Road to the final: Australia's potential opponents in the World Cup knockout stages

[p]Australia are off to play in Arlington on July 4 (AEST) as they look to move into the Round of 16 and possibly beyond. Where could they end up and who could they face in the knockout stages now that their group stage campaign is over? We've taken a deep dive into the potential pathways to the World Cup final (because we're allowed to dream, yeah?).[/p][h2]Australia's group stage fixtures[/h2][p]The Socceroos' three group stage games took them around Vancouver, Seattle and finally Santa Clara in California where they stepped out onto the home of the famous San Francisco 49ers NFL franchise. Nearly 200,000 spectators saw them in action over three days.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/australia-xSrf6qMM/turkey-7s-QeijuHo5/?mid=nLNXPs35"]June 14, 2:00pm AEST: Australia 2-0 Turkey[/a][/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/australia-xSrf6qMM/usa-fuitL4CF/?mid=S0aAVubs"]June 20, 5:00am AEST: USA 2-0 Australia[/a][/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/australia-xSrf6qMM/paraguay-YaNlqp6j/?mid=lGmJTJSg"]June 26, 12:00pm AEST: Australia 0-0 Paraguay[/a][/b][/p][h2]Round of 32 opponents[/h2][p]Australia's second-place finish means that they will be taking on Egypt, the runners-up of Group G, who defeating New Zealand and drew with both Belgium and Iran.[/p][p]It'll be a tough watch for supporters around the country with a 4am AEST kickoff on Saturday morning, though there are expected to be some very lively and festive livesites around the country, such as at Melbourne's AAMI Park where the first 10,000 people through the gate are going to be treated to a free breakfast. [/p][p]Australia are two spots ahead of Egypt on the FIFA world rankings but will nonetheless face a very tough opposition, even if captain Mohamed Salah does not recover from a minor injury in time to take part in the match.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/australia-xSrf6qMM/egypt-bejDn7NN/?mid=Whg00tL7"]July 4, 4:00am AEST: Australia v Egypt[/a][/b][/p][embed guid="3193b025-0dee-4e6b-b8f3-feecacba663d" url="https://x.com/Socceroos/status/2070381142545731656" social-type="twitter" /][h2]Potential Round of 16 opponents[/h2][p]Now that Australia's place in the 32-team bracket has been confirmed, we can begin to path out a road to the final.[/p][p]A [b]Round of 32 victory for Australia[/b] would see us to Atlanta to play the winner of world number one [b]Argentina [/b]v [b]Cape Verde [/b](rank no. 64).[/p][p]It'll either be a rematch of the 2022 Round of 16, in which Australia were eliminated with a respectable 2-1 loss to Messi's men, or an entirely new matchup in which the Socceroos could unusually be the villains given the love for Cape Verde around the globe during this tournament.[/p][p][i][b]Australia's potential Round of 16 opponents: Argentina or Cape Verde[/b][/i][/p][embed guid="1c16778e-b6f7-4711-bd31-a788a14a491f" url="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=955232044203034&set=pb.100091487405390.-2207520000&type=3" social-type="facebook" /][h2]Potential Quarter-Finals Opponents[/h2][p]A [b]Round of 16 victory for Australia[/b] would take the team to Kansas City to play the last of the four quarter-finals at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the KC Chiefs. [/p][p]Potential quarter-final opponents include the winner of [b]Switzerland[/b] (rank no. 16) v [b]Algeria[/b] (rank no. 29), which takes place on the previous day in Vancouver, or the final game of the round between [b]Colombia[/b] (rank no. 11) and [b]Ghana[/b] (rank no. 65). [/p][p]A meeting with Colombia would be less than ideal given they were far too classy for the Socceroos in a pre-tournament friendly late last year.[/p][p][i][b]Australia's potential quarter-finals opponents: Switzerland, Algeria, Colombia, Ghana[/b][/i][/p][h2]Potential Semi-Finals Opponents[/h2][p]If Australia were to [b]win their quarter-final[/b], they would then return to Atlanta to meet up with the winner of the third quarter of the bracket, which at time of writing featured the following seven teams: [b]Brazil[/b] (rank no. 5), [b]Norway[/b] (rank no. 23), [b]Ecuador [/b](rank no. 24)[b], England [/b](rank no. 4)[b],[/b] [b]D. R. Congo[/b] (rank no. 41) and co-hosts [b]Mexico[/b] (rank no. 9). [/p][p]Brazil and Norway will meet in the Round of 16 in our half of the bracket. [/p][p][i][b]Australia's potential semi-finals opponents includes: Brazil[/b], [b]Mexico, England, Norway, Ecuador and D. R. Congo[/b][/i][/p][h2]Potential Opponent in the Final[/h2][p]This is when Australia would meet the winner of the top half of the bracket at MetLife Stadium on July 20 AEST. [/p][p]That includes co-hosts [b]USA[/b] (rank no. 15) and [b]Canada[/b] (rank no. 30) as well as global football powerhouses [b]France [/b](rank no. 2)[b], Portugal [/b](rank no. 8)[b], Spain[/b] (rank no. 3) and [b]Belgium [/b](rank no. 10)[b].[/b] [/p][infobox id="d39bc573-b9dd-4b87-acb9-2de1f22d36c7" /]