The charm of the World Cup is in the anticipation that fuels the excitement in the latter stages. After a slowish start (at a par with any cup competition), South Africa 2010 has sprung into life with devious sub-plots, shocking submissions, scandals, last-gasp wins, over-the-top celebrations and of course, favourites marching on to the final.

There will be another time to mourn those missing (and there are plenty to mourn, not least the two finalists from the 2006 World Cup), but now we look at the 16 teams who have qualified to the next round and will line up against each other from 26th June onwards.

Talking Points:

Ghana are Africa’s sole representatives in the knockout stages. None of the other teams impressed, even though South Africa entertained with a solid win over France and Ivory Coast went out with a convincing 3-0 win over North Korea. It gives the already significant USA-Ghana tie added meaning.England were supposed to have an easy path to the semis, but now have the toughest imaginable route. Germany and Argentina lie in wait, with Spain and Brazil likely to follow. Any witty acronymsSpain topped their group so avoided Brazil till the finals, which is good for the tournament. Do you really want to see the biggest games played out in the round of 16It’s good to see the likes of Paraguay, Ghana, USA and Japan progress, but it also makes for an unbalanced second round. Although to be fair, of the 8 second round ties there are none that you would consider a complete mismatch.

World Cup Betting

Get the latest betting odds on all the second-round World Cup games through TitanBet.

Previews

Uruguay v South Korea (26 June)

USA v Ghana (26 June)

Argentina v Mexico (27 June)

Germany v England (27 June)

Netherlands v Slovakia (28 June)

Brazil v Chile (28 June)

Paraguay v Japan (29 June)

Spain v Portugal (29 June)

Predictions & Results

Round of 16

Uruguay to beat South Korea – Check. 2-1.

USA to beat Ghana – Ghana beat USA 2-1.

Argentina to beat Mexico

England to beat Germany

Japan to beat Paraguay

Netherlands to beat Slovakia

Portugal to beat Spain

Brazil to beat Chile

Quarterfinals

Uruguay to beat USA

England to beat Argentina

Brazil to beat Netherlands

Portugal to beat Japan

Semifinals

England to beat Portugal

Brazil to beat Uruguay

Final

England to beat Brazil

Watch the Second Round Online

You can watch the Round of 16 of the 2010 World Cup live online as well as all other World Cup matches, plus hundreds of football games from around the world. Read our live World Cup football page for more details.

Add your predictions in the comments below.

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