Cape Town - And then there were 16!
The 2018 Soccer World Cup in Russia has reached the Round of 16 stage with some mouth-watering clashes scheduled for the next four days.
Defending champions Germany are the obvious major casualties having been eliminated following their dire performances in Group F which saw them finish bottom of the standings.
But 16 worthy nations will now fight for the biggest prize in football - and leading SA bookmakers BET.co.za have unsurprisingly installed five-time champions Brazil as 7/2 favourites, followed by 2010 winners, Spain, at 4/1.
Then come Belgium 13/2, England 15/2 and France 8/1.
Croatia (11/1) and Argentina (12/1) fall into the dark-horse category while it would be considered an upset if any of the remaining sides emerged victorious.
Round of 16 fixtures:
TOP HALF
SATURDAY, JUNE 30
France v Argentina - 16:00
Uruguay v Portugal - 20:00
MONDAY, JULY 2
Brazil v Mexico - 16:00
Belgium v Japan - 20:00
BOTTOM HALF
SUNDAY, JULY 1
Spain v Russia - 16:00
Croatia v Denmark - 20:00
TUESDAY, JULY 3
Sweden v Switzerland - 16:00
Colombia v England- 20:00