The fans in Qatar 2022 1:17
(CNN Spanish) --
The round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar 2022 came to an end and left behind worthy moments to remember.
After the matches played from Saturday, December 3 to this Tuesday, December 6, those who qualified for the quarterfinals were the Netherlands, Argentina, Croatia, Brazil, England, France, Morocco and Portugal.
If we look at that list of eight teams that qualified for the quarterfinals, we can say that most were the favorites to advance in their respective round of 16 brackets: The Netherlands beat the United States;
Argentina, to Australia;
Croatia, to Japan;
Brazil, to South Korea;
and Portugal, to Switzerland.
The only duel that came out of the favorite's forecast was Morocco, which eliminated Spain.
Countries classified to the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar.
This is how the crosses remain after eighths and groups
However, regardless of which team was the favorite to qualify, the round of 16 had all the ingredients to satisfy football fans: goals, extra timeouts and penalties, scores from the best players in the world and even the reappearance of the "nice game".
Next, we leave you the best moments of the round of 16 phase.
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The 6 moments that the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar left us
1. Who else if not Messi?
Argentina faced Australia in the round of 16 phase.
When the game looked somewhat stuck in the final part of the first half, Lionel Messi appeared again to unlock it.
The Argentine soccer star received a pass inside the Australian penalty area and, as his custom dictates, sent it into the back of the net with a left-footed shot to the goalkeeper's right post.
With the score, Messi reached nine World Cup goals and paved the way to victory for the South Americans, who finished the match with a 2-1 victory.
Hand in hand with Messi, Argentina to the quarterfinals!
The keys to the Argentine victory 1:58
2. And Mbappé is not far behind
The French team had a round of 16 match with a simpler process than that of Argentina.
Although he scored the first goal against Poland until minute 44 of the first half, the star Kylian Mbappé appeared in the second half to finalize the classification with a double from a great manufacture.
The final score was 3-1 thanks to a Robert Lewandowski penalty goal in the last seconds of the match.
With his two goals in the round of 16, Mbappé also reached nine goals in World Cups.
France advances at the pace of champion by the hand of Mbappé 1:04
3. The return of the "beautiful game"
Brazil had had an acceptable World Cup until before the round of 16: comfortable victory against Serbia, victory in the last minutes against Switzerland and defeat with a substitute team against Cameroon.
South Korea was the rival in the round of 16 and, therefore, the "canarinha" started as a favourite, although few imagined that the victory would come with magic included.
Only 36 minutes were enough for the Brazilian team to end the game after scoring four goals, one from the penalty spot and the other three converted through great collective plays and flashes of "joga bonito".
In the end, the match ended 4-1.
Brazil, to pure dance, to the quarterfinals of the World Cup 1:28
4. The first extra times and penalties of the World Cup
One of the most balanced keys to the round of 16 was the Croatia vs.
Japan.
The Asians came from giving a surprise in Group E by finishing in first place, ahead of Spain and leaving out Germany and Costa Rica.
Meanwhile, Croatia, second place in Group F, has gone from less to more since the start of the cup and by the round of 16 it already looked more like the runner-up team in the world.
Japan made it 1-0 at minute 43 of the first half, but Croatia equalized at minute 10 of the second half.
From then on, the game got stuck and we had the first overtime of the World Cup.
However, nothing moved in those added 30 minutes, so the penalties came, where the Croatian goalkeeper was a star and gave his team the victory.
Croatia is in the quarterfinals, the figure was Dominik Livakovik 0:56
Then, in a match played this Tuesday between Spain and Morocco, a similar situation occurred.
The European team and its African counterpart had a very disputed duel with a lot of friction.
Although Spain dominated with seven shots on target and 72% possession of the ball, according to DataFactory, they were never able to get on the scoreboard.
Morocco was also unable to score on the three shots on goal they managed in the match.
With this came the extra times and, as everything remained the same, the penalties, in which the Moroccans vastly beat the Spanish to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Fateful penalty shootout for Spain against Morocco in Qatar 1:04
5. English solidity
Together with Spain, England reached the round of 16 as the highest scoring team with nine goals in the group stage.
And in their qualifying duel against Senegal, they showed that strength on offense: they scored two goals in the first half and another in the second half to finish off the game.
But that was not all, as the English also showed defensive solidity by leaving their goal at zero, something that other favorites (Brazil, France and Argentina) could not achieve.
In summary, a 3-0 that strengthens England as a firm candidate for the World Cup.
England thrashes Senegal and is among the top 8 in Qatar 2022 1:28
6. Without Cristiano, Portugal scores the biggest win in the round of 16
Portugal reached the round of 16 phase as the first place in Group H and, therefore, as the favorite to win their duel against Switzerland, who finished second in Group G and came one goal away from taking the lead from Brazil .
The Portuguese surprised with their starting lineup, since they left their figure and captain Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench;
However, this was not inconvenient, and with a great attack and collective play, Portugal was already thrashing 5-0 at minute 10 of the second half.
Cristiano came on shortly after, at minute 28, when the Swiss had made it 5-1 for the honor.
Lusitanian striker Rafael Leão scored one more goal in the final moments of the match to leave the final score 6-1.
Portugal celebrates their first goal of the match against Switzerland in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar 2022. This score was made by Gonçalo Ramos, who started as a starter for Cristiano Ronaldo and who ended up with a hat trick in the match.
(Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
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