Official: Full set of fixtures for 2022 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 confirmed

The full set of fixtures for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 has now been confirmed.

The group stages culminated with the Brazil-Cameroon and Serbia-Switzerland games in Group G on Friday, December 2. Cameroon earned a shock 1-0 victory over the five-time world champions, courtesy of an injury-time winner from Vincent Aboubakar.

Switzerland, meanwhile, earned a dramatic 3-2 win against Serbia and advanced to the Round of 16.

The 16 teams that moved to the next stage of the tournament are the Netherlands, Senegal, England, the USA, Argentina, Poland, France, Australia, Morocco, Croatia, Japan, Spain, Portugal, South Korea, Brazil, and Switzerland.

As per the rules of the tournament, the second-placed finishers of each group will take on the winners of the subsequent group and vice versa.

Here are the fixtures for the Round of 16 stages of the 2022 FIFA World Cup:

Netherlands (Group A 1st) vs. USA (Group B 2nd)

Argentina (Group C 1st) vs. Australia (Group D 2nd)

England (Group B 1st) vs. Senegal (Group A 2nd)

France (Group D 1st) vs. Poland (Group C 2nd)

Japan (Group F 1st) vs. Croatia (Group E 2nd)

Brazil (Group H 1st) vs. South Korea (Group G 2nd)

Morocco (Group E 1st) vs. Spain (Group F 2nd)

Portugal (Group G 1st) vs. Switzerland (Group H 2nd)

After the culmination of an action-packed group stage, fans can now brace themselves for the upcoming Round of 16 of the tournament.

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Gary Lineker thrilled with 2022 FIFA World Cup group stages

Cameroon v Brazil: Group G - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

England legend Gary Lineker has opined that the 2022 FIFA World Cup produced the best group stages in the history of the tournament. However, Lineker pointed out that the same sort of quality won't be repeated in the next edition of the tournament as FIFA is planning to form 16 groups of three teams in 2026.

There will be a total of 48 teams in the USA and Mexico edition of the tournament. Here's what Lineker wrote on Twitter:

"The greatest group stage in World Cup history comes to an end. At present It won’t be repeated at the next World Cup as the current plan is not to have simultaneous final group games. 16 groups of 3 in 2026."

Lineker urged the governing body to give the proposal a rethink. The former Barcelona striker believes there will be more chances of collusion in the proposed 16-group format. He further wrote:

"I think they must have a rethink. With 2 teams qualifying, imagine how many groups will be settled by a draw/convenient result in the final game."

The Round of 16 will kick off with a clash between the Netherlands and the USA on Saturday, December 3.