The Volcano World Cup Round of 16.
Titian Peele, Kilauea at Night (1842; background image) The Group Stage of the Volcano World Cup is over! Above you can see the Round of 16 bracket as we march towards crowning the champion of volcanism. The voting for the first four Round of 16 games will start tomorrow, with the other four appearing on Monday. Here is how each of the Groups shook down:
Group A: Mexico 52%, Cameroon 40%, Brazil and Croatia 4% each: No real surprise here as Mexico tied for the highest percent vote in its Group for any country in the tournament.
Group B: Chile 52%, Spain 31%, The Netherlands 10%, Australia: Chile won big, surprised that the Netherlands garnered double digits.
Group C: Japan 45%, Colombia 39%, Greece 12%, Ivory Coast 4%: Japan took the group after close early voting. Greece likely is under appreciated.
Group D: Italy 48%, Costa Rica 45%, Uruguay 4%, England 2%: Closer than I expected, with Italy barely nudging out the win for the Group. England has the worst showing of any nation in the Volcano World Cup.
Group E: Ecuador 49%, France 35%, Honduras 12%, Switzerland 4%: Ecuador took the group easily even with an new eruption in French territory (Piton de la Fournaise).
Group F: Argentina 48%, Iran 41%, Nigeria 7%, Bosnia & Herzegovina 3%: Close race between Argentina and Iran, and I apologize for having a picture of Cameroon for poor, volcanically-bereft Nigeria.
Group G: USA 50%, Portugal 29%, Germany 18%, Ghana 3%: No surprise here, the USA tied for the second largest margin of win in any group (after the winner of Group H).
Group H: Russia 49%, Algeria 27%, South Korea 18%, Belgium 6%: Russia wins big, Algeria has a strong showing in second.
Come back tomorrow (Friday June 27) to start voting for the Round of 16!
