After 72 World Cup group stage matches the bracket is set and the remaining 32 teams are all five rounds away from the game’s biggest prize.It’s knockout football from here with all three host nations still standing and stars including Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane firing in goals.So, who is the best team left? Who is going to be in the final? Who are the best fans? The best player? Where will the shocks come? And who is going to win it?We asked our writers, and this is what they said.The best team to watch at this World Cup is…Oliver Kay: In terms of quality, it’s France. Their first half in their opening game, against Senegal, was poor. But since then, they’ve been excellent. For fun, it’s probably Senegal or Japan.James Horncastle: If you forget the first half against Senegal at MetLife, France have looked as good on the pitch as they look on paper. This has not always been the case with Didier Deschamps. It is a welcome development.Jack Pitt-Brooke: Quite to my surprise, the USA. Not many teams actually bring dynamic, intense vertical football into the international game, but Mauricio Pochettino has managed it. Combine that with the atmosphere as hosts and their games are all must-see from here on.Jay Harris: Japan have been mesmerising. They finished second and were unbeaten in a challenging group which contained the Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia. Key players Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma missed out on the tournament through injury but they still play with such effortless fluency. Daizen Maeda’s goal against Sweden was pure poetry.Laura Williamson: In terms of the ball on the grass, it’s got to be France but my answer is actually the United States or Canada. I’m fascinated by people falling in love with these teams and the game in general — and long may it continue.Felipe Cardenas: France. This team is simply too good to ignore. Even against Norway, a game that meant very little to them, France put on a show. Ousmane Dembele scored a hat-trick and proved to everyone that, together with superstar Kylian Mbappe, no attack is better equipped to win the tournament.Matt Slater: This is a tough one, as no team has been absolutely brilliant for the entire game, three times. France have been the best I have seen in person but I have also enjoyed the Dutch on TV — thrills and spills.Brian Brobbey and the Netherlands have impressed (Julian Finney — FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)Phil Hay: Japan/Colombia. Japan because they have no superstars, prima donnas or passengers. That might sound underwhelming but it makes them a proper team. Colombia because they’re flamboyant and ambitious in their play — and the emotion of it all drives players such as Luis Diaz and James Rodriguez to tears. Diaz has performed like a man possessed.Jordan Campbell: I have enjoyed Morocco the most. They are not perfect but they are full of invention and creativity. When they get their combination play and counter-attacking right, they look capable of going all the way. Whether they can sustain it for full games without giving too many chances away is the big question.Lukas Weese: Argentina. With Messi on the pitch, still playing so well despite being 39, Argentina remains a threat.Patrick Iversen: Japan. This may be familiarity bias because I’ve seen two of their games live, but I just love the way they play football.Greg O’Keeffe: France. It’s like watching Paris Saint-Germain on cheat mode.Austin Green: Most aesthetically pleasing? Japan. Flatout best? France.The best player is…Kay: Lionel Messi.Horncastle: Improbably, still Messi. Others will go for Mbappe, and I did enjoy being present for a stadium-wide cheer in Philadelphia when he tracked back and regained possession for his team. Shout out to Vinicius Junior, who has also stepped up.Pitt-Brooke: No point trying to be clever here: it’s obviously Messi.Harris: There is a small part of me which wants to build a convincing argument for somebody else just to be different, but the only possible answer is Messi. We should not forget about Lamine Yamal, though. He will play a more prominent role for Spain during the rest of the World Cup now that he is fully fit.Williamson: Mbappe. He hasn’t missed a penalty at this World Cup, has he?Cardenas: Messi. Is the Argentine as fast and dynamic as Yamal and Mbappe? He isn’t. But the 39-year-old is playing like he doesn’t want his international career to ever end. Bravo.Slater: I was in the mixed zone in Doha when Messi said the 2022 World Cup would be his last … what a fibber. He is still the best, though.Hay: Mbappe. That will be proven by the end of the tournament, I think. But my favourite player is Australia goalkeeper Patrick Beach, as explained here.Campbell: Messi. It’s almost funny at this point to keep saying, aged 39, that he is still the best. But he is. Until someone else displays the same mesmerising vision, passing range and clinical touch in front of goal, only a bias against age would see him rank below.Weese: Mbappe. Not only is he scoring goals but he’s making his team-mates look special too.Iversen: Mbappe. It’s best not to overthink these things.O’Keeffe: Mbappe is putting his problems at Real Madrid behind him. An unstoppable force