The Athletic's Mark Carey, Michael Cox and Ahmed Walid pause to reflect on the conclusion of the World Cup group stages... 

The panel discuss the strength of England's last-16 opponents Senegal, as well as Argentina's aggression and Messi in a more classic false-9 role. Whether it's actually fair to judge Australia by their low xG numbers and how else to decide between two teams level at the end of the group stage besides fair play!

Ahmed reckons Morocco's Hakim Ziyech is back to his 'Ajax best' and Michael explains why Belgium's golden generation have already won. Plus, Spain's Achilles heel and how Japanese tinkering almost cost them a place in the knockout stages. 

Produced by Adonis Pratsides

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