Full disclosure – I picked Germany to win but they weren’t good enough over the three games.  Sweden and Mexico were, so the defending champions bowed out in the group stage.

Group B, D and F have all had dramatic final games with last minute results changing which teams advanced.

Sweden & Mexico advance, Germany bows out- if you picked the Group F finish, you should go and purchase a lottery ticket today because it was a thing of luck.

If you are German or support Germany, there is no chance you picked Germany last.  If you are Swedish, it is possible you picked Sweden to win it all, but likely the other three you got wrong.

If you are Mexican or supporting Mexico, the same thing applies – you might have picked Mexico to win the group but unlikely as a second place behind Sweden.

South Korea, well they deserve ultimate credit for their epic performance against Germany.  It wasn’t that they were amazing in anyway, but with nothing but pride to play for, they gave everything they had, and then some.

Argentina’s late heroics suddenly kept them in the tournament and Messi and company live to play another day.  Argentina hasn’t looked impressive (or cohesive) but could being on the brink of elimination, be the catalyst to pull them together for a knockout round run?  France, their opponent in the next round might have something to say about that.

Spain also needed some late heroics to win their group and advance to play Russia, instead of Uruguay.  On paper, especially after Uruguay’s 3-0 win over Russia, it looks like a a favorable path to advance, but Russia will have the entire host country cheering them on.

As exciting as the group matches have been and hopefully will be as they conclude the rest of the groups, the knockout rounds will ratchet everything up another notch!

I’m excited for the great soccer still ahead!