Spain has already reached the round of 16 after defeating Austria (3-0) and will face Portugal on Monday, July 6 (9:00 PM). The red one monopolized possession and improved on the feelings left from the group stage, but it is still far from being that fearsome team from the European Championship that was capable of eliminating Germany, France, and England.

"The referee didn't give us the goal even though he said that, in his opinion, it was legal," complained Croatian footballer Martin Baturina. It was the final minute of the Portugal-Croatia match and the Portuguese were winning 2-1. A Croatian cross from the flank reached the penalty area and, after a rebound, defender Gvardiol scored the equalizer that would have forced extra time. The referee, Norwegian Espen Eskas, awarded the goal, but was quickly alerted that there might have been an offside. "He told us that the ball's sensor indicated there was contact," Baturina complained. And so it was. The cross had been slightly headed by his teammate Igor Matanovic, which caused an almost invisible contact to the human eye that turned an apparently legal cross into an offside.

The last time the Spanish national team had overcome a World Cup knockout match was in 2010, the year they were proclaimed champions in South Africa. Since then, la roja had either fallen in the group stage or in the first knockout match. Sixteen years later, the Spanish national team broke the curse by defeating Austria (3-0) to reach the round of 16, where they will face Portugal. Oyarzabal around the half-hour mark, and Pedro Porro and – once again – Oyarzabal in the second half tipped the balance in favor of a team that played from less to more but ended up thrashing and dispelling the doubts they had shown at the start of the competition.

This year's is the World Cup of blurred borders and that of the diasporas. Almost 25% of the 1,248 players who compete in it defend the jersey of a national team different from their country of birth. The most paradigmatic case is Curaçao, which only has one player originally from the Caribbean island. The rest are from the Netherlands, the territory of which Curaçao depends on, which is not an independent state. In the World Cup there are up to 67 Dutch footballers, a figure that only France, which has 98, surpasses.

Throughout its history, Germany had only missed a single penalty in a World Cup shootout, way back in 1982. In five minutes, they missed three in Boston on the day Paraguay surprised by eliminating Julian Nagelsmann's team. And Orlando Gill (San Lorenzo, Paraguay, 2000) saved two of the penalties. A goalkeeper until recently unknown. A man who, five years ago, when he became a father, even sold the equipment his club gave him to pay for medical treatment for his baby. Five years later, he has become one of the best goalkeepers in the World Cup.

The round of 16 of the World Cup has seen two of the tournament's biggest surprises with the eliminations of Germany and the Netherlands. Paraguay has beaten the mannschaft on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes of play between regulation time and extra time, and Morocco also forced extra time with a goal in added time against the Dutch and also ended up winning from eleven meters, which unleashed euphoria among North African fans.

The moment of truth has arrived at the World Cup. And the surprises are coming. Germany was eliminated by Paraguay after an epic duel where both teams gave their all, following different styles. Paraguay, returning to a World Cup for the first time in 16 years, knew how to suffer, reaching the penalty shootout alive, where they surprised as the Germans had never lost a penalty shootout in a World Cup final. In fact, until yesterday they had only missed a single penalty, in 1982. In a single day they missed three. Germany was the cross and Brazil, the face. Ancelotti's team did qualify, although they struggled greatly against Japan.

"It's a radical change. It changes the essence of the game," says English coach Thomas Tuchel. "I think we're not going to get rid of it now," adds Dutch defender Virgil Van Dijk. "Basically, we no longer have a two-half football, now we have four," concludes Didier Deschamps, French coach. This summer's World Cup may go down in history as the one that forever changed this sport. The hydration breaks, theoretically imposed to protect players from high temperatures, have divided the game into four quarters.

The Spanish team has lived up to expectations and has qualified for the round of 32 of the Football World Cup as group leaders. A lucky goal from Atlético player Álex Baena just before halftime was enough to defeat Uruguay in a very dull match between the two teams (0-1). By finishing in first place, the team avoids playing for a ticket to the round of 16 against Lionel Messi's Argentina. If they do their homework against weak Jordan, the reigning world champion will play the first knockout round against the Cape Verde team, which advances in its World Cup debut after drawing three matches out of three, the last one this morning against Saudi Arabia (0-0).

Every World Cup leaves a recurring image: a coach on the pitch, surrounded by his players, who seems to have reached the end of a journey taken over years. Meanwhile, out of focus, the rest of the football world tries to find the explanations, the keys, or the recipe that allows a team to lift the World Cup. What are the ingredients to win the top football competition? This question fuels a good part of the debates in these weeks. Will a younger, innovative coach, like Julian Nagelsmann (38 years old, Germany), prevail? Or will it be a more veteran coach? The most veteran of all, Dick Advocaat, 78, can no longer, because Curaçao has been eliminated.

The Barça player, who arrived at the World Cup expecting to start, became injured during the second match and has been the subject of various journalistic reports published in Brazil. Newspapers report that the player has a serious family problem, as his own father, Rafael Bellolli, allegedly deceived him to keep a large part of his fortune. Former international player Vampeta was one of the first to explain, two days ago, that Raphinha had told his national teammates that he had financial problems. And all because of his father.

