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

[h2]Australia's group stage fixtures[/h2][p]The Socceroos' three group stage games takes them around Vancouver, Seattle and finally Santa Clara in California where they will step out onto the home of the famous San Francisco 49ers NFL franchise. [/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 v Paraguay[/a][/b][/p][h2]Potential Round of 32 opponents[/h2][p]Top place in Group D has been ruled out after our loss to the USA last weekend, but the Socceroos can still gun for second place, which they would earn with a draw against Paraguay owing to their superior goal difference.[/p][p][b]Win/draw and finish second: [/b]Australia would play against the runners-up of Group G, which will be settled the day after their game against Paraguay. Egypt (1st, 4 points) play Iran (2nd, 2 points) whilst Belgium (3rd, 2 points) are against outsiders New Zealand (4th, 1 point). It's very unclear which way that group will be heading.[/p][p][b]Lose and finish third[/b]: The eight best third-placed teams from the 12 World Cup groups will go through to the Round of 32, but it won't be a guarantee that Australia is one of them if they finish with only three points. If they were to qualify as a third-place side, their opponent would depend on which other seven teams progress, with 495 possible combinations! There are three options that would involve the Socceroos if they finish third:[/p][p]• Winner of Group E (Guaranteed to be Germany)[/p][p]• Winner of Group I (Guaranteed to be either France or Norway)[/p][p]• Winner of Group K (Likely to be Portugal or Colombia but potentially also DR Congo or Uzbekistan)[/p][h2]Potential Round of 16 opponents[/h2][p]Let's say [b]Australia finishes second[/b] and gets past the Group G runners-up, whoever they may be. Where to next?[/p][p]That's where it gets potentially ugly, at least based on Argentina's first two group games. Australia would meet the winner of Argentina v Group H runners-up, which could be Uruguay, Cabo Verde or even Spain (less likely). We would expect Argentina to deal comfortably with Cabo Verde or Uruguay, and even if they were to lose to Spain, either Messi's Argentina or Rodri's Spain would be a terribly difficult Round of 16 opponent. [/p][p]That said, we were far from disgraced when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/argentina-f9OppQjp/australia-xSrf6qMM/?mid=Ya9wwgP2"][b]knocked out of the Round of 16 by Argentina four years ago in Al Rayyan[/b][/a].[/p][p][b]Advancing to the Round of 32 as a third-place finisher[/b] could throw Australia into either half of the bracket, and the third potential scenario - a meeting with the Winner of Group K - could be the easiest path to the quarter-finals.[/p][p]A victory against the Winner of Group K would potentially set up a Round of 16 showdown with the winner of Group B (Canada or Switzerland) in Vancouver. [/p][p]Germany and the winners of Group I (France/Norway) are both at the top of the bracket, meaning that the Socceroos would likely to have to defeat both teams to get to the quarter-finals that way.[/p][h2]Potential Quarter-Finals Opponents[/h2][p]If [b]Australia finished second[/b] in Group D and then defeated both the Group G runners-up (Round of 32) and then potentially Argentina (Round of 16), they would stay in the bottom rung of the bracket which also includes the winners of Groups B (Canada/Switzerland) and K (Portugal/Colombia/DR Congo/Uzbekistan), which would arguably be an even easier game than the two knockout matches they won to get there.[/p]