World Cup Round of 16 game thread — Swiss Miss...Portugal shellacks Rossocrociati 6-1; Morocco stuns Spain in PKs

The FIFA 2022 Men’s World Cup is upon us. Follow along the day-by-day action in each day’s game thread. It’s the last day of the Round of 16, and after this, the first gap in the schedule since the tournament began before we regroup for the Quarter-Finals.

Dec 6: Round of 16

• Morocco vs Spain | 10AM EST
• Portugal vs Switzerland | 2PM EST

If Spain thought that landing on the other half of the bracket would be beneficial to them, they might have another thing coming. Bayern Munich’s Noussair Mazraoui forms one half of perhaps the tournament’s most dynamic fullback pairing, with Real Madrid’s Achraf Hakimi on the other side. Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat has been a revelation as well, and Chelsea FC winger Hakim Ziyech is rejuvenated in his return to the national side. If Luis Enrique’s FC Barcelona-laden squad aren’t at their sharpest, they might just find themselves dumped out.

Meanwhile, it’s a club-less Cristiano Ronaldo leading Portugal against Switzerland. Arsenal FC’s Granit Xhaka, Borussia Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel, and Manchester City’s Manuel Akanji will all be chomping at the bit to make a run this time, and have particularly impressed with their displays against Brazil and Serbia in the group stage.

TV/Streaming: Peacock Premium (USA, en español); BBC/ITV (UK); Find Your Country

If you’d like to check back on our pre-tournament predictions and have a laugh about how badly we got it wrong, we’ve got you covered:

Groups A & B | Groups C & D | Groups E & F | Groups G & H

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