Brazil, Switzerland punch tickets to knockout stage

Things went pretty much as expected in Group E on Wednesday afternoon, in stark contrast to the madness that was the early set of games. Brazil goes through in first place and Switzerland progresses in second.

This sets up a very tasty round of 16 game between Brazil and Mexico in the top half of the bracket. Down in the bottom half, Switzerland will face off against a similarly well-organized and defensive Sweden side.

It’s inconsequential for the standings, but still a very nice moment for Los Ticos to avoid exiting with zero points.

This doesn’t change much, besides taking away Brazil’s buffer in the event of their unlikely three-goal collapse. But it was a very nice finish.

Aww dang, that’s probably the end of the drama today unless things get real weird. Brazil’s solidified its position with a corner kick goal.

Now things get interesting! This goal means every team has scored at the World Cup, and it also means Switzerland’s advantage is chipped away at a bit. The Swiss still sit in second place, though.

Unlike the morning games, these are not going off the rails. Things are going as expected, and as it stands, Brazil will finish first in Group E, while Switzerland will progress in second place.

That’s what Paulinho’s in the lineup for! He makes an excellent run onto an even better pass by Philippe Coutinho, then chips the ball over the goalkeeper. Fantastic stuff. That fires Brazil back ahead of Switzerland in the table.

Huge goal for Switzerland, who jump into first place in the group as it stands. It doesn’t change much for Brazil or Serbia right now as far as advancement, though it does change the order of finish and Round of 16 opponents.

Here’s Dzemaili’s tidy finish off a knockdown by Breel Embolo.

Felipe Luis has come on for Brazil left back Marcelo, who looks to be more ill than injured. Brazil will need him to be healthy to feel like they have a good chance of going far in the World Cup.

Through to Round of 16: Brazil, Switzerland

The changes aren’t big for anyone in Group E on Wednesday. Brazil bring in Fagner for Danilo, but haven’t rested any of their players on yellow cards — Casemiro, Coutinho and Neymar. Somewhat surprisingly, Willian remains in the starting lineup despite calls from fans for Douglas Costa or Roberto Firmino. Serbia and Switzerland are both going all-out with a number of players at risk for yellow card suspensions in their starting lineups.

Group E kicks off its final matches of the group stage on Wednesday with both set for 2 p.m. ET. Switzerland and Costa Rica are set to compete at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, while Brazil and Serbia face off at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow, Russia.

Follow along here for the live blog of key moments and score updates as Brazil and Switzerland work to keep the top two spots in group standings, and Serbia tries to find a way in to the knockout stage.

Tied currently in the standings with Brazil, Switzerland needs to at least draw to finish top two in the standings. Switzerland could also advance with a loss if Brazil beats Serbia. Brazil advances with a win or draw against Serbia. If Serbia wins it could move into one of the top two spots and advance. It could also potentially advance with a draw if Costa Rica wins against Switzerland by multiple goals.

Even if Costa Rica wins against Switzerland, Costa Rica will not be moving on to the Round of 16 after its second loss to Brazil.