Day 17: A New Leader...and nothing will deny him today

Green Fantastic: Keylor Navas of Costa Rica saves a penalty (and everything else during the match) kick by Theofanis Gekas of Greece during the round of 16 match between Costa Rica and Greece at Arena Pernambuco on June 29, Costa Rica progress on penalties after 1:1 finish.
(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

The moment it all ended for Mexico: Arjen Robben of the Netherlands is tripped by Rafael Marquez of Mexico
 for a penalty that would make it 2:1 and see the Dutch pass the Round of 16 match at Castelao on June 29.
(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

		O	B	TOTAL
1	Benjamin	66	12	78
2	Luke C	56	21	77
3	Cochineas	58	18	76
4	Nicholas M	52	21	73
5	Yianni	58	12	70
6	Alexander	56	12	68
7	Joe S	64	3	67
9	Nestor	52	15	67
10	Si Webb	50	15	65
11	Stylianos	54	9	63
12	George K	54	9	63
13	Jason T	50	12	62
14	Andy	46	15	61
15	Dung	54	6	60
16	Aramis	52	6	58
17	Harry Potter	44	12	56
18	Rayment	40	6	46

Day 16 (Round of 16): Please Welcome Colombian James Rodriguez

 James Rodriguez of Colombia shoots and scores his first of two goals during the round of 16 
match between Colombia (2) and Uruguay (0) at Maracana on June 28, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro. 

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Brazil Survive on Penalties: Neymar of and Francisco Silva of Chile compete for the ball during the 
Round of 16 match between Brazil and Chile at Estadio Mineirao on June 28, 2014 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Aramis was the only player who predicted the outcome for the Brazil v Chile match this morning, while plenty of players picked up five points for Colombia's victory over Uruguay. Hence, no change on the Top 4. For tomorrow's matches, the Top 4 has gone for a French victory but the swing may occur in Costa Rica's match against Hellas. They shaped Western Civilisation, so why not make an impact on F4M. We hold our breath for what will be a dramatic game of football.

While Themistokles (archon in 493 BC) had to convince 50,000 Athenians in 483 B.C. of his plan for the 'wooden wall', Santos has to prepare his eleven to stand as an άσπρο τοίχος (white wall) 
against Costa Rica in tomorrow's Round 16 match which could change the complexion of our table.

		O	B	TOTAL
1	Luke	54	18	72
2	Cochineas	56	15	71
3	Benjamin	62	6	68
4	Yianni	56	12	68
5	Alexander	54	12	66
6	Nicholas M	48	18	66
7	Joe S	62	3	65
9	Nestor	50	15	65
10	Stylianos	54	9	63
11	Si Webb	48	15	63
12	George K	52	9	61
13	Andy	44	15	59
14	Dung	52	6	58
15	Aramis	50	6	56
16	Jason T	46	9	55
17	Harry Potter	42	9	51
18	Rayment	40	6	46

The World Cup's top 100 footballers of all time – interactive

While we wait for the Round of 16, sink your teeth into this,  Luis.

Thanks to the awesome football people at The Guardian. Click on a football legend and enjoy.

The World Cup's top 100 footballers of all time – interactive

Day 15: Round 3 complete, and congratulations