MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — If the World Cup was the NCAA basketball tournament, then teams like Morocco and the Netherlands would have some serious anger toward the selection and seeding committee right now.
England, Mexico, Portugal and Spain might not be all that happy, either.
Lionel Messi and Argentina, on the other hand, probably wouldn't complain much about their potential path to the World Cup final four.
The bracket is set for the knockout stage of the World Cup.
There was no selection committee; slots were predetermined — Group A winner on this line, Group D runner-up on this line, etc— so it wasn't exactly like how the NCAA tournaments go.
And Fifa doesn't reseed like some sports, so a couple lower seeds are certain to get into at least the Round of 16.
So, when taking the 32 qualifiers for the knockout stage and ranking them like it's an NCAA tournament — essentially seeding the field one to 32 based on the Fifa live rankings entering Sunday (June 28) — it's easy to see why some "regions" might be tougher to navigate than others.
A breakdown of the World Cup bracket:
Quarterfinal: July 9 at Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Round of 32 matchups: Number 12 Germany vs number 27 Paraguay, number two France vs number 26 Sweden, number 29 South Africa vs number 25 Canada (won 1-0 by Canada on Sunday), number seven Netherlands vs number six Morocco.
Outlook: Netherlands vs Morocco in the Round of 32 means that at least one of the seven highest-ranked teams left in the tournament won't even get to the Round of 16.
France and Germany — perennial European powers — could meet in the Round of 16.
And Canada (the first team through to the Round of 16 after winning the knockout stage opener over South Africa on Sunday) might have to change time zones twice on its way to the quarterfinals, while Germany, Paraguay, France and Sweden will all be in either Massachusetts, New Jersey or Pennsylvania in the Rounds of 32 and 16.
If the seeds hold: France would play Morocco in the quarterfinal.
Quarterfinal: July 10 at Inglewood, California.
Round of 32 matchups: Number eight Portugal vs number 13 Croatia, number three Spain vs number 18 Austria, number 14 US vs number 30 Bosnia and Herzegovina, number 10 Belgium vs number 17 Senegal.
Outlook: The US gets one of the lowest-ranked teams left in the tournament to open the Round of 32 and would remain in the Pacific time zone until the semifinals.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal did not get an easy draw at all, with Croatia right off the bat and then potentially Spain in the Round of 16. (Can't imagine Spain is too thrilled with this, either.)
Belgium vs Senegal is in Seattle, and the winner will stay there to play the US match winner; that's a big break for weary legs.
If the seeds hold: Spain would play Belgium in the quarterfinal.
Quarterfinal: July 11 at Miami Gardens, Florida.
Round of 32 matchups: Number 5 Brazil vs number 16 Japan, number 24 Ivory Coast vs number 19 Norway, number nine Mexico vs number 20 Ecuador, number four England vs number 28 Congo.
Outlook: Mexico and England will be heavily favoured in their Round of 32 matches, then would be in line to go head-to-head in the Round of 16 — in what would be a road game at Mexico City for England.
And Mexico is one of only two teams not to surrender a goal in the group stage, with Spain being the other.
Brazil gets a bit of an easier path to the quarterfinals, opening with Japan and then — if it wins — drawing the Ivory Coast-Norway winner.
If the seeds hold: Brazil would play England in the quarterfinal.
Quarterfinal: July 11 at Kansas City, Missouri.
Round of 32 matchups: Number one Argentina vs number 31 Cape Verde, number 22 Australia vs number 21 Egypt, number 15 Switzerland vs number 23 Algeria, number 11 Colombia vs number 32 Ghana.
Outlook: Again, there is no "selection committee", but if there was it would have gotten this one right by putting the best goalscorer in Argentina's Lionel Messi against the tournament's best story in Cape Verde in the Round of 32.
And Messi gets to be at home in Miami Gardens, a few miles from Inter Miami's stadium for that matchup.
Australia or Egypt awaits the Argentina match winner, Switzerland-Algeria has potential for a lot of goals, and Colombia faces a Ghana team with nothing to lose.
If the seeds hold: Argentina would play Colombia in the quarterfinal.
News and notes about the Round of 32 matchups:
France, Mexico and Argentina were the only teams to escape group play with 3-0-0 records.
There are four Round of 32 matchups between unbeaten teams: Netherlands (2-0-1) vs Morocco (2-0-1), Belgium (1-0-2) vs Senegal (1-0-2), Brazil (2-0-1) vs Japan (1-0-2) and Argentina (3-0-0) vs Cape Verde (0-0-3).
Expect some goals in France vs. Sweden (combined 17 goals in the group stage), Netherlands-Morocco (16), Belgium-Senegal (14), Brazil-Japan (14) and US-Bosnia and Herzegovina (13).
On the flip side, the first goal of Mexico-Ecuador might be that match's decider. Mexico wasn't scored on in group play and Ecuador surrendered only two goals in those three matches.
The semifinal matchups are the winner of the Foxborough quarterfinal against the winner of the Inglewood quarterfinal (at Arlington, Texas on July 14) and the winner of the Miami Gardens quarterfinal against the winner of the Kansas City quarterfinal (at Atlanta on July 15).
The final is at East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 19.
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