The final will be taking place in Doha on the 18th of December and after a thrilling group stage filled with twists and turns,  it is crunch time as the round of 16 knockout round is welcomed with excitement. The knockout round brings the 16 teams another step closer to the looming final.

The Round of 16 will be kicked off by the USA vs Netherlands clash later today at the Khalifa Stadium in Al Rayyan. The Dutch team finished 1st in Group A ahead of Senegal, Ecuador and Qatar while the USA finished 2nd in Group B behind England and ahead of Iran and Wales.

The Netherlands have reached three previous World Cup finals making them a tough opponent but the USA are not to be underestimated as they’ve had a great campaign thus far. Netherland’s coach, Louis van Gaal, stated; “I'm not going to downplay the USA. I think they're an example of what a good team is." These two teams will go head-to-head this afternoon at 17:00

Argentina and Australia will be the 2nd set of teams to clash in the round of 16 this evening. The South American giants suffered a shocking defeat to Saudi Arabia in the group stages but made up for it and pushed their way through to the knockout round whereas the Australians pleasantly surprised their way through. They were dealt a tough group stage being set up against the reigning champions, France, as well as Denmark and Tunisia and proved themselves strong by making it through. 

The game between Argentina and Australia is set to kick off at 21:00 this evening. 

The knockout round games will be played from the 3rd to the 6th of December followed by a short break before the quarter-finals kick off on the 9th of December. 

Kayla Barker/OFM Sport