World Cup Power Ranking: Where every team stands heading into the knockout round

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The group stage of the 2018 World Cup is settled, leaving football fans with just 16 teams remaining in the fight to lift the trophy.

With the knockout bracket officially set, a "side of death" has emerged, featuring four of the top five teams in the world, that should make for some compelling football.

Below we take stock of every team's chances as they stand just four wins away from World Cup glory.

Chances to win based on FiveThirtyEight's Soccer Power Index ratings.

 

Here's the knockout bracket heading into the second stage of the tournament:

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As the tournament played out, the bracket proved to grow somewhat unbalanced, resulting in a "side of death" that features four of the top five teams in the FIFA rankings —Brazil, Belgium, Portugal, and Argentina — all competing for one spot in the final. Opposite them, teams like Spain, Croatia, and England were dealt what looks like a much easier path to the final, as long as they can take care of business in their opening matches.

You can keep up with the schedule and all of the results of the World Cup as they happen here.

16. Russia

Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

Chance to win: 1%

Knockout round opponent: Spain (July 1)

One thing to know: While the host nation put on quite a show with eight goals through its first two matches against Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Russia was exposed in its 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Uruguay. Facing off against Spain in the knockout round, it would take a whole lot of home-field advantage to see the team through to the quarterfinal.

15. Japan

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Chance to win: <1%

Knockout round opponent: Belgium (July 2)

One thing to know: Samurai Blue was the last team to qualify for the knockout round, advancing on the “fair play” tiebreaker and leaving Senegal wondering how its World Cup trip got cut short. Japan has shown balance and discipline through the tournament, and is capable of stealing a goal against a superior opponent, but don’t expect a miracle run to the final.

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