2022 FIFA World Cup Part 2: The Round of 16 Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Theoretically, the 16 top-ranked countries would have made the last 16 of this tournament. However, five did not. Which was the highest-ranked country that played in the Group phase that did not make the Round of 16?

Answer: Belgium

Italy ranked 6, and did not even qualify for the World Cup! The biggest surprise was Belgium, ranked 2 in the world, eliminated in the group phase. Denmark rated 10 in the world could only manage a single point out of nine in Group D. Mexico (13) only missed out on qualifying on goal difference and then by only a single goal. Uruguay (14) missed out by an even slimmer margin.

They had an identical goal difference to the Republic of Korea but Mexico scored fewer goals.

2. In the first match of the round of 16, Netherlands ranked 8 was drawn against which team ranked 16?

Answer: USA

The Netherlands were expected to win this cross-Atlantic match and had two goals in the net before halftime. The USA pulled back one in the 70th minute but when the Dutch team scored again in the 80th minute, it was all over. Final score Netherlands 3, USA 1.

3. In the second match in the Round of 16, Argentina ranked 3 were expected to easily beat Australia ranked 38. What was the final score?

Answer: Argentina 2 Australia 1

The Australians surprised everybody by winning two of their three group matches, qualifying with the same number of points as the more fancied France. However, the Australians were not intimidated by the South American powerhouse and played confidently.

It took 35 minutes for Lionel Messi to find the back of the net and the commentators expected more to follow. They grabbed another in the 57th minute but when Australia scored in the 77th minute, it was a frantic last 20 minutes. Argentina hung on with a final score of Argentina 2 Australia 1.

4. France was expected to dominate in their match against Poland and they did just that. How many goals did they score against the red and whites?

Answer: 3

Poland had sneaked into the Round of 16 with 4 points and goal difference. France dominated as expected and had three in the net before Poland worried the scorers. They salvaged a consolation goal by penalty in stoppage time. Final score France 3, Poland 1.

5. Senegal was the highest-ranked African nation coming into the 2022 World Cup. They were drawn against an in-form England. What was the score for this match?

Answer: England 3, Senegal 0

Senegal ranked 18, surprised no one by qualifying for the Round of 16. However, England lived up to their world ranking of 5 in the group phase, and was expected to win. The Senegalese were brave but England had two in the net by halftime and added another in the 57th minute. Senegal had some good chances but was unable to score. Final Score England 3, Senegal 0.

6. Picking a winner between giant-killers Japan and 2018 finalists Croatia was always going to be difficult and indeed the match was close. Which team progressed to the quarter finals?

Answer: Croatia won on penalty shoot-out 3-1

In the group phase, Japan accounted for Germany and Spain but lost to lower-ranked Costa Rica whereas Croatia had an undramatic unbeaten run in the group phase with a win and two draws. At the end of extra time of this match, the scores were still locked at 0-0, neither side prepared to lose more so than they tried to win.

In a penalty shoot-out, the pressure was on with every shot expecting to find the net, one miss could cost the match. In this case, both keepers did very well but Croatia triumphed 3-1.

7. Brazil ranked number 1, was expected to win over 28th placed Republic of Korea. How many goals did Brazil have on the board before the plucky Asian team scored late in the second half?

Answer: 4

Brazil has been such a World Cup high-flyer that commentators talk about a "World Cup drought" as, while they had won 5 World Cups coming into this competition, they had not won since 2002. (11 of the 16 teams in the Round of 16 had not even won once).

Brazil was back to their best in the first half of this match scoring four goals. However, it was a game of two halves. The South Koreans rallied and held Brazil scoreless in the second half, whilst managing to pull back a goal late in the half. Final score. Brazil 4, South Korea 1.

8. Morocco was the surprise packet in the group stage winning their group and then being drawn against one of the favourites in Spain this round. Who won?

Answer: Morocco on penalty shootout

Morocco (ranked #22) won their group with convincing wins over Canada 2-1 but then swamped second-ranked Belgium 2-0 as well as achieving a creditable draw with Croatia. Despite that, Spain (7) was expected to win this match. The Moroccans held Spain to a 0-0 draw after extra time.

In an extraordinary penalty shootout, Spain missed three attempts but Morocco netted their three to become the team to watch in the quarter-finals.

9. The last match in the round of 16 was between the most evenly ranked teams: Portugal (8) and Switzerland (15). Nevertheless, the aggregate score was the highest of the round. What was that score?

Answer: Portugal 6 Switzerland 1

In what was expected to be a close match, Portugal had found the back of the net four times before a Switzerland goal in the 58th minute gave them a sniff of getting back into the match. Alas, that was as close as they would get as Portugal netted a couple more to make a final score of 6-1.

10. At the end of the Round of 16, there were some interesting statistics. Which one of the following was *NOT* true?

Answer: No hat-tricks had been scored

Someone seems to manage to score a hat-trick every tournament. Before Qatar, the only occasion this did not occur since the World Cup started in1930 was in 2006. Perhaps the only surprising aspect of the first hat-trick in 2022 was it came in the Round of 16 where scores were expected to be lower than in the first stage. Portugal's Goncalo Ramos repeated his teammate's Cristiano Ronaldo 2018 effort by scoring a hat trick. He did this in Portugal's 6-1 win over Switzerland.

Morocco is the only team that had conceded only one goal after four matches. Costa Rica conceded 11 after three matches.

Source: Author 1nn1

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The group phase of 48 matches of the 2022 World Cup passed quickly and the knockout phase started the day after the group phase finished. In this section, 16 teams played a single match, the eight winners advancing to the quarter-finals.

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