DOHA, Qatar – Another exciting week of the 2022 World Cup in Doha has seen big goals, unexpected results, and unique magical moments keep everyone on the edge of their seats.

For some of the teams, the pressure has really started to mount lately. While some teams are preparing to head home, others are beginning to daydream a little bit about how far they may advance.

Here is a recap of the major moments from the tournament’s thrilling second week.

The elimination round includes Portugal and France.

With France and Portugal advancing to the round of 16 stage with one game remaining, it was a simple start for two of football’s biggest talents, Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo.

In a close 2 to 1 victory over Denmark at Stadium 974, the defending champions France followed up their Group D opening victory. Both of the French team’s goals were scored by Mbappe, who also led his country to the next round. They will be happy to have escaped the “champions curse” and to have advanced past the group stage unlike Germany, Spain, and Italy did before them.

While all of this was going on, Bruno Fernandes grabbed the attention by scoring twice to give Portugal a crucial victory over Uruguay at Lusail. As Cristiano Ronaldo insisted he had touched the end of Bruno’s cross, there was some controversy about his first goal. Nevertheless, FIFA’s internal technology confirmed that it was Fernandes’ goal.

In spite of Tunisia defeating France 1 to 0 in the group’s last match, France still won the group on Wednesday. They can accomplish the same if Portugal defeats Korea on Friday with a point.

Australia achieves a first. Australia created history by being the first nation to ever advance to the round of 16 of a World Cup by defeating Tunisia and Denmark, despite dropping their opening match to tournament favorites France.

In their final two group games, they gave it everything they had, and they came out on top, winning both games 1 to 0 with outstanding defensive efforts. Due to Australia’s victory over Tunisia on Saturday, a draw in the last match against Denmark was all that was required. However, Mathew Leckie’s deft finish just after the hour mark ensured it was even sweeter than that, becoming one of Australia’s most illustrious goals in history.

Many of Australia’s players, who have already accomplished so much, are in for a once-in-a-lifetime matchup with Argentina and Lionel Messi in the next round.

Thanks to Messi’s valor, Argentina is still alive.

Argentina was able to bounce back from their stuttering tournament debut with two decisive victories over Mexico and Poland.

They knew a loss would abruptly put an end to their World Cup chances going into the Mexico encounter, their second of the group stage. However, one player in particular wasn’t going to allow that to happen, and Messi’s incredible goal early in the second half calmed any fears and gave them a boost in their campaign.

After that, they defeated Poland 2 to 0 on Wednesday night at Stadium 974, fully making up for their shocking Matchday 1 defeat to Saudi Arabia. Australia will now be their opponent in the round of 16.