The field for the elimination phase of the World Cup is beginning to take shape, with co-hosts the United States and Canada finding out their opponents in the next round.
The U.S. will face Bosnia-Herzegovina on July 1 in Santa Clara, California, getting to stay on the West Coast after competing in the Los Angeles area and Seattle during the group stage. The Americans had already clinched a spot in the knockout round before a 3-2 loss to Turkey on Thursday night in front of a raucous, celebrity-studded Southern California crowd at SoFi Stadium.
Canada will head to Los Angeles to face South Africa.
Other marquee matchups are set, including Morocco vs. the Netherlands and Japan vs. Brazil.
Several teams, including Argentina, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland and Ivory Coast, have advanced to the knockout round but still waiting to find out their opponents.
The round of 32 will be set on Saturday once the group-stage matches are done and the final standings of the 12 groups are known. The top two teams from each group, along with the eight best third-place finishers, advance to the win-or-go home round.
Here's how it's looking so far:
US vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, July 1
The Americans had their powerful momentum from two consecutive victories stalled in the loss to Turkey. But in the knockout round, they’ll face a Bosnia-Herzegovina team that is 62nd in the FIFA rankings — the lowest-ranked World Cup qualifier from Europe. Bosnia finished third in Group B with four points. U.S. star Christian Pulisic entered as a substitute in the second half against Turkey. He had not played since leaving an opening win over Paraguay at halftime with a calf injury. “We play every game like a knockout game,” said U.S. midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, who scored against Turkey. “You saw that in our intensity and the way we worked. For us, it’s keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
South Africa vs. Canada, June 28
These nations have already made history. It'll be the first time both are in the knockout stage of the World Cup. Co-host Canada advanced as runner-up in Group B with four points — one win, one draw and one loss. South Africa was runner-up in Group A, also with four points, including a surprising win over South Korea.
Brazil vs. Japan, June 29
Japan advanced as Group F runner-up with a hard fought 1-1 draw against Sweden and the Samurai Blue's reward is a knockout match against five-time World Cup champion Brazil. It'll be a full-circle moment for Japan, which welcomed Brazilian soccer legend Zico in 1991. He was brought in to professionalize the country's new domestic league and support Japan's successful bid to host the World Cup in 2002. Now, the Japanese have a chance to show how far they've come against a country that has set the standard.
Netherlands vs. Morocco, June 29
The Netherlands won Group F after playing to a draw with Japan and outscoring Sweden and Tunisia by a combined 8-2. Morocco went unbeaten to finish second in Group C in pursuit of becoming the first African winner of the World Cup. Morocco reached the semifinals four years ago in Qatar.