of nature.Green: Right now? Messi. After the final? Probably Mbappe.The coach doing the best job is…Kay: It has to be Bubista, who has led Cape Verde to the knockout stage, conceding only two goals in what looked like a horrible group. They have some talented players, but their biggest strengths are their unity, their organisation and their defiance. That reflects on the coach.Horncastle: Can’t argue with Bubista. Cape Verde are unbeaten in 12 games. Maybe we should have seen this coming when they swept Serbia aside 3-0 at the end of May. Can’t believe we’re not doing the worst … I’ll save that entry for another day.Pitt-Brooke: I thought South Africa were an absolute shambles in the opening game against Mexico, so hats off to Hugo Broos for dragging them through to the knockout stage. I could even see them finding their way through to the last-16 as well now.Harris: Emerse Fae deserves credit for guiding Ivory Coast to the knockout stage for the first time in their history. It’s a remarkable achievement which the golden generation of Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and Kolo Toure failed to achieve. They have the youngest squad at the tournament with an average age of 25.4 and will cause Norway problems in the next round.Bubista has made history with Cape Verde (Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images)Williamson: Bubista. Cape Verde’s achievement is absolutely remarkable. But an honourable mention to Ghana’s Carlos Queiroz, too. I don’t agree with much he says, but he certainly had the upper hand against Thomas Tuchel and England.Cardenas: Ronald Koeman. The Dutch are flying. Ten goals in their first three matches caught my attention. Their football has been silky and the manager appears to be getting everything right. His tactics aren’t always the most expansive, but I’ll give him credit for getting his selections right.Slater: A draw between Cape Verde’s Bubista and Iran’s Amir Ghalenoei. For both to get through their groups undefeated is — for very different reasons — a remarkable achievement. Bubista’s is the classic underdog story, while Ghalenoei is dealing with a unique set of disadvantages.Hay: Pound for pound, it’s Cape Verde’s Bubista. His team didn’t bluff their way to draws against Spain, Uruguay or Saudi Arabia. They’re drilled and confident. In terms of bigger nations, Ronald Koeman has the Netherlands ticking along nicely.Campbell: Bubista. To go unbeaten in a group containing Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia is incredible.Weese: Lionel Scaloni. He is getting a cohesive performance out of his players through the group stage.Iversen: Koeman. The Netherlands has looked dominant since a shaky opener against Japan.O’Keeffe: It’s Ghalenoei, given what he and his players have had to contend with, or Bubista. For the sake of positivity, Bubista nicks it.Green: Bubista has made history with Cape Verde, and it is no fluke.The best round 32 tie is…Kay: Netherlands vs Morocco looks like fun. Argentina vs Cape Verde is a hugely appealing game too, but I will be very pleasantly surprised if it’s a close contest.Horncastle: It’s Netherlands-Morocco for the talent on display and the cultural ties tooPitt-Brooke: I think Japan might be the worst possible opponent for Brazil to face at this stage. They’re so clever, so fit and so sharp; I just wonder if they might be able to pick Brazil off.Harris: Japan against Brazil has all the ingredients of an instant classic. Morocco’s clash against the Netherlands will be fascinating too. Several members of Morocco’s squad, including Noussair Mazraoui and Sofyan Amrabat, were born in the Netherlands, which adds an extra pinch of spice. Amrabat even made a few appearances for them at youth-team level.Mazraoui and Morocco will face Netherlands (Finn Gomez/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)Williamson: Ivory Coast vs Norway. You suspect there might be a few goals in that one (I’ve probably cursed it now) but it would be incredible to see an African side progress, particularly after Norway’s ridiculous raft of changes in their 4-1 defeat by France.Cardenas: Mexico vs Ecuador. This will be a primetime showdown in Mexico City’s temple, the Estadio Azteca. It’s the co-hosts, winners of three group stage matches in front of frenzied crowds, versus a World Cup dark horse that is used to playing at altitude. Ecuador are nearly unbeatable in the capital of Quito, which will give them confidence in the thin air of Mexico City. I cannot wait for this one.Slater: Morocco vs Netherlands, FIFA’s sixth-ranked team versus its seventh, in the round of 32? Good grief. This is exactly the type of premature jeopardy that did for the old European Cup. Much more of this excitement and FIFA will bring back a second group stage.Hay: The Netherlands versus Morocco. Not much else comes close.How far can co-hosts Mexico go? (Molly Darlington/Getty Images)Campbell: Netherlands vs Morocco. Ronald Koeman’s side may not be the most beautiful Dutch team ever but they made light work of their group. Morocco, on the other hand, are brilliantly inventive. I’m intrigued as to how those styles will match up.Weese: Portugal and Croatia. Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, taking on Luka Modric, 40, will be compelling.