The TOP16 round in the World Cup will start with the battle between the Netherlands and USA. In the group stage, the Netherlands was the best team in group A with 2 wins and a draw. They scored twice against Senegal and Qatar but drew a game against Ecuador. The USA drew two games against Wales and England but beat Iran in the most important game of the group stage. In this game, I'm predicting that the USA won't lose in the regular time.

While the Netherlands is defined as a very strong team, I'm not so satisfied with their performance in the group. The first game against Senegal was very tough because they scored the first goal only in the 84th minute. The second goal was scored in the 99th minute. Interesting that Senegal had more total shots and on target as well, even their xG rating was better. Against Ecuador, it was a very poor performance. The European team scored in the 6th minute but after that, they couldn't do a thing. The Netherlands had only two shots and one was on target while Ecuador had 15 shots with four on target. The xG difference was huge - only 0.10 for the Netherlands and 1.68 for Senegal. Of course, against Qatar they dominated but the host was one of the worst teams in World Cup history.

The USA was a pleasant surprise on the group stage. The Americans dominated the first half against Wales but the second half wasn't so great. The USA understood in the next game as they didn't give a chance to England. The Americans had more shots and their xG rating was pretty close to opponents - 0.63 to 0.77. The USA had more tackles and they blocked shots four times. In the last game, the USA dominated all game long, they had 12 shots with five on target, and the xG was 1.18.

We can't say that group A was very hard. The Netherlands had only 2.30 expected goals during the three games and that was only the 3rd best result among all four teams! The European team was expected to allow 2.7 goals and that was only the 3rd best result. The Netherlands is known for its defense but this is concerning. The USA had the worst xG in Group B (2.5) but that was better than their Saturday opponents. The defense was 2nd best with 3.1 expected allowed goals.

I'm not saying that the USA will qualify for the next round. I'm saying that there will need more than 90 minutes to decide the winner. The motivation for the Americans will be sky-high and they will be ready to prove to the rest of the world what they are capable of. Almost everyone thinks that the Netherlands will get an easy win but their performance in the first three games showed something else.

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世界杯16强赛将从荷兰队对阵美国队开始。小组赛中，荷兰队2胜1平，是A组表现最好的球队。他们在对阵塞内加尔和卡塔尔的比赛中梅开二度，但在对阵厄瓜多尔的比赛中战平。美国队与威尔士和英格兰打了两场平局，但在小组赛最重要的一场比赛中击败了伊朗。在这场比赛中，我预测美国队在常规时间内不会输。

虽然荷兰队被定义为一支非常强大的球队，但我对他们在小组中的表现不太满意。与塞内加尔的第一场比赛非常艰难，因为他们在第84分钟才进了第一个球。第二个进球在第99分钟打进。有趣的是，塞内加尔的射门次数更多，射正率也更高，甚至他们的xG评分也更高。对阵厄瓜多尔，表现非常糟糕。欧洲球队在第6分钟就进球了，但在那之后，他们就无能为力了。荷兰队只有2次射门，其中1次射正;厄瓜多尔队有15次射门，其中4次射正。xG的差异是巨大的——荷兰只有0.10，塞内加尔只有1.68。当然，对阵卡塔尔时他们占据了优势，但东道主是世界杯历史上最糟糕的球队之一。

美国队在小组赛中给我们带来了惊喜。美国人在对阵威尔士的上半场占据了统治地位，但下半场就没那么好了。美国队在下一场比赛中明白了，因为他们没有给英格兰机会。美国人有更多的射门机会，他们的xG评分非常接近对手- 0.63比0.77。美国队抢断次数更多，封堵了4次射门。在上一场比赛中，美国队主宰了整场比赛，他们有12次射门，其中5次射正，xG为1.18。

我们不能说A组非常困难。荷兰队在这三场比赛中只有2.30个预期进球，这在四支球队中排名第三!这支欧洲球队被预期失球2.7个，这只是排名第三的好成绩。荷兰以其防守著称，但这一点令人担忧。美国队在B组的xG最差(2.5分)，但这比他们周六的对手要好。防守排第二，预期失球3.1个。

我并不是说美国队能晋级下一轮。我是说需要超过90分钟来决定获胜者。美国人的动力将无比高涨，他们将准备好向世界证明他们的能力。几乎所有人都认为荷兰队将轻松取胜，但他们在前三场比赛中的表现却显示出了其他一些东西。