World Cup Open Thread: Matchday 13

With today’s last matches of the group stage, the World Cup will officially shift over into the knockout rounds. Two slots remain in the Round of Sixteen, with Brazil and Portugal already guaranteed to make it through Groups G and H, respectively. Who will be joining Alisson Becker, Marquinhos, and Cristiano Ronaldo as the tournament continues?

Today’s four matches will determine which of Switzerland, Cameroon, Serbia, Ghana, South Korea, and Uruguay will fill out the rest of the bracket; my money’s on Switzerland and South Korea, but as we saw in yesterday’s matches, just about anything can happen on the last match day of the group stage.

Follow along with us in the comments below, and be sure to check in with @ChiesaDiTotti on Twitter for regular World Cup updates (and maybe some schadenfreude about Juventus’ still-developing fraud scandal).

South Korea vs. Portugal

Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images

Kickoff: 10:00 EST/16:00 CET | Location: Education City Stadium, Ar Rayyan

How to Watch: Fox Network, Telemundo, Peackcock (United States); RDS 2, TSN2, TSN App, RDS App, TSN.ca (Canada); Other locations

Roma Interest: Unfortunately, Roma has never even come close to signing Son Heung-min; he’s one of my favorite non-Roma players out there. Beyond Son, the obvious usual suspects from the Portuguese National Team, including former Juventus man Cristiano Ronaldo, will all be playing with an eye towards the other Group H match of the day; with only Portugal guaranteed a spot in the knockout round so far, it’s truly anyone’s guess who will be joining them.

Ghana vs. Uruguay

Photo by Fu Tian/China News Service via Getty Images

Kickoff: 10:00 EST/16:00 CET | Location: Al Janoub Stadium, Al-Wakrah

How to Watch: Fox Network, Telemundo, Peackcock (United States); RDS 2, TSN2, TSN App, RDS App, TSN.ca (Canada); Other locations

Roma Interest: I guess Uruguayan Matias Viña counts, even if he hasn’t amounted to much in a Roma kit to date. In my view this match is most interesting in terms of whether South Korea will be able to advance to the knockout rounds; neither Uruguay nor Ghana have piqued my interest too much during the tournament so far.

Serbia vs. Switzerland

Photo by Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty Images

Kickoff: 14:00 EST/20:00 CET | Location: Stadium 974, Ras Abu Aboud

How to Watch: Fox Network, Telemundo, Peackcock (United States); RDS 2, TSN2, TSN App, RDS App, TSN.ca (Canada); Other locations

Roma Interest: Well, Roma never signed Granit Xhaka, and beyond him, there aren’t even any other “almost-Romans” playing this one.

Cameroon vs. Brazil

Photo by Tnani Badreddine/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Kickoff: 14:00 EST/20:00 CET | Location: Lusail Stadium, Lusail

How to Watch: Fox Network, Telemundo, Peackcock (United States); RDS 2, TSN2, TSN App, RDS App, TSN.ca (Canada); Other locations

Roma Interest: Alisson Becker! Marquinhos! Two of my favorite former Roma players, and two of the best players Roma has had in the squad over the past decade. Even if you dislike Neymar or just about anyone else on the Brazilian National Team, you should be rooting for Alisson and Marquinhos; they both loved their time in Rome, and Romanisti loved them back.