SI:AM | Nonstop Thrills in the Knockout Stage

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I have good news for Europe after a rough day at the World Cup yesterday: at least one UEFA country will advance to the round of 16 today. (France and Sweden are playing each other.)

In today’s SI:AM:
🇩🇪 Germany crashes out
🇧🇷 Brazil survives
⚾ AL MVP candidates

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How can you follow that?

When I wrote yesterday that “this week is shaping up to be perhaps the best week of the entire World Cup,” I didn’t expect that we’d get a whole week’s worth of drama packed into a single day.

Four of the 16 games in the round of 32 have been played, and all four have been thrillers. It got started with Canada’s historic victory over South Africa on Sunday, sealed by Stephen Eustáquio’s stoppage-time game-winner, and the trio of games on Monday picked up right where we left off.

Two of the most successful countries in the history of international soccer were prematurely ousted from the tournament in heart-stopping penalty shootouts yesterday, while another traditional power survived a serious scare.

Five-time champions Brazil trailed early against Japan, but advanced thanks to a stoppage-time goal by Gabriel Martinelli. Four-time champions Germany were sent packing after losing a penalty shootout against Paraguay. In the nightcap, the Netherlands, which has not lost a World Cup match in regulation since 2006, fell in a shootout against Morocco.

It’s impossible to imagine a more dramatic opening quartet of the knockout stage. Three game-altering goals in stoppage time, two shootouts and one major upset. It set the bar high for the rest of the tournament.

It’ll be a tough act to follow, but the rest of the round of 32 has some tantalizing matchups, thanks to a somewhat wonky bracket. One fear heading into the tournament was that the expanded field would lead to some lopsided knockout round pairings. Indeed, there are a couple of those—like world No. 4 England facing No. 41 DR Congo, and top-ranked Argentina facing No. 64 Cabo Verde—but plenty of games should be evenly matched. Perhaps too evenly matched.

The Morocco-Netherlands game was an odd one because it featured two teams with valid aspirations of a deep World Cup run meeting so early in the tournament. Morocco, which reached the semifinals at the last World Cup, is No. 6 in the current FIFA rankings, while the Netherlands is seventh. Similarly, Belgium (No. 10) and Senegal (No. 18) are set to play on Wednesday, while Portugal (No. 8) and Croatia (No. 13) will meet on Thursday. There are also matchups between teams closely clustered farther down the rankings like Egypt vs. Australia (No. 26 vs. No. 28) and Norway vs. Ivory Coast (No. 23 vs. No. 31). A fairer bracket would have had more contenders facing underdogs, but there’s plenty of variance when the bracket is decided by the outcome of the group stage. All that turmoil in the group stage (like Portugal unexpectedly finishing second in its group) made for a knockout bracket that has already provided plenty of thrills.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Germany players lined up during the shootout — Germany has not won a knockout stage match since winning the 2014 World Cup. | Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

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Clare Brennan: Meet the Baker Behind A’ja Wilson’s Pride Cake Tradition
Clare Brennan: WNBA Power Rankings: Welcome to the Top Three, Golden State

The top five…

Paraguay players celebrate — Paraguay earned the biggest World Cup win in its country’s history. | Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

… things I saw yesterday:
5. Seiya Suzuki’s walk-off hit for the Cubs against dominant Padres closer Mason Miller. It was a high flyball that looked like it might clear the fence or might be caught by San Diego left fielder Jase Bowen. “At first, I thought he caught it,” Suzuki told reporters through an interpreter. “But then I saw a white object that came out of the ivy. That’s when I knew it dropped.” The Cubs now have an MLB-high 10 walk-off wins this season.
4. An amazing catch by Reds center fielder Dane Myers, who crashed hard into the wall after making the grab. He had to be carted off the field. X-rays taken at the ballpark came back negative, but manager Terry Francona told reporters that Myers was taken to the hospital “because he was in so much pain.”
3. Dutch goalie Bart Verbruggen’s save in extra time to keep his team in the game.
2. The Brazilian and Mexican fans who consoled a Japanese fan after his team’s loss brought him to tears.
1. The Paraguayan TV call of the moment it beat Germany.

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