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Round of 16: Everything you need to know for the Women’s World Cup 2023 knockouts

By Oliver Hunt

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 01: Lauren James of England (L) celebrating her goal with her teammates during the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Group D match between China and England at Hindmarsh Stadium on August 1, 2023 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Noemi Llamas/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 01: Lauren James of England (L) celebrating her goal with her teammates during the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Group D match between China and England at Hindmarsh Stadium on August 1, 2023 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Noemi Llamas/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images) /
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With half of the teams now out of the tournament, the FIFA Women’s World Cup knockout rounds start on Saturday, August 5th as teams fight to stay in it and have a shot at the trophy. 

After the conclusion of the group stage games on Thursday, the Women’s World Cup has progressed into the next phase of the tournament: knockouts. With a record 32 teams now narrowed down to just 16, every game is now a must-win in order to stay in the tournament.

The round of sixteen will take place over four days, beginning on August 4th and ending on August 8th. There will be a break on August 9th before the teams who have made it through the quarterfinals play again on August 10th.   There will be a total of eight games in the round of sixteen to determine who will move on to compete in the quarters. In the case of a tie, there will be an additional fifteen minutes of stoppage time added on. If the game is still tied after the first period of added time, another period of fifteen minutes will be added on. If no one pulls ahead at the end of both periods of extra time, the game will go to a penalty shootout.

According to the official FIFA laws of the game, a penalty shootout will consist of five penalty kicks taken by each side. If at one point it becomes apparent that one team cannot catch up to another mathematically, no more kicks will be taken and the side with the most kicks will be declared the winner. If after five kicks, the teams are still tied, kicks will continue until one team has scored a goal more than the other from the same number of kicks taken.

Women’s World Cup schedule: Every Round of 16 game

  • Switzerland v. Spain: Aug. 5, 1 a.m. EST, FS1
  • Japan v Norway: Aug. 5, 4 a.m. EST, FS1
  • Netherlands v South Africa: Aug. 5, 10 p.m. EST, FOX
  • Sweden v United States: Aug. 6, 5 a.m. EST, FOX
  • England v Nigeria: Aug. 7, 3:30 a.m. EST, FS1
  • Australia v Denmark: Aug. 7, 6:30 a.m. EST, FS1
  • Colombia v Jamacia: Aug. 8, 4 a.m. EST, FS1
  • France v Morocco: Aug. 8, 7 a.m. EST, FS1

This World Cup has already been full of surprises and upsets, and it’s likely that will continue in these exciting knockout matchups.