to follow if you like to see goals and spectacle: they have scored 12 goals so far. The round of 16 match against Japan is one I will never be able to forget. When 2-0 down after 60 minutes, it looked Belgium was gonna join Spain, Argentina, Germany and Portugal in the list of favorites who failed to live up to the expectations. But after a remarkable comeback with a injury time winner by Chadli, we reached the face-off with Brazil we wanted. It's time to avenge the 2002 match!

Who will win? It's the first time in our history we believe we stand a chance against Brazil. We do have a team that can go head to head with Neymar and co. But our many goals and spectacular victory against Japan cover up the lack of defensive stability. You can come away with conceding two goals against mediocre teams like Japan and Tunisia, but against Brazil, conceding one goal can already be fatal. Chancing the system to a 4-man defense might be a good move in my opinion. We are up for a hopefully historical match and while my heart wants to say Belgium is gonna do it, my head believes that Brazil is the more experienced team.

Sweden-England: Moving to the 'weaker' side of the table. I don't think many people expected this game as a quarter final. Sweden is one of the surprises of the tournament. It's quite remarkable actually, because with the exception of the 3-0 win against Mexico, they haven't played that well. Apart from maybe Forsberg, there aren't any players that I would pick in a 23-squad from players active in this World Cup. They compensate the lack of individual talent with a strong collective team spirit. Everyone knows perfectly what to do, and for this reason Sweden is an annoying opponent to play. There aren't too many countries that can say they eliminated Netherlands, Italy and Germany in one year. They also silenced Shaqiri throughout the whole round of 16 match against Switzerland. On the other half of the pitch will be England. The English are quite a difficult team to comprehend. They showed against Tunisia and Panama that the team has a lot of offensive qualities, but their match against Colombia was an insult to football (which was more a result of Colombia's ridiculous approach but still). Nevertheless, England breached their awful record for penalties which will give them a lot of confidence. They do have the Golden Boot in their ranks with Harry Kane: 6 goals already. Not any goal is one to remember, but he will be in the history books. Many England fans believe it's their year, and they do have a unique chance to make it to the final.

Who will win? A hard one to say. The Swedes have one of the strongest collective spirits of all teams. England is maybe a bit more dependent on the goals of Kane, and the Swedish defense will make sure he will not get a centimeter of space. But they showed against Colombia they can win ugly as well. This is not be understood as an insult towards the English team, it is a crucial quality in a World Cup. Not gonna say "football is coming home" yet, but I'm going to pick England for this one.

Russia-Croatia: The Russians are another upset no one would dare to predict. While you could have foreseen they would survive a group with Egypt and Saudi Arabia- dumb me didn't even got that right- their victory against Spain might be one of the biggest surprises in World Cup history. It is proven Russian players excel on home territory. The questions is: can they do it again? Croatia is probably the best team on this side of the table, especially when it comes to technical ability. Their midfield with Modric, Rakitic and Brozovic is almost unmatched. Their 3-0 victory against Argentina wasn't all due to Argentina's fumbling: this is a good team. Their match against Denmark however was far below their standards. Modric missed a penalty in extra team. It is to hope for the Croatian team that the pressure isn't getting to them.

Who will win? Croatia will go into this fixture as clear favorites. They have much more quality than Russia in their squad. But the home advantage clearly does something special with the Russian team. Each player has risen above himself. They manage that little bit extra and after the victory against Spain, they don't need to feel anymore pressure, they have already surpassed all expectations. I won't be surprised if the Russians can stay on that flow and do it one more time.