Ladies and Gentlemen, we have our round of 16 finalists. Eight teams have been eliminated, 16 remain in with a chance of glory – including the hosts New Zealand. The knockouts are set, both the matches and the bracket now in place. The groups are over and from here on in there are no second chances.

But first we must bid farewell to the eight teams that fell. None more surprising than Argentina. The six-time champs were favourites for a seventh after winning the South American conference, but couldn’t manage a single win. Two draws and a loss and they were gone. Not very fair on the neutrals to be robbed of the undeniable quality of some of these Argentinian players but the results don’t lie. Angel Correa showed glimpses of the star he could become, but Gio “Son of Diego” Simeone especially will be wishing he could have a do-over.

Myanmar and Fiji weren’t expected to do much. Both were tournament debutants, and widely seen as whipping boys. Shockingly, Myanmar gave contenders USA a huge shock in game one when they took an unlikely lead before falling 2-1… yet that was as good as it got for them, thrashed by Ukraine and then New Zealand. They have something good in striker Aung Thu, though. As for Fiji, their dramatic 3-0 upset win over Honduras will go down in Fijian football lore. Fantastic. They go home last in their group – as everyone expected but in a fashion that nobody predicted.

Honduras will be kicking themselves for collapsing after their opening win over Uzbekistan. Even just a point against Fiji and they’d have gone through. But in Bryan Rochez they have a special player. Panama too, their draw against Argentina gave them hope only to fall hard in their other games, albeit not for lack of trying from the likes of Fidel Escobar. But with all but two of their players still based in Panama, they just didn’t quite have the talent.

The same can be said of Qatar and North Korea, both countries that get a very bad rap politically and are starting to emerge on the football field. They just don’t have the pedigree yet to produce enough players to compete globally.

As for Mexico, well they should have done better. They expected to do better. Yet they were sloppy up top and sloppy at the back and you don’t get too many chances in these situations. As their coach, Sergio Almaguer, said: "We just weren't clinical enough."

Portugal 3-1 Colombia

Portugal made yet another statement of intent in a game that surprisingly had relatively few chances. The Portuguese scored with all three of their shots on target. Nuno Santos gave them a third minute lead and they controlled the match from there. Andre Silva double the lead before half time from the penalty spot, and then added one more in the second half. Colombia did manage to pull one back through Santos Borre, Portugal’s first goal conceded all tournament and nothing more than a consolation as far as the match went – but crucial in keeping Colombia in second place.

Senegal 2-1 Qatar

Senegal left it late against a dogged Qatari side in a result that earned them third place in the group and eventually a spot in the next round. But against weaker opposition in a game they absolutely needed to win, they were awful in the first half. Lazy and bored, like they expected the result to be a formality. Well, they got a massive wake-up call 17 minutes in when Akram Afif scored from the penalty spot – a dodgy call from the ref but it’s not like Qatar weren’t already threatening. Finally Senegal levelled in the 76th minute after running the show for most of the game since falling behind, Alassane Sylla with a tinny finish before Moussa Kone won it five minutes later with a finish at the far post. No more than they deserved, but they definitely made it hard for themselves. That goal was the only one Qatar scored all tournament.

Serbia 2-0 Mexico

And with this, Serbia finish first while Mexico are eliminated. It was all up for grabs in group D, as every team came into their final game with a win and a loss. Nemanja Maksimovic scored almost immediately to put the Serbians in exactly the position they wanted to be in. Mexico were rocked, and it took them a while just to remember how to pass and control again, and once they did start playing with some fluidity, the Serbian Wall was long since finished construction. Andrija Zivkovic scored an outstanding free kick in the 43rd minute and his Serbian teammates repelled everything they had to after that.

Mali 1-1 Uruguay

A mutually beneficial result. In fact, too mutually beneficial. They had to draw lots to decide which team finished second and which third after they ended with identical results, goal differences and goals scored. Franco Acosta scored an opportunistic opener for Uruguay but Mali responded with a thunderbolt from an indirect free kick in the box. URU’s keeper Gaston Guruceaga (who was otherwise fantastic) picked up a clear back pass and Adama Traore slammed it in low to the far post to make it 1-1. Neither team really cared after that. Uruguay won the lottery and will face Brazil while Mali finish third and get Ghana. The word ‘won’ is used here in strict context.

Honduras 1-5 Germany

The Germans scored 16 goals in their three group games, a new U20 World Cup record. They had a weak group, but you cannot have asked for more from them to date. They face Nigeria next, who’ll be a big step up from what they’ve faced so far. Not that this team will be anything except prepared. Still, for a brief while they had a game here against Honduras. After an early penalty gave Germany the lead, the Hondurans hit back via the back of German keeper Marvin Schwabe after Bryan Rochez’s shot rebounded off the post. Super unlucky. Rochez nearly scored one of his own with a stunning chest and volley, but when Julian Brandt put the Europeans back on top, they ran away with it.

Fiji 0-3 Uzbekistan

Fiji – incredibly – came into this game knowing that a result could put them through to the knockouts. They didn’t get that result, instead having to defend pretty much from whistle to whistle, but can be damn proud of how they went. Uzbekistan had 70% possession and 40 total shots (FORTY!), yet it took 62 minutes and a goalkeeping howler for the deadlock to be broken – though once it was the score was doubled within a minute. Sadly, an injury-time third meant that Fiji dropped from third to fourth in group F, not that third place would have got them through either. Uzbekistan started the day in last but finished in second, booking a spot in the last 16 in impressive fashion.

Brazil 3-0 Korea DPR

The score was 3-0, but it really could have been 10. Or maybe more. In the end they only would have needed a draw anyway to seal first place, but that’s hardly the Brazilian way. They went for the throat against a North Korean side that had scored one and conceded eight in two games, only to find themselves banging their heads against a brick wall for an hour. After shots from here there and everywhere were all returned to sender, they finally took the lead thanks to a massive deflection for an own goal. So it goes. Jean Carlos added a beauty soon after and Leo Pereira settled it late. Brazil joining Portugal and Germany as the only perfect teams so far.

Also, you won’t see a worse double miss than this all year:

Hungary 0-2 Nigeria

This was a weird game because, based on how the draw worked out, the winner would play Germany next round while the loser got Serbia. Take your pick. Both teams were basically through anyway, yet it was Nigeria that were up for this one more. They bossed it all the way and took the points via a double to Taiwo Awoniyi. Bence Mervo couldn’t match his efforts earlier in the tournament and the Hungarians went down without much of a fight, though they won’t care too much.

The Main Men

Andre Silva (Portugal) – There have been a bunch of wonderful goalscorers in New Zealand these last couple weeks, and Andre Silva is one of the best.

Taiwo Awoniyi (Nigeria) – Two slick looking goals, his first two of the tournament. Nigeria is stacked with attacking options and they’re all in pretty decent form. Watch out Germany.

Javokhir Sokhibov (Uzbekistan) – The Uzbek captain was immense against Fiji. He didn’t get a goal or an assist for his efforts but he completely ran the show.

Bryan Rochez (Honduras) – It’s just a shame this lad is going home because he is a fantastic player. Capable of creating things from nothing, he stood out completely in a Honduran side that otherwise fell far below expectations.

GOOOOOOOOALS!

Top Goal Scorers

1. Viktor Kovalenko (Ukraine) – 5
2. Marc Stendera (Germany) – 4
3. Andre Silva (Portugal) – 4
4. Bence Mervo (Hungary) – 4
5. Hany Mukhtar (Gernamy) – 3
6. Niklas Stark (Germany) – 3

Round of 16