The US Men’s National Team made it out of the group stage for the first time since 1994 and are now second to England, according to NBC sports. They played the Netherlands on Saturday and lost 1-3. 

“I was definitely rooting for the US to go all the way,” freshman Abigail Quigley said. “Although they lost I thought the game, it was really well played, and I’m still looking forward to the rest of the World Cup,”

The quarter finals will be played by Argentina-Netherlands, England-France, and Croatia-Brazil. In comparison to the 2018 World Cup quarterfinals, half of the teams are making reappearances this year.

“Looking at the teams that played last year, each still has a very distinct playing style,” freshman Noella Tae said. “The level of play has improved, but each country still plays in their own style, which I think makes the games more interesting,”

After each match, the camera highlights the winning team, but also the interactions between players on the opposing teams. Although the minutes where the game is played is supposed to be the main focus, the minutes after also happen to be a large part of the game, according to Quigley. 

“I watched the Japan-Croatia game today which went to penalties,” said Quigley. “I hadn’t seen that side of a soccer game before —the way the teams comforted each other after a loss showed how much every person on the field loves the game but sportsmanship is a much larger part of the game than I thought.”