- Round of 16
In
sport , the Round of 16 is a stage of a knockout competition in which sixteen teams remain in the competition. It consists of eight matches, with the winner of each proceeding to thequarter final stage of the competition. For this reason it is also occasionally called the Final Eight or Eight-finals round. The term is used most commonly to refer to theFIFA World Cup and to tennis competitions. The term can be extended to Round of 32 or Round of 64 for larger tournaments, the number referring to the number of competitors or teams remaining in the tournament.FIFA World Cup
In the World Cup, the Round of 16 is the second elimination round in the FIFA World Cup Finals Tournament, and is also the first round of the knockout stage.
In the initial
group stage of World Cup tournament play, the contenders are divided into eight groups of four teams each. In each group, each team plays all the other teams in that group, and the teams are ranked based on a point system for wins, losses, and draws. At the conclusion of the group stage, the two highest-ranked teams from each group then move on to the Eight-finals. In this round, the winning team from each group plays the runner-up from another group, resulting in a total of eight matches for the round. The Eight-finals marks the first round of what is termed the "knockout stage" because during this and subsequent rounds, the loser of any match is automatically eliminated (or "knocked out") from the tournament. At the completion of the Round of 16, the winners of each match (eight total) then move on to the quarter-finals.References
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