There were a number of Round of 16 games that took place throughout the weekend,
As the group stages of the FIFA World Cup came to an end, the round of 16 kicked off with a game between Group A winners the Netherlands and Group B runners-up the United States.
The Dutch seemed to be favourites to win the game, and they did exactly that. They picked up a 3-1 victory against the United States thanks to three different goals from three different players, the first coming just in the 10th minute of the game, scored by FC Barcelona player Memphis Depay, who gave the Dutch a 1-0 lead. From there on, the Dutch extended their lead, and by the time the United States got their first goal, it was already the 76th minute of the game, scored by Wright, making the score 2-1. However, the spirits of the United States came crashing down again as the Dutch scored again, thanks to Denzel Dumfries, who scored in the 81st minute to make the score 3-1 and send the Netherlands to the quarterfinals.
The next game of the round of 16 took place on the 4th of December at 12:30 a.m. (IST) when group C winners Argentina faced the runners-up of Group D, Australia. The game seemed to be pretty one-sided as Argentina captain Lionel Messi scored the first goal in the 35th minute of the game, which was followed by a second goal by Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez in the 57th minute of the game to double their lead against the Australian side.
However, in the 77th minute, due to an unfortunate deflection by Fernandez, who ended up scoring an own goal, it gave the Australians some hope. However, the Argentina backline held on till the last minute of the game and made sure that the Australians did not make any type of comeback, securing their place in the next round.
Argentina and the Netherlands will now face each other in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup at 12:30 a.m. (IST) on the 10th of December.
Meanwhile, defending champion France defeated Robert Lewandowski and his Poland team by a 3-1. The match's first goal came in the 44th minute from Giroud, now France's all-time leading goal scorer. He has now scored 52 international goals for France in 116 appearances. After that, it was the French wonder-kid Kyllian Mbappe who scored goals in the 74th and 91st minutes to make the score 3-0. However, Poland was given a penalty kick in the last play of the game, and it was scored by Robert Lewandowski, who scored his second goal for Poland in the World Cup.
To cap off the first two days of the round of 16, England faced Senegal, which turned out to be one of the easiest and most one-sided games from the start. England dominated the first half, with their skipper and last World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane ending his goal drought in the tournament in the 45th minute with his first goal in this Qatar World Cup. Henderson scored for Liverpool in the 38th minute to give the Three Lions a 1-0 lead. As the second half kicked off, Bukayo Saka scored the third goal, ensuring England would go through to the next round. There was a wonderful performance by Manchester wonder boy Phil Foden as he provided two assists to make life easier for his teammates, thereby contributing to the scoreline.
England will now face France in the Quarter Finals on December 11th, 1230 (IST).
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