England, USA among teams to make World Cup knockout stage

SYDNEY, Aug 4: Germany's shock exit from the Women's World Cup has made it favourable for the "powerhouses" of the tournament. But a tournament of upsets has shown no team can be underestimated.

With Canada (seventh in world rankings) also out, the development of the tournament has become unpredictable. Underdogs like Nigeria and Morocco have solidified their place in the Women's World Cup tournament.

England, USA, France, etc are among the favourites to win the title of World Champion. With the knockout stage still in anticipation, here are the contenders who moved on to the knockout stage:

In Group A, Switzerland and Norway moved to the pre-quarterfinals leaving behind the co-host New Zealand and the Philippines by 5 and 4 points.

Another co-host Australia topped Group B and moved on to the Round of 16 along with the underdog Nigeria, upsetting the powerhouse Canada and the Republic of Ireland.

Japan and Spain, on the other hand, proceeded to the knockout stage from Group C with Zambia and Costa Rica failing to make it out of the group.

Favourites England advanced to the next stage, topping its group with a whopping 9 points, followed by Denmark with 6 points. China and Haiti failed to make it out of Group D.

The reigning champions and the four-time World Cup winners USA barely made it out of Group E as the Netherlands topped the group with 7 points. Portugal and Vietnam were knocked out of World Cup contention.

Another favourites France topped Group F by knocking out Brazil and Panama from the tournament. Jamaica also advanced to the knockout round.

Argentina and Italy, powerhouses in the Men's World Cup, failed to make it out of the group as Sweden and South Africa advanced from their Group 'G'.

With a shocking upset, favourites Germany as well as South Korea are out of the World Cup contention as underdogs Morocco and Colombia climbed out of the final group 'H' to the Sweet 16.

Here are the fixtures for the knockout rounds: