Most would say any real competition starts when the playoffs begin. For the most part that is true but the ongoing World Cup has brought us great upsets in the group stage already and the competitiveness of the so-called ‘little’ teams has been through the roof. The eight-finals start with the Netherlands and the USA locking horns and looking to make it to the tournaments top eight.Louis van Gaal’s side were widely expected to advance to the last 16 as Group A winners and did not let the Oranje faithful down, taking seven points from their three matches. The Tulips topped their group smoothly and now face one of the youngest teams of the World Cup – the United States of America. The Stars and Stripes placed second in Group B behind England and are full of enthusiasm and optimism before the big clash.Concerns have arisen over the Netherlands’ style of play at this World Cup, with Oranje only having eight shots on target so far, but Van Gaal has dismissed such worries as the 2010 runners-up prepare to tackle the World Cup knockout rounds once again.By topping Group A, the Netherlands kept up their remarkable streak of progressing to the last 16 in every World Cup they have played in since 1934, and they have only been eliminated at this stage twice in the past 32 years – once in 1990 and then again in 2006.Only five teams remain undefeated in the World Cup:NetherlandsEnglandUSAMoroccoCroatiaJust as expected 😅 pic.twitter.com/S5I1SIDxdS— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 2, 2022 Breakout star Cody Gakpo became just the fourth man in Netherlands history to score in three successive World Cup matches.Since their Euro 2020 elimination at the hands of the Czech Republic, the Netherlands have strung together an impressive 18-game unbeaten streak in all competitions, and Van Gaal is now out to record an 11th World Cup game without defeat – going level with second-placed Mario Zagallo and one behind the all-time record of 12 held by Felipe Scolari.As for the Yankees, apart from the ambition to go as far as possible at this tournament – they are planning to groom this young team for the next World Cup 2026 that will be played on home soil. The Americans are doing quite well in Qatar but there is obviously work to do if they wish to do great in four years.The Stars and Stripes also got as far as the last 16 in 2010 and 2014 before being eliminated, and a quarter-final appearance came the way of the U.S. as recently as 2002. Still, recent history against European nations in the World Cup does not favour Gregg Berhalter’s crop. The USA have not beaten a UEFA team in the World Cup since 2002 – drawing six and losing five versus such sides since then – and their three previous knockout games against European nations at the World Cup have all ended in defeat.The do-or-die group stage victory over Iran marked a first win in six matches across all tournaments for the Stars and Stripes, who lost their first four clashes with the Netherlands in friendly encounters, but they recorded a stunning 4-3 win over Oranje as recently as 2015.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Van Gaal has almost all of his troops available. Defender Jeremie Frimpong suffered an injury scare with his ankle on Wednesday before making a return to full training on Thursday, but Denzel Dumfries was always expected to line up on the right anyway. Matthijs de Ligt and Nathan Ake are walking a tightrope and will miss any potential quarter-final match should they receive yellow cards here.The in-demand PSV Eindhoven starlet Gakpo aims to become the first-ever Dutchman to score in four successive World Cup matches and pretty much an unchanged lineup could very well be on the cards for Oranje here.Berhalter’s situation is a bit more gloomy coming into this match. Pulisic is being monitored daily after suffering a pelvic contusion while scoring the winner against Iran, but the Chelsea attacker affirmed that he would be fine for Saturday in a congratulatory social media message posted from his hospital bed.Josh Sargent is trying to recover from a an injured ankle and the extent of the damage will not become clear until the results of scans come through. Weston McKennie is reported to be dealing with a quad problem to hand the USA another selection headache. Even so, all three players are said to have good chances of being fit for the last-16 clash, so Berhalter will certainly look to stick with an untouched starting line-up.There will be energy galore on the pitch this afternoon, no doubt about that – but who can channel that energy more cleverly remains to be seen.Cody Gakpo and Christian Pulisic trained together at PSV Eindhoven back in 2013. Today, they face-off in the first Round of 16 tie when Netherlands 🇳🇱 takes on the USA 🇺🇸 at 1500hrs GMT. pic.twitter.com/A58p8Aj6rb— Usher Komugisha (@UsherKomugisha) December 3, 2022 QATAR 2022 WORLD CUP ROUND OF 16Saturday18:00: (2.15) Netherlands (3.20) USA (4.00)22:00: (1.27) Argentina (5.90) Australia (14.0)Sunday18:00: (1.35) France (5.30) Poland (10.0)22:00: (1.60) England (3.80) Senegal (7.25)Monday18:00: (3.80) Japan (3.15) Croatia (2.25)22:00: (1.30) Brazil (5.80) S.Korea (12.0)Tuesday18:00: (7.25) Morocco (3.70) Spain (1.62)22:00: (2.00) Portugal (3.40) Switzerland (4.30)***odds are subject to change
