The knockout stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup was the second and final stage of the competition, following the group stage. It began on 28 June with the round of 16 and ended on 13 July with the final match of the tournament, held at Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro. The top two teams from each group (16 in total) advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination tournament. A match for third place was played between the two losing teams of the semi-finals.
In all matches in the knockout stage, if the score was level at the end of 90 minutes, two 15-minute periods of extra time were played. If the score was still level after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out.Regulations 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil FIFA, 2014.
All times listed below are in Brasília official time (UTC−3).
Qualified teams The top two placed teams from each of the eight groups qualified for the knockout stage.
Group Winners Runners-up A B C D E F G H
Bracket
Round of 16
Brazil vs Chile
The two teams had met in 68 previous matches, including three times in the FIFA World Cup knockout stage, all won by Brazil (1962, semi-finals: 4–2; 1998, round of 16: 4–1; 2010, round of 16: 3–0).
Brazil opened the scoring when Thiago Silva flicked on a corner kick before David Luiz turned the ball into the net with his thigh. While replays suggested that Chilean defender Gonzalo Jara may have had the last touch, FIFA later confirmed that the goal was scored by Luiz, not Jara. Chile equalised when Hulk lost possession after a throw-in in his own half; Eduardo Vargas stole the ball and passed to Alexis Sánchez to score.
In the second half, Hulk's goal was disallowed as Howard Webb adjudged that the player used his arm in bringing down the ball and gave him a yellow card instead. Chances were few after that with Brazil dominating possession and Hulk forcing Claudio Bravo into a decent save, and the match went to extra time. The best chance of extra time came in the last seconds as Mauricio Pinilla's shot hit the crossbar. In the resulting penalty shoot-out, the score was tied 2–2 after four rounds, with Brazil goalkeeper Júlio César saving from Pinilla and Sánchez, while Willian missed and Hulk's shot was saved by Bravo. In the fifth round, Neymar scored his penalty, meaning Chile had to score, but Jara's shot hit the inside of the post. Brazil advanced to the quarter-finals to face Colombia.
The result meant that in all four World Cups where Chile qualified for the knockout stage, they were eliminated by Brazil.
GK 12Júlio CésarRB 2 Dani Alves CB 3 Thiago Silva (c)CB 4 David LuizLB 6 MarceloDM 5 Fernandinho DM 17Luiz Gustavo RW 7 Hulk AM 11Oscar LW 10NeymarCF 9 Fred Substitutes:FW 21Jô MF 16Ramires MF 19Willian Manager:Luiz Felipe Scolari GK 1 Claudio Bravo (c)CB 5 Francisco Silva CB 17Gary Medel CB 18Gonzalo JaraRWB4 Mauricio IslaLWB2 Eugenio Mena CM 20Charles AránguizCM 21Marcelo DíazAM 8 Arturo Vidal CF 7 Alexis SánchezCF 11Eduardo Vargas Substitutes:MF 16Felipe Gutiérrez FW 9 Mauricio Pinilla DF 13José Rojas Manager: Jorge Sampaoli
Man of the Match: Júlio César (Brazil)
Assistant referees: Michael Mullarkey (England) Darren Cann (England) Fourth official: Felix Brych (Germany) Fifth official: Mark Borsch (Germany)
Colombia vs Uruguay The two teams had met in 38 previous matches, including in the 1962 FIFA World Cup group stage, won 2–1 by Uruguay. Their most recent meetings were in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, with both teams winning at home, Colombia winning 4–0 and Uruguay winning 2–0. Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez was not in the line-up because of a nine-game ban imposed by FIFA due to a biting incident involving Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during their final group stage match. This was the first match of Uruguay in Maracanã Stadium in a World Cup since the historical Maracanazo.
Colombia won 2–0 with both goals from James Rodríguez, the first in the 28th minute, where he controlled Abel Aguilar's headed ball on his chest before volleying left-footed from 25 yards out with the ball going in off the underside of the crossbar, which won the 2014 FIFA Puskás Award later in the year. The second goal, in the 50th minute, was a close-range shot from six yards out after receiving the ball from a header by Juan Cuadrado on the right.
Colombia progressed through to the quarter-finals for the first time in their history, where they would face Brazil.
