Yahoo Sports World Cup matches today: The full list of Qatar 2022 fixtures and predictions for December 3
The group stage of the Qatar World Cup is over and 16 teams have progressed to the knockouts. They are Netherlands, Senegal, England, USA, Argentina, Poland, France, Australia, Morocco, Croatia, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Switzerland, Portugal and South Korea.
The 22nd edition of the quadrennial tournament, which began way back in 1930, is also the first to be held in an Arab country. The State of Qatar is the smallest country in size (11,600 km2) and population (2.7 million) ever to host.
The World Cup featured eight groups of four teams before the top two from each went through to a knockout round of 16, followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
This format will be changed for the World Cup 2026 when the tournament will be expanded to 48 teams as the USA, Mexico and Canada co-host.
All World Cup matches today
Netherlands vs USA, 3pm, BBC 1
Argentina vs Australia, 7pm, BBC 1
Today's match predictions
By Jason Burt in Doha
Netherlands 1 USA 1 (3pm, BBC 1)
Both teams are unbeaten. Both are well-organised. The USA's high-energy, pressing style could cause the Dutch problems while Louis van Gaal has course and distance and confidence in his team. This could go all the way to a penalty shoot-out, with the Dutch edging it.
Argentina 3 Australia 0 (7pm, BBC 1)
Ominously, Argentina got better as the group stages progressed and were impressive in the win over Poland. Australia performed superbly to finish runners-up ahead of Denmark and Tunisia so should not be under-estimated, but Messi and Co will have too much.
When are the knockout stages?
The knockout stages of this year's World Cup begin today with the round of 16, before moving through to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. The first round of 16 match is on Saturday, December 3 at 3pm.
What date is the World Cup 2022 final?
The last match of the World Cup will take place on Qatar National Day – Sunday, December 18. It will kick-off at 3pm UK time (6pm in Qatar, 10am ET, 9am CT and 7am PT) at the 80,000-seater Lusail Stadium.
Where is the next World Cup taking place?
The World Cup 2026 will be held across three host countries - America, Canada and Mexico - in a tournament first after the trio's bid fended off a strong proposal from Morocco. The competition matches will be played across 16 different cities - 11 from America, two in Canada and three in Mexico.
This article is kept updated with the latest information.
