Re-ranking the World Cup field entering the round of 16

The field is set. With the bracket for the knockout stage of the World Cup now complete, theScore re-ranks the 16 teams still alive in Russia.

16. Japan

Little was expected from the Japanese coming into this tournament - even though they found themselves in arguably the most wide open of the eight groups - but the Samurai Blue were one of the big surprises of the opening stage, upsetting Colombia in their first match and riding that victory to squeak into the last 16 over Senegal on the fair-play rule. An impending meeting with Belgium, though, should signal the end of the line for Akira Nishino and Co.

15. Russia

Hands up if you expected Russia to be one of the highest-scoring teams at the tournament. (Anybody with their hands up right now is lying). The host nation came flying out of the blocks against Saudi Arabia and Egypt, with Aleksandr Golovin pulling the strings and the unexpectedly prolific duo of Denis Cheryshev and Artem Dzyuba banging in the goals. Excitement was tempered by a comfortable defeat at the hands of Uruguay in Russia's first real test of the competition, though, and that doesn't bode well for the round of 16 meeting with Spain.

14. Denmark

It wasn't particularly pretty, but the Danes are into the knockout stages, taking down fan favourite Peru en route to the last 16 of the quadrennial competition. With the rock-solid duo of Andreas Christensen and Simon Kjaer anchoring the backline, and Kasper Schmeichel backstopping the side, Denmark will remain difficult to breach, but more is needed up front from somebody other than Christian Eriksen. Pione Sisto has put in a ton of work defensively, but hasn't provided the attacking spark quite yet, while neither Nicolai Jorgensen or Andreas Cornelius have looked like scoring; they need to step up and take some of the burden off the Tottenham star's shoulders.

13. Switzerland

The Swiss find themselves in a familiar place, having advanced to the round of 16 in three of the last four World Cups they've qualified for. But they've not been able to get over that hump, and will be hoping that Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka can conjure up some of the goalscoring magic they found against Serbia when they meet Sweden. Solid, yet unspectacular, Switzerland is almost always viewed as the underdog when advancing to this stage of the competition, but Vladimir Petkovic will be confident this time around, even though the suspensions of Fabian Schar and captain Stephan Lichtsteiner loom large.

12. Sweden

Few expected to Sweden to beat Italy in the play-off just to reach this tournament. Fewer still thought the Swedes had a chance to get out of a group with Germany and Mexico. Check and check. Janne Andersson's defensively organized, disciplined side not only emerged from the tough quartet, it topped the section, and therefore avoided the loaded side of the bracket. There's nothing particularly flashy about this team, but with the excellent Andreas Granqvist barking out instructions at the back - and firing in penalties with the panache of a striker - and Emil Forsberg offering a threat going forward, who's to say this unexpected run can't continue?

11. Colombia

This may seem overly simplistic, but, lovable as Colombia is with the exciting tandem of its two Juans - mercurial left-footed playmaker Quintero and speedster Cuadrado - setting up captain Radamel Falcao, Los Cafeteros' chances of making any noise in this World Cup rest on James Rodriguez's calf. He's been playing on one leg thus far in Russia, and came limping off the group-stage finale against Senegal after just 30 minutes. Manager Jose Pekerman admitted afterwards that he is "very worried" about the status of his star man heading into the last-16 encounter with England. There's talent elsewhere on the pitch, but this team will go as far as James takes it.

10. Argentina

Your guess is as good as mine, man. Lionel Messi could decide that he's had enough of relying on mere mortal teammates and take matters entirely into his own hands - his gorgeous goal against Nigeria was the first glimpse we've gotten of that so far in Russia - or, conversely, the Albiceleste could simply crumble and get humiliated again like they did against Croatia. If nothing else, with Messi and Javier Mascherano reportedly calling the shots and replacing Jorge Sampaoli as de facto managers, the team will be set up in a way that should allow them to compete, even if it's ultimately not enough to hang with the real heavyweights.

9. Mexico

Will this finally be the year that Mexico gets over the seemingly insurmountable last-16 hurdle? Eliminated at this stage of the World Cup in each of the last six editions of the tournament, things don't exactly get easier this time around, as Neymar and Brazil await. The 3-0 thumping at the hands of the Swedes - which would have sent Mexico packing, were it not for a huge helping hand from South Korea - leaves Juan Carlos Osorio with plenty of questions. Can Hirving Lozano and El Tri find the sort of form that saw them stun Germany in their opener?

