The World Cup finals tournament has already featured several premier matches in the best of 32.
part of the bracket Easier path for some teams than others.
Three games will be played on Monday, starting with Brazil vs. Japan in Houston. The Brazilians, who have won Group C five times, will face a formidable opponent in Japan, who are ranked 17th in the world. Japan finished Group F in 2nd place with one win and two draws.
Group E winners Germany will face Paraguay in the second match of the day. Germany scored 10 goals, tied for the most of any team in the group stage. Paraguay fights back After losing to America 4-1 After defeating Turkey and drawing with Australia, they finished 3rd in Group D and narrowly qualified for the final round.
The nightcap is a match-up of the top 10 teams as the Netherlands take on Morocco. While the Netherlands are often regarded as the best country to never win a World Cup, Morocco have risen to the ranks of soccer’s elite in recent years after an unexpected run to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Highlights of June 29th
— Brazil vs. Japan, 1 p.m. EDT, Houston (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)
— Germany vs. Paraguay, 4:30 p.m. EDT, Foxborough, Mass. (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)
— Netherlands vs. Morocco, Monterrey, Mexico, 9 p.m. ET (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)
The match between Brazil and Japan will feature countries with close ties.
these countries have a very strong bond Approximately 2.7 million people of Japanese descent live in Brazil, making it the largest population of Japanese descent outside of Japan.
Those connections extended to soccer, too, with Brazilian superstar Zico coming to Japan to play for Kashima Antlers in 1991 and helping to build Japan’s professional soccer network. He coached the Japanese national team from 2002 to 2006, leading the team to victory in the 2006 World Cup.
This World Cup saw both teams play their first and only meeting of the tournament, with Brazil winning 4-1.
Brazil leads the series overall with 11 wins. Both teams fought to two draws, with Japan earning its first win over Brazil in a friendly match in Tokyo in October. Japan led 2-0 at halftime, but came back to win 3-2.
Coach Hajime Moriyasu believes this victory will influence how he approaches his Brazilian team on Monday.
“They will be even more motivated to play against us,” he said. “They are keen to beat us, so I feel the game will be very competitive.”
The winner will face the winner of Ivory Coast vs. Norway on July 5 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Germany returns to the finals tournament for the first time since 2014
It was Germany’s first return to the finals since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when they defeated Argentina 1-0 and won their fourth World Cup.
The person leading that hope is coach Julian Naglesmann. He will be 38 years and 341 days old as of Monday, making him the youngest coach to reach the finals since France’s Henri Michel in 1986.
Paraguay have played in five matches in the knockout stage but have failed to score in any of them. They have only won once in these matches, winning on penalties against Japan in the Round of 16 in 2010.
Coach Naglesman said of Paraguay, “They play very defensive soccer.” “They will be an unpleasant opponent for us and will ask us a lot of questions.”
Paraguay are expected to be without defender Omar Alderete, who is doubtful to play after sustaining a knee injury in the second half of the 0-0 draw against Australia. Jose Canale is expected to start in his place.
Paraguay captain Gustavo Gomez said, “It’s going to be a game where every detail will be important.” “We need to focus and compete to take advantage of every opportunity.”
The winner will play the winner of France and Sweden on July 4 in Philadelphia.
Netherlands vs Morocco, Round of 32 Premier Showdown
Monday night’s match between the Netherlands and Morocco will be the top-ranked match of the Round of 32.
The Netherlands, ranked 7th in the rankings, passed Group F in first place after a draw with Japan and big wins over Sweden and Tunisia. Morocco, ranked sixth in the world, drew 1-1 with Brazil in their opening match, then beat Scotland and Haiti to finish second in Group C.
The Netherlands has long been It was best not to win. In the tournament, they lost all three final matches played. The Netherlands’ last loss in a final was in extra time against Spain in 2010, which was also the last time the Netherlands lost within 120 minutes of a World Cup match.
The Netherlands have not lost in the last six games they have played against African countries at the World Cup.
In 2022, Morocco defeated Spain and Portugal to become the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals, but lost to France. Atlas Lions were also declared the winners of the 2025 African Cup of Nations.
“The team is of course very well prepared,” said Moroccan goalkeeper Yassin Bounou. “We will face whatever happens in the 90th minute, 120th minute or penalty kick. We have great football players and we have the experience to face these problems.”
The Netherlands’ 2-1 victory over Morocco in 1994 was the only World Cup match between the two countries.
The winner will play Canada in the round of 16 on Saturday in Houston.
More World Cup news
— Austria’s last two goals narrowly eliminated Iran from the turbulent World Cup.
— Messi extends his scoring record for the first time in World Cup history by scoring in 7 consecutive games
— Austria and Algeria exchange goals in stoppage time to earn a 3-3 draw and advance to the World Cup.
— For Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, money can’t buy success at the World Cup
— Canada defeats South Africa 1-0 thanks to late goal from Stephen Eustaquio in first World Cup finals
— Photos from Day 18 of the World Cup
statistics of the day
— Canada wins the first game of the World Cup finals, advancing to the Round of 16 for the first time.
— 9 out of 10 African countries advanced to the knockout round This year’s World Cup record is the best in the continent’s history. Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cape Verde, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo and Algeria all made it to the last 32. Tunisia was the only country eliminated in the group stage.
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AP Sports Writers Kyle Hightower, Dave Skretta and Christie Rieken, as well as University of Georgia Carmical Sports and Media Institute students Maya Calder Ramirez and Ethan Wilcox, contributed to this report.
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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
