Argentina and Poland as well as France and Australia won their penultimate World Cup matches in Groups C and D, respectively but only the French were the first team to book a place in the knockout stage of the tournament.
Yahoo News Singapore gathers some of the highlights from these matches in photos.
The Socceroos kept its hope alive for a place in the last 16 with the victory, their first since beating Serbia 2010 and only their third win in 18 matches in the World Cup. The Australians also kept their first clean sheet since 1974.
Australia faces off against Denmark in their last group game with their sights trained on the knockout rounds.
His goal in the 82nd minute erased memories of his missed penalty during Poland's draw with Mexico in their opening match.
The win moved Poland on top of Group C and boosted their chances of qualifying for the last 16. It also ensured that there was no repeat of any upset from Saudi Arabia who shocked Argentina in their opener.
Lewandowski also had a hand in teammate Piotr Zielinski's 40th-minute opener.
Poland will meet Argentina next, while Saudi Arabia will face Mexico in their last group games.
Mbappe put France in the lead with a 61st-minute goal before Denmark pulled back a goal with Andreas Christensen's 68th header to draw level. Mbappe secured all three points for Les Blues by scoring in the 86th minute.
France is the first team to advance from the group stage at this year's tournament.
Les Blues also became the first defending champions to reach the World Cup's round of 16 since 2006, a feat no other holders achieved since 2022 champs Brazil accomplished four years later.
Mbappe could overtake the records of some of football's more illustrious names before this current tournament is over. His seven goals in the World Cup are already one better than legendary French player Thierry Henry, who played in four tournaments. He could also surpass Brazil’s all-time leading scorer Pelé for most goals in World Cup history before turning 24.
Mbappe's tally is one short of the eight goals each scored by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi in their entire World Cup careers.
Mbappe's 31 goals for his national team are also levelled with another French hero Zinedine Zidane.
France will face Tunisia and Australia will play Denmark in their final group matches.
Messi found his 93rd international goal in the 64th minute to ensure Argentina bounced back from a humbling 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia in one of the most shocking World Cup upsets.
Substitute Enzo Fernandez scored a second goal for Argentina in the 87th minute.
The World Cup is the only major silverware missing from Messi's collection. Winning football's ultimate title would see the Argentine join the ranks of Brazil's Pelé and compatriot Maradona as the game's greatest players ever.
Argentina may need to win its final match against table-topper Poland to advance to the last 16. They are tied in second in Group C with Saudi Arabia, which faces Mexico next.
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The most boring and ponderous team to watch but you have to be in it to win it and Southgate’s side are still there somehow. Being fun to watch is great but playing badly and winning is not a terrible habit to have in knockout football. Might be wishful thinking but surely they have to play better at some point. Then they might still be dangerous.