The Round of 16 starts Saturday and will finish up on Tuesday with the group winners and runners-up from the World Cup group stages facing off and the field being narrowed down to only 16 teams. This is the time for teams to really step up and prove why they are at the World Cup.
This is the start of the knockout rounds and the point where draws will no longer get you anywhere. For those of you who are new to this, a match that is level after 90 minutes will go into extra time with two 15 minute periods played. If it is still even after this the match will be decided by penalty kicks.
Penalty kicks may not be the best way to resolve a match, but that is how it is and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few before this World Cup is over.
Here are my predictions for the Round of 16 matches:
| Kickoff Time (ET) | Team 1 | Score | Score | Team 2 | Venue | Final Score | |
| Saturday, June 28 | |||||||
| 12:00 pm | Brazil | 2 | V | 1 | Chile | Belo Horizonte | 1* – 1 (3-2 Brazil win on penalties) |
| 4:00 pm | Colombia | 2 | V | 0 | Uruguay | Rio De Janeiro | 2 – 0 |
| Sunday, June 29 | |||||||
| 12:00 pm | Netherlands | 3 | V | 1 | Mexico | Fortaleza | 2 – 1 |
| 4:00 pm | Costa Rica | 2 | V | 0 | Greece | Recife | 1* – 1 (5-3 Costa Rica win on penalties |
| Monday, June 30 | |||||||
| 12:00 pm | France | 2 | V | 1 | Nigeria | Brasilia | 2 – 0 |
| 4:00 pm | Germany | 2 | V | 0 | Algeria | Porto Alegre | 2 – 1 |
| Tuesday, July 1 | |||||||
| 12:00 pm | Argentina | 2 | V | 1 | Switzerland | Sao Paulo | |
| 4:00 pm | Belgium | 1 | V | 2 | United States | Salvador | |
Follow up with Match Previews prior to each day’s matches. Also, be sure to check back to compare the final with my predicted result.
Saturday Round of 16 Previews:
Sunday Round of 16 Previews:
Monday Round of 16 Previews
Tuesday Round of 16 Previews