“Dear Roxane, do you remember when I was bought a fake United shirt and I wrote ‘Ronaldo 7’ on the back with a black marker? We didn’t know if we were rich or poor. But we were happy.” It begins this way the letter that young RB Leipzig footballer Yan Diomande (2006), one of the sensations of the World Cup with Ivory Coast, published a week ago on The Players Tribune. He dedicates it to his sister Roxane, who tragically died a few months ago: “They put something in her drink at a party and she never woke up again”. She was only 15 years old.

When the Japanese anthem began to play before the Japan-Netherlands match on the first day of this World Cup, the Japanese coach started to cry. He remained serious, while singing the Kimigayo, but tears streamed down his cheeks. "It's always an emotion to lead my country. Many things have crossed my mind here," he said. The Japanese press deduced, since Hajime Moriyasu (1968) gave no further explanation, that he was referring to being in the United States, as his life, in large part, is marked by the atomic bombs of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

"The other day a photo of him came up on Facebook and I told my wife: ‘This is the boy I was telling you about. He was here with us and look how far he’s come.’ For us it’s a pride, an immense joy. I remember when he used to arrive at the field with the ball under his arm,’ says Paco Garzón (Segovia, 1955) with a smile. For many years he was the president of Club Deportivo Can Parellada, the team from the Terrassa neighborhood that saw one of the protagonists of this World Cup grow up. It’s Ismael Saibari (Terrassa, 2001), scorer of Morocco’s two goals. He has been the MVP of the Eredivisie with PSV Eindhoven and his move to Bayern Munich for 50 million euros is already a done deal.

Only Pelé had managed to score the first goal of a World Cup match at eighteen years old or younger. Until Lamine Yamal arrived. The Rocafonda genius was in charge of scoring the first goal in Spain's thrashing of Saudi Arabia in Atlanta (4-0), a match where Luis de la Fuente's team shook off the bad feelings from their weak debut against Cape Verde. If against the Africans Spain couldn't even score a single goal, against the Saudis they already had three in 25 minutes. Between Lamine Yamal and a brilliant Mikel Oyarzabal, Spain thrashed in a match that became increasingly disjointed as the minutes passed, as Luis De la Fuente's team had quickly finished the job. In fact, he substituted Lamine Yamal at halftime to protect him, because the future of the national team in the World Cup depends heavily on him.

Just over a week ago, the World Cup began with a new format, arguably the most demanding of all. The final phase of the tournament has more teams than ever – it has gone from 32 to 48 selections – more matches – from 64 to 104 in total – and a new record for geographical extension encompassing the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with the long travel that this entails for national teams. Before the first inaugural match, however, another competition – equally demanding this year – was taking place all over the world: completing the Panini World Cup sticker album.

An old bus from the 60s, the kind that takes children to school, was arriving at the Florida Atlantic University campus in Boca Raton. Inside the vehicle, music was playing at full volume. Rhythms of soca, tumba or seú. The rhythms that are played on the Caribbean island of Curaçao. The smallest selection in World Cup history debuted in the final phase, being thrashed 7-1 by Germany, but they haven't lost optimism. "Just being here is already a success. We will enjoy every minute," said player Leandro Bacuna before playing his second match against Ecuador. The players have once again used this bus, which they have painted blue, like the team's jersey. Inside, they have put palm leaves, and decorated it in tribute to the buses you can find on the island, rundown second-hand vehicles bought by the local government. It has brought them luck, as they have drawn against Ecuador in a match where they had some clear goal opportunities. The hero, however, has been the veteran 37-year-old goalkeeper Eloy Room, who has become the goalkeeper with the most saves in a World Cup match, with 15 meritorious performances.

When the Moroccan national team achieved a brilliant and deserved draw against Brazil in their World Cup debut, many people reacted with a grimace. For the first time, a team played in the final phase of a World Cup where none of the footballers had been born in their country. The initial squad had only one player born in Morocco, Ounahi. But with substitutions, 11 players born abroad coincided, two of whom were from Catalonia, Ismael Saibari and Ayoube Amaimouni. All with roots in Morocco, in this case. But born abroad, children of the Moroccan diaspora. Morocco opened an office in Spain years ago where a group of people work to identify players throughout Europe who are sons or grandsons of Moroccans, in order to recruit them, as they tried to do with Lamine Yamal without success.

This week the FIFA World Cup has begun in North America. It is expected that five million fans from all over the world will travel to the 16 host cities, in three different countries, to cheer on their team in packed stadiums: it will therefore be a perfect breeding ground for the spread of diseases.

One June night, fans of the Boston Red Sox, a popular North American baseball team, understood nothing. Their famous stadium, Fenway Park, was fuller than usual for a regular league game when the team wasn't performing well and was at the bottom of its division. But on this night, just a few days ago, thousands of fans began to sing Yes sir, I can Boogie, a song by the group Baccara, made up of two Spanish women who made a fortune with some hits in the late 70s. The Red Sox followers understood nothing, but they let themselves be carried away by the good atmosphere and many also began to sing the song, surrounded by 10,000 fans of the Scottish football team, many of them in the traditional kilt, the Scottish skirt. The United States has been invaded by the Tartan Army, the Scottish fans. An army that always seems to win because everyone lets themselves be invaded when it arrives.