tomorrow's matches
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
First, here are the Round of 16 matches that are already set:
Saturday, June 30: Uruguay-Portugal, France-Argentina.
Sunday, July 1: Spain-Russia, Croatia-Denmark.
On to tomorrow:
Group F: Mexico-Sweden, South Korea-Germany. Not sure why, but Group F plays before Group E. This is a complicated group. Despite having won both of their first two matches, Mexico is not yet guaranteed to go through. Despite losing both of their first two matches, South Korea still has a shot at advancing. There are a bunch of 3-way tie scenarios. I can't keep up ... if you're interested, check out ESPN's explanation. I'm rooting for Mexico, and a win or a draw puts them through at the top of the table. That simplifies things, so hey, El Tri, win or draw tomorrow! Another possible simplifier: if Mexico wins or draws, and Germany beats South Korea (which seems likely), Mexico and Germany will finish first and second. But ... if Sweden beats Mexico, well ... read that ESPN thing.
Group E: Serbia-Brazil, Switzerland-Costa Rica. Costa Rica is out. Beyond that, anything goes. One note: when these matches are played, the Group F results will be in, which means we'll know which teams from Group F will play which teams from Group E. Say Mexico and Germany finish 1-2. Then the first-place team in Group E will play Germany, the second-place team will play Mexico. This will be more apparent once Group E action begins. I'm guessing the group will be Brazil and then Switzerland, which would set up the proverbial mouth-watering quarter-final match between Brazil and Germany. But I'm getting ahead of myself.