FIFA World Cup 2018: From Jordan Pickford, Kasper Schmeichel shining bright to Neymar's playacting, highs and lows of last-16

Upsets, red cards, penalty shootouts, wonderful goals, last-minute heartbreaks, video game celebrations – the 2018 World Cup’s first knockout stage served up drama aplenty, setting the tournament up nicely for the climax that beckons. As the World Cup gathers a head of steam heading into the quarter-finals, here we take a look at the highs and lows of the Round of 16 and why the quarter-finals promise a lot more.

The highs

Goals

It’s been a World Cup of wondrous goals and the Round of 16 clashes didn’t disappoint on that front. Right from the first knockout game between France and Argentina, high-quality goals have flown past hapless goalkeepers and it was Angel Di Maria’s stunner from range that kicked things off. Benjamin Pavard followed that up with an outside-of-the-boot rocket, while Kylian Mbappe put the finishing touch to a wonderful team effort to put the game beyond Argentina.

Elsewhere, Edinson Cavani’s brace against Portugal was a mix of individualism and teamwork; his stunning winner followed a thumping header created via a long one-two with Luis Suarez. Takashi Inui’s inch-perfect finish from distance against Belgium and Jan Vertonghen’s looping header from an impossible angle and distance in the same match are also worth mentioning.

Goalkeeping

While some of the goalkeeping at this World Cup has been hapless at best, the Round of 16 games saw a spike in the quality of shotstopping. Goalkeepers instantly become the focus of attention when the knockout stages come about, mainly due to penalty shootouts coming into the equation. With three out of the eight games involving shootouts, we were to witness some of the finest goalkeeping displays in the last-16.

Russia captain Igor Akinfeev – who is much-maligned in European football for his inability to keep clean sheets – saved two of Spain’s five penalties in the shootout to knock the 2010 champions out. The Croatia vs Denmark clash saw two goalkeepers in top form. Both Kasper Schmeichel and Danijel Subasic saved three penalties each, although Schmeichel’s extra-time effort to keep Luka Modric’s spot-kick out ultimately proved futile.

England’s Jordan Pickford also rose to the occasion against Colombia in the penalty shootout by denying Carlos Bacca but his flying save to keep Mateus Uribe from scoring in regulation time also deserves a lot of credit.

End of hoodoos

England put their penalty demons to bed with the shootout win over Colombia, a first in World Cup history. It also ended the Three Lions’ losing streak in major tournament shootouts stretching back 22 years. The World Cup might not come home this summer, but England’s long-standing shootouts hoodoo has certainly gone home.

Elsewhere, Sweden also ended a 24-year wait to go past the Round of 16, while hosts Russia’s dream World Cup gets even better as they have now eclipsed their best ever run (made at this World Cup itself) at the tournament to reach the quarter-finals.

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The lows

Spain’s passing

Spain completed 1,031 passes against Russia but it all translated into a single goal which wasn’t even enough to take them to the quarter-finals. La Roja were chocked in the attacking third by a Russian team that defended in numbers and managed only a set-piece goal. Spain, whose death by passing football was a thing to behold at the turn of this decade, could be said to have died by 1,000 passes on this occasion.

Spain’s passing numbers were a record in the World Cup but their subsequent failure to progress past the stubborn hosts will always put that record in poor light, certain quarters even suggesting short-sightedly that possession football has now seen its end.

Playacting

Long-time heroes of this art, Luis Suarez and Neymar were at it again in the Round of 16. While Suarez isn’t the most subtle or mobile of players around considering he is now into his 30s, the Uruguayan was in his elements against Portugal, earning freekicks from minimal contacts and staying on the ground as long as possible.

His former Barcelona teammate, Neymar, is no stranger to excesses and he was also seen writhing in agony on a few occasions against Mexico. The regularity of such antics continues to blur the lines between real and fake injuries, something that only a select few like the perpetrators can help to change.

Professional fouls

Professional fouls are less harshly punished these days, but they nevertheless serve to do more harm than good to the competitiveness of the game. Denmark’s Mathias Jorgensen deserved to get sent off but didn’t for his tackle from behind on Croatia’s Ante Rebic – who had an empty goal to put the ball into – in extra time, while Switzerland’s Michael Lang had no such luck as his push on Martin Olsson and subsequent red card put the last rites on his team’s World Cup hopes.

Last-man fouls are certainly ill-advised, but they are called ‘professional’ for a reason. Players getting sent off often make matches lopsided, which is the last thing one would expect in the climax of the World Cup.

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