- Thursday, March 06, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The group stage of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar concluded on Friday (2) with 16 teams advancing from eight groups to the pre-quarter finals. There were quite a few upsets and top teams such as Germany and Belgium failed to make it beyond the preliminary stage. Teams from Asia and Africa staged some upsets proving that they were not fast catching up with the dominant sides from Europe and Latin America while Qatar crashed out of the tournament in the group stage without winning a single match, the worst for any hosts in the 92-year-old history of football’s biggest show on earth.
Here are how the pre-quarterfinal matches are lined up at the World Cup:
Match 1: Netherlands vs United States on Saturday (3) at Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan
Head to head: Netherlands lead 4-1 in five encounters
Match 2: Argentina vs Australia on Saturday at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan
Head to head: Netherlands lead 5-1 in seven encounters with one draw
Match 3: France vs Poland on Sunday (4) at Al Thumama Stadium, Doha
Head to head: France lead 8-3 in 16 encounters with five draws
Match 4: England vs Senegal on Sunday at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor
Head to head: They haven’t played each other till now
Match 5: Japan vs Croatia on Monday (5) at Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah
Head to head: Both have won one game each in three encounters with one draw
Match 6: Brazil vs South Korea on Monday at Stadium 974, Doha
Head to head: Brazil lead 6-1 in seven encounters
Match 7: Morocco vs Spain on Tuesday (6) at Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan
Head to head: Spain lead 2-0 in three encounters with one draw
Match 8: Portugal vs Switzerland on Tuesday at Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail
Head to head: Switzerland lead 11-9 in 25 encounters with five draws
