Monday go be full knockout games for 2026 FIFA World Cup, with heavyweights Brazil, Germany and Netherlands all dey look to take big steps to the final.
The day open for Houston when five-time champion Brazil take on Japan team wey perform well for group stages and wey also win matchup between the two teams for October.
For day second game, Germany dey heavily favored over Paraguay for Boston, but e fit be tricky for Die Mannschaft as the South American side don dey defend well and no don concede goal for im last two games.
The final game of the day na surprisingly strong matchup for round of 32 when two top-10 teams for FIFA World Rankings meet for Monterrey with Netherlands facing African powerhouse Morocco, wey make semifinals for 2022 and don continue to impress since then.
Brazil and Japan square off for round of 32 matchup at Houston Stadium on Monday for game wey feature two teams wey no lose any match for group stage.
Brazil win Group C, with seven points from wins over Haiti and Scotland, along with opening draw against Morocco. Carlo Ancelotti side finish atop the group only by goal differential over Morocco.
Despite winning the group, there be concerns say this Brazilian team no dey where e need to be to make deep run. After draw with Morocco, Ancelotti even go as far as apologizing say im team no play better.
The win over Haiti no too convincing and for win over Scotland, Brazil benefit from very poor Scottish mistakes.
The best news for Brazil na say VinÃcius Junior don live up to the high expectations wey dey on am leading into tournament. The Real Madrid attacker become the fifth Brazilian player to score for all three group stage games.
Brazil also see Neymar, 34, make 15-minute appearance off the bench against Scotland to end 981-day absence from the team. Neymar dey available for knockouts, but e remain to see how Ancelotti go rely on am.
Japan finish second for Group F behind Netherlands but ahead of Sweden and Tunisia. E no perfect, but Hajime Moriyasu team impress for long stretches for each game.
For 2-2 draw with Netherlands, Japan fit fight for two equalizers, including one for 88th minute from Daichi Kamada. After blowout win over Tunisia, Japan fight for 1-1 draw with Sweden.
The toughest challenge for Japan for this World Cup don be injuries. Before tournament, multiple starters, including Wataru Endo, no dey available for selection due to injuries wey dem sustain for spring. For this tournament, midfielder Takefusa Kubo suffer knee injury and dey questionable to return.
The history between the two teams greatly favor Brazil, wey don win six of im seven all-time meetings with Japan with score differential of 21-5. Recent history, however, favor Japan with the team only win over Brazil coming for the last match between the two for October 2025.
For that game for Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium, Brazil get 2-0 lead at halftime, but Japan make ferocious comeback wey feature two assists from Junya Ito and winning goal from Ayase Ueda.
Brazil dey favored for this game as e be one of the most historically powerful national teams with record five World Cup trophies for im collection. Meanwhile, Japan never win any knockout game for tournament.
But this game fit dey closer than people expect, given the way Japan don dey play for recent years and the confidence the team get for group stages.
Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti say im refuse to engage for ‘mind games’ ahead of round-of-32 World Cup clash with Japan on Monday.
The Seleção go take on Japan for one of the more evenly matched first knockout ties on paper. Both sides go unbeaten for dem groups.
Brazil settle for 1-1 draw with Morocco then beat Haiti and Scotland each 3-0 to qualify atop Group C. Japan, meanwhile, draw 2-2 with Netherlands before 4-0 win over Tunisia and 1-1 draw with Sweden to finish second for Group F.
Brazil go be favorites for Monday match, but Japan no don lose since 2-0 defeat to United States for September. Since then, Japan don go on 10-game unbeaten streak, including impressive wins over England at Wembley Stadium and Brazil for Tokyo.
And e dey follow that backdrop wey Kento Shiogai, the 21-year-old Wolfsburg striker wey don play just six minutes for Japan this tournament, allude to Brazil dey fallen giants.
‘I no go repeat wetin others talk. We dey focused on the match, on the opponent qualities, on preparing well to avoid problems,’ Ancelotti say. ‘That na wetin match preparation be about. We no dey do wetin dem call for England ‘mind games. How you dey say am for Portuguese? Mind games. We no dey go there.’
One of the big moments of Brazil win over Scotland na the return of Neymar, wey make im first Brazil appearance for over three years.
Neymar be added to the World Cup squad before im miss friendly matches against Panama and Egypt because of right calf injury. The Santos attacker also miss Brazil two opening matches of the World Cup.
But im return against Scotland and look impressive, much to the delight of Ancelotti, wey say im dey fit to play for more than the 15 minutes wey im accumulate against Scotland.
‘Neymar don progress very well. I think im improve a lot last week,’ Ancelotti say. ‘E be shame say im no fit train the whole time wey im dey with us. Im fit play more than 15 minutes. Im dey for good shape. But e depend a lot on the game context and how things develop tomorrow.’
After failing to get out of group play for 2022 and 2018, Germany return to knockout stages with hopes of making long run for pursuit of im fifth World Cup trophy.
Standing for im way go be Paraguay team wey rebound from ugly opening loss to United States to fight im way to win over Türkiye and draw with Australia. The teams go meet at Boston Stadium for Monday second game of the day.
Germany no don dey among the world elite teams since winning World Cup for 2014. The team bin group for the last two World Cups and im last two European Championships don also be unsuccessful with round of 16 loss for 2021 and quarterfinal loss for 2024.
The signs for this German team dey mixed. Die Mannschaft carry impressive 11-match winning streak into im final group stage game against Ecuador but suffer surprising 2-1 loss, albeit with heavily rotated squad.
Head coach Julian Nagelsmann get im team dey play with smooth and attacking style, driven by midfielders Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz, with Kai Havertz dey serve as primary attacking focal point.
Meanwhile, there no dey anything pretty about Paraguay road to this point. Im two results, 1-0 win over Türkiye and 0-0 draw with Australia, don be hard-fought grinds.
Against Türkiye, Paraguay score with surprising early goal from Matias Galarza but Miguel Almiron be send off for first half. La Albirroja only fit win after sitting deep and defending with 10 men.
For these last two games, Gustavo Alfaro team don be outshot 44-14 but no don concede goal due to combination of outstanding defense and luck. Against Germany, Paraguay go once again sit for low block and look for occasional counterattacks for set-piece opportunities.
Paraguay go dey very satisfied to see the game go to penalties.
For one of the most anticipated matchups for round of 32, Morocco and Netherlands square off at Monterrey Stadium for Mexico on Monday night.
For Netherlands, e impressively win im Group F with seven points from wins over Sweden and Tunisia along with draw. But e turn out to no be much of prize, as the Dutch dem reward with challenging matchup against Morocco team wey make semifinals for 2022 and now enter this game ranked seventh for FIFA World Rankings, one ahead of Netherlands.
Ronald Koeman team get strong attack wey dey led by winger Cody Gakpo and Brian Brobbey, wey each get two goals for tournament. The Dutch don also dey very strong on set pieces, with dem immensely talented central defense tandem of Virgil van Dijk and Jan Paul van Hecke each scoring goal.
If Morocco go pull off win, e go need to defend well against set pieces for one-on-one positions from out wide. For attack, the Atlas Lions go continue to rely heavily on forward Ismael Saibari, wey score for each of the three group stage games, and Real Madrid winger Brahim DÃaz, wey also notch two assists for the opening three games.
For expanded World Cup with new round of 32, e dey surprising to see two teams this strong for the first knockout game. Netherlands dey unbeaten for 15 World Cup matches, when no include penalties. Morocco dey unbeaten for 31 matches overall. Both teams get realistic expectations of dey for Final for three weeks.