GK 1 David OspinaRB 18Juan Camilo ZúñigaCB 2 Cristián ZapataCB 3 Mario Yepes (c)LB 7 Pablo Armero RM 11Juan Cuadrado CM 8 Abel AguilarCM 6 Carlos SánchezLM 10James Rodríguez CF 9 Teófilo Gutiérrez CF 21Jackson MartínezSubstitutes:MF 15Alexander Mejía MF 13Fredy Guarín FW 19Adrián Ramos Manager: José Pékerman GK 1 Fernando MusleraRB 22Martín CáceresCB 13José Giménez CB 3 Diego Godín (c)LB 6 Álvaro Pereira RM 16Maxi PereiraCM 20Álvaro González CM 17Egidio ArévaloLM 7 Cristian RodríguezSS 21Edinson CavaniCF 10Diego Forlán Substitutes:FW 11Cristhian Stuani MF 18Gastón Ramírez FW 8 Abel Hernández Other disciplinary actions:DF 2 Diego Lugano Manager:Óscar Tabárez
Man of the Match: James Rodríguez (Colombia)
Assistant referees: Sander van Roekel (Netherlands) Erwin Zeinstra (Netherlands) Fourth official: Svein Oddvar Moen (Norway) Fifth official: Kim Haglund (Norway)
Netherlands vs Mexico
The two teams had met in six previous matches, including in the 1998 FIFA World Cup group stage, a 2–2 draw. Mexico midfielder José Juan Vázquez was suspended for the match due to accumulation of yellow cards.
Giovani dos Santos opened the scoring for Mexico early in the second half with a left-footed volley from outside the box after gathering a Dutch clearance. Mexico led until the 88th minute, when a Dutch corner was headed back by substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for Wesley Sneijder to equalise with a hard shot from 16 yards. Only a few minutes later, with stoppage time coming to a close, Arjen Robben drew a very controversial penalty for the Netherlands after being fouled by Rafael Márquez on the right of the penalty area, which Huntelaar converted to win the match for the Netherlands. Netherlands advanced to the quarter-finals to face Costa Rica, while Mexico were eliminated in the round of 16 for the sixth tournament in a row.
The match was the first time in World Cup history where a cooling break was instituted, with temperatures at and humidity levels at 68%.
GK 1 Jasper CillessenRB 12Paul Verhaegh CB 2 Ron VlaarCB 3 Stefan de VrijLB 5 Daley BlindCM 6 Nigel de Jong RM 15Dirk KuytLM 20Georginio WijnaldumAM 10Wesley SneijderCF 11Arjen RobbenCF 9 Robin van Persie (c) Substitutions:DF 4 Bruno Martins Indi MF 21Memphis Depay FW 19Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Manager:Louis van Gaal GK 13Guillermo OchoaCB 2 Francisco Javier RodríguezCB 4 Rafael Márquez (c) CB 15Héctor Moreno RWB22Paul Aguilar LWB7 Miguel LayúnCM 6 Héctor HerreraCM 3 Carlos SalcidoCM 18Andrés Guardado CF 10Giovani dos Santos CF 19Oribe Peralta Substitutes:DF 5 Diego Reyes MF 20Javier Aquino FW 14Javier Hernández Manager:Miguel Herrera
Man of the Match: Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico)
Assistant referees: Bertino Cunha (Portugal) Tiago Trigo (Portugal) Fourth official: Carlos Vera (Ecuador) Fifth official: Byron Romero (Ecuador)
Costa Rica vs Greece The two teams had never met before. This match was Greece's first ever in the FIFA World Cup knockout stage.
Bryan Ruiz opened the scoring in the 52nd minute when Christian Bolaños passed to him and he shot low left-footed from outside the penalty area to the right corner of the net with Greek goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis not moving on his line. Costa Rica were then reduced to 10 men with Óscar Duarte being sent off after picking up a second yellow card. Sokratis Papastathopoulos equalised in injury time shooting into the net from seven yards out after Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas had saved an initial shot from Theofanis Gekas. No goals were scored in extra time, and the match went to a penalty shoot-out. During the intermission before the penalty shoot-out, the Greek coach Fernando Santos was sent off following a dispute with the referee. In the penalty shoot-out, Navas saved Gekas' shot before Michael Umaña scored the winning penalty for Costa Rica hitting it high to the goalkeeper's right.
