If the United States beats Puerto Rico today, it will be a top seed in the knockout round along with Germany – the two will be on opposite sides of the bracket.
The U.S. would face Brazil in that scenario — Brazil is guaranteed to be one of the two best third-placed teams and Germany cannot play Brazil in the quarterfinals because they were both in Group B.
Today’s later game between Serbia and South Sudan will determine Group C’s runner-up. Assuming the U.S. beats Puerto Rico, here’s how the quarterfinals will look (we’ll need to wait until the quarterfinal draw to know the exact bracket composition).
If Serbia wins as expected: USA (seeded) vs. Brazil, Germany (seeded) vs. Greece, Canada vs. France, Serbia vs. Australia
If Serbia wins by exactly one point: South Sudan makes it in over Greece and faces Germany. So now I’m rooting for Serbia to be up three with five seconds left and South Sudan in possession of the ball so that Serbia fouls on purpose in order to eliminate Greece.
If South Sudan wins by eight or fewer points: USA (seeded) vs. Brazil, Germany (seeded) vs. Serbia, Canada vs. South Sudan, France vs. Australia
If South Sudan wins by between 9-23 points: USA (seeded) vs. Brazil, Germany (seeded) vs. Serbia, Canada vs. France, South Sudan vs. Australia
If South Sudan wins by 23 or more points: USA (seeded) vs. Brazil, Germany (seeded) vs. Greece, Canada vs. France, South Sudan vs. Australia
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