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At the end of an electrifying group stage, which saw a total of 120 goals scored across 48 matches, everyone had a chance to catch their breath for all of 16 hours between the final Group G match-ups of this morning and tomorrow's Round of 16 opener between the Netherlands and USA. This will be closely followed by Australia's date with Lionel Messi and Argentina on Sunday at 6am (AEDT).
During the break between games, Socceroos greats Bosnich and Foster took it upon themselves to break down who they perceived the tournament front-runners to be after witnessing three scintillating rounds of group stage action from the SBS studios couch in Sydney.
While both analysts agreed on some familiar names in the running for the coveted trophy, particularly those that were noted as favourites ahead of the tournament, there were also some dark horses that entered the discussion.
"Brazil will win - I’ll say a Brazil-France final," said Foster.
"Who’s impressed me the most? Brazil thus far," said Bosnich.
"They are the strongest team closely followed by England and there are other teams that are coming to the fore – Argentina and Spain, and Croatia are there too so don’t underestimate them.
"Netherlands as well, even though they had a bit of a hiccup against Ecuador.
“Those are the main ones, but watch out for the USA as well – they are very, very organised."
The road to the 2022 FIFA World Cup final.
The Samurai Blue shocked the world by topping Group E with respective 2-1 victories against European heavyweights Spain and Germany, off the back of some heroics from goalkeeper Schichi Gonda and stand-out performances from defender Maya Yoshida and attackers Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano to name a few.
Spain, in turn will face another tournament surprise packet in Morocco in the final 16, after the African nation beat out both Croatia and Belgium to top Group F.
A shock 2-0 victory ultimately eliminated the latter, while the CAF affiliates also managed to hold Luka Modric's side to a draw on the strength of some impressive showings from full-back Achraf Hakimi, attacker Hakim Ziyech and midfield anchor Sofyan Amrabat among others throughout the group stage.
Senegal managed to escape Group A without injured talisman Sadio Mane after a dramatic victory over Ecuador, and could look to surprise England on Monday (AEDT) with in-form Watford forward Ismaïla Sarr and Chelsea stars Édouard Mendy and captain Kalidou Koulibaly up their sleeve defensively.
Though those teams pose serious threats to Bosnich's list of contenders, it will be the Socceroos standing in the way of a third-ranked Argentina tomorrow.
While Lionel Scaloni's side is heavily favoured to defeat the Aussies and eventually claim the tournament in the eyes of some, both analysts believe that fellow South American nation Brazil stands a better chance.
Despite the current injury concerns surrounding talisman Neymar, both Foster and Bosnich noted how the depth across the entire Seleção squad could see them through to a tournament win.
Even with the absence of their star man, head coach Tite still has the attacking exploits of Richarlison, Gabriel Jesus, Vinícius Júnior, Raphinia, Rodrygo, Antony, Pedro and Gabriel Martinelli to choose from, as well as the defensive stability found in goalkeeper Alisson and the formidable centre-back pairing of Thiago Silva and Marquinhos.
“Brazil will win because they’ve got more attacking talent than others, so they can deal with fatigue, injuries and people who can actually win the game and not just create for someone else," Foster said.
“So, they have a lot of different goal scorers and creators, but the most important thing is their defence is strong.
“They haven’t been tested too much yet in the group stage but their defence is stronger than Spain, stronger than Germany - it’s probably the strongest defence in the competition. And so, that’s going to be critical, and I [also] think in the end their individual attacking quality will be telling.”
"With their squad depth as well, Brazil has just been a bit of a level above everyone," Bosnich added.
“But now when we come to the knock-out stages, as the last game in the group stages for some teams has been, is different as it’s one-off, so anything can happen.”
How to watch the Round of 16 tomorrow LIVE and FREE on SBS
Sunday, December 4
Netherlands v USA
1:30am - 4:30am (AEDT) - kickoff at 02.00am
LIVE on SBS and SBS On Demand
Argentina v Australia
5:00am - 8:30am (AEDT) - kickoff at 06.00am
LIVE on SBS and SBS On Demand
