2018 FIFA World Cup: Round of 16 Power Rankings

The group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup is in the books, and that means the field has been halved.
Gone are the feel-good stories of Iceland, Peru and Panama. Gone are all five African nations. Gone are the defending champions, Germany.
Now, after one of the more memorable first rounds in recent history, the World Cup is turned up a notch for the 16 teams remaining: win or go home.
In a must-win match, anything can happen and sometimes what teams accomplished in their first three games is of little consequence. But those contests have given us a better look at how the remaining nations stack up.
Here’s how we rank the last 16 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on the eve of the knockout stage.
1) Uruguay
Group stage record: 3-0-0
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 14
2) Croatia
Group stage record: 3-0-0
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 20
3) Brazil
Group stage record: 2-1-0
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 2
4) France
Group stage record: 2-1-0
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 7
5) Belgium
Group stage record: 3-0-0
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 3
6) England
Group stage record: 2-0-1
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 12
7) Spain
Group stage record: 1-2-0
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 10
8) Portugal
Group stage record: 1-2-0
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 4
9) Colombia
Group stage record: 2-0-1
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 16
10) Switzerland
Group stage record: 1-2-0
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 6
11) Sweden
Group stage record: 2-0-1
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 24
12) Mexico
Group stage record: 2-0-1
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 15
13) Argentina
Group stage record: 1-1-1
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 5
14) Russia
Group stage record: 2-0-1
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 70
15) Denmark
Group stage record: 1-2-0
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 12
16) Japan
Group stage record: 1-1-1
Pre-tournament FIFA ranking: 61