Paraguay is the sole survivor among third-placed teams in World Cup last 16
Of the eight best third-placed teams that reached the World Cup knockout rounds, only Paraguay remains in contention, with a match against France scheduled for Saturday.
Tombeur de l'Allemagne en 16es de finale (1-1 a.p., 4-3 aux t.a.b.), le Paraguay est le seul des meilleurs troisièmes de groupe à poursuivre l'aventure. (S. Mantey/L'Équipe)
Paraguay is the only survivor among the eight best third-placed teams that qualified for the knockout stages of the World Cup. After finishing third in Group D, they secured their spot in the last 16 by defeating Germany on penalties (1-1 after extra time, 4-3 in the shootout).
Paraguay is now set to face France in the Round of 16, with the match scheduled for Saturday at 23:00 in Philadelphia. Other third-placed qualifiers, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador, Sweden, Senegal, Algeria, DR Congo, and Ghana, have all been eliminated.
Group D nearly saw a full sweep, with all three of its representatives advancing. However, Australia, who finished second, were eliminated by Egypt on penalties. Consequently, only the United States and Paraguay continued their journey from that group.
Meanwhile, groups E and F, which had successfully qualified three teams each for the knockout stage, no longer have any representatives left in the tournament. Teams such as Germany, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, the Netherlands, Japan, and Sweden have all been knocked out.