This marked the first time that Costa Rica progressed to the quarter-finals in a FIFA World Cup, where they faced the Netherlands.
GK 1 Keylor Navas CB 6 Óscar Duarte CB 3 Giancarlo GonzálezCB 4 Michael UmañaRWB16Cristian Gamboa LWB15Júnior DíazCM 5 Celso BorgesCM 17Yeltsin Tejeda RW 10Bryan Ruiz (c) LW 7 Christian Bolaños CF 9 Joel CampbellSubstitutions:MF 22José Miguel Cubero DF 2 Jhonny Acosta FW 14Randall Brenes Other disciplinary actions:MF 13Óscar Granados Manager: Jorge Luis Pinto GK 1 Orestis KarnezisRB 15Vasilis TorosidisCB 4 Kostas Manolas CB 19Sokratis PapastathopoulosLB 20José HolebasDM 10Giorgos Karagounis (c)CM 2 Giannis Maniatis CM 22Andreas Samaris RW 14Dimitris Salpingidis LW 16Lazaros ChristodoulopoulosCF 7 Georgios SamarasSubstitutes:FW 9 Kostas Mitroglou FW 17Theofanis Gekas MF 21Kostas Katsouranis Manager: Fernando Santos
Man of the Match: Keylor Navas (Costa Rica)
Assistant referees: Matthew Cream (Australia) Hakan Anaz (Australia) Fourth official: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain) Fifth official: Yaser Tulefat (Bahrain)
France vs Nigeria
The two teams had met in one previous match, in a friendly in 2009, won by Nigeria 1–0.
Paul Pogba had the best chance in the first half but his right foot volley after a cross from the right was saved by Vincent Enyeama. In the second half Yohan Cabaye saw a shot come back off the bar. The opening goal came with 11 minutes to play when Pogba headed into the net after a mistake by Enyeama where he failed to hold onto a corner kick from the left by Mathieu Valbuena. In injury time, France got a second when Joseph Yobo put into his own net under pressure from Antoine Griezmann after a cross from the right by Valbuena.
France advanced to the quarter-finals to face Germany, while Nigeria were eliminated at the round of 16 in all three World Cups where they reached the knockout stage.
GK 1 Hugo Lloris (c)RB 2 Mathieu DebuchyCB 4 Raphaël VaraneCB 21Laurent KoscielnyLB 3 Patrice EvraDM 6 Yohan CabayeCM 19Paul PogbaCM 14Blaise Matuidi RW 8 Mathieu Valbuena LW 10Karim BenzemaCF 9 Olivier Giroud Substitutions:FW 11Antoine Griezmann MF 18Moussa Sissoko Manager:Didier Deschamps GK 1 Vincent EnyeamaRB 5 Efe AmbroseCB 2 Joseph Yobo (c)CB 13Juwon OshaniwaLB 22Kenneth OmeruoRM 7 Ahmed MusaCM 17Ogenyi Onazi CM 10John Obi MikelLM 11Victor Moses SS 8 Peter OdemwingieCF 9 Emmanuel EmenikeSubstitutes:MF 4 Reuben Gabriel FW 19Uche Nwofor Manager:Stephen Keshi
Man of the Match: Paul Pogba (France)
Assistant referees: Mark Hurd (United States) Joe Fletcher (Canada) Fourth official: Alireza Faghani (Iran) Fifth official: Hassan Kamranifar (Iran)
Germany vs Algeria The two teams had met in two previous matches, including in the 1982 FIFA World Cup group stage, where Algeria defeated West Germany 2–1. This match was Algeria's first ever in the FIFA World Cup knockout stage.
After a goalless 90 minutes when an Algerian goal was disallowed, Germany opened the scoring two minutes into extra time, when half-time substitute André Schürrle scored with a left foot back-heel from Thomas Müller's cross from the left. Germany extended the lead in the 119th minute when Mesut Özil converted with his left foot high into the net after Schürrle's shot was blocked on the line, but Algeria pulled one back in injury time when substitute Abdelmoumene Djabou scored with his left foot from six yards after a cross from the right by Sofiane Feghouli.