8. Uruguay

Group A wasn't exactly murderers' row, but Uruguay emerged with a perfect record, not conceding a single goal as Diego Godin continued to be a man-mountain in central defence. There were signs in the 3-0 win over Russia that Oscar Tabarez had figured out a way to offer more support to Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani; a three-man midfield allowed young stud Rodrigo Bentancur to get forward at will, and combine with the star strikers. Defensively, La Celeste will always be a tough nut to crack. If they start to find some rhythm in attack, everybody else could be in trouble.

7. England

Whatever your thoughts about how England should have approached its Group G finale against Belgium, at the end of the day, things worked out almost perfectly for Gareth Southgate; he rested a host of marquee players, got some minutes for the fringe members of the squad, and ultimately found a way into the significantly easier side of the knockout bracket. (For the record, trying to finish second in order to maximize your chance to win the entire tournament was absolutely the right move in that situation). Yes, Colombia will be a tough test, but there's no denying that the Three Lions now have a very manageable path to the semi-final ... assuming they don't have to go through a penalty shootout anywhere along the way.

6. Portugal

The reigning European champion is, frankly, very lucky to still be in Russia. Cristiano Ronaldo's genius - and a one-in-a-million moment of madness from David De Gea - saved the Selecao's bacon in the wild 3-3 draw with Spain, before Rui Patricio, Ricardo Quaresma, and some last-ditch defending, along with a couple very (very) close calls against Morocco and Iran, ensured Portugal didn't get bounced in the group stage. The path to the final is now exceedingly difficult, but if we learned anything from Euro 2016, it's that it doesn't matter how you get to the finish line, as long as you do. With Ronaldo leading the line, anything is possible.

5. Belgium

It's hard to say with confidence that we actually learned anything about Belgium in the group stage. The Red Devils brushed aside a pair of inferior opponents in Panama and Tunisia, before a heavily rotated XI won a glorified friendly against England's reserve team. Now the real tests begin. If nothing else, Romelu Lukaku looked absolutely unstoppable in the first two matches, and Roberto Martinez will be desperate to have his star striker at 100 percent for the knockout stages; his combination play with Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne thus far has been terrific.

4. France

Didier Deschamps is going to figure out a way to blow this, isn't he? Arguably the most talented team in the competition, France has looked pedestrian so far as the under-fire manager continues to chop and change his lineup, seemingly unaware of how to get the best out of both Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann simultaneously. If he doesn't figure it out quickly, France is going to waste another golden opportunity for a major title. None of the heavyweights have looked overly convincing so far - heck, one of them, Germany, is already out - so this tournament is there for the taking if Deschamps can figure things out.

3. Croatia

The big mover so far. Croatia, a perennial dark horse at seemingly every international competition, is now poised to make a significant run in this tournament for the first time since 1998, when Davor Suker and Zvonimir Boban led their charges to a third-place finish. This time around, it's the absurdly talented midfield, anchored by Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic, that has Zlatko Dalic and Co. looking like a real threat to upset convention and possibly become the World Cup's next first-time winner. The 3-0 destruction of Argentina was the standout result of the group stage, and now sitting pretty on the softer side of the bracket, Croatia is no longer an underdog.

2. Spain

After causing a tidal wave by firing Julen Lopetegui just hours before the tournament, and then putting on a show in the wildly entertaining draw against Portugal, it feels as though Spain sleepwalked through the rest of the group stage, scraping out a win against Iran before closing out with an unconvincing draw against Morocco. Russia isn't expected to provide too much resistance in the round of 16, but if Fernando Hierro can't figure out a way to solidify the midfield - the typically infallible Sergio Busquets was woeful against Morocco - then a potential quarter-final date with Croatia will prove a massive test.

1. Brazil

It's not the sexy pick, sure, but despite looking a little laboured up front and not quite hitting top gear just yet, the five-time world champion still looks like the most balanced, complete team in the tournament. And that's without getting a whole lot out of star man Neymar, who continues to work his way back from injury. Philippe Coutinho has carried the attacking load thus far - he's scored twice and set up two more - and there's a real sense around Tite's side that it's simply a matter of time before Neymar finds his feet in Russia. When he does, look out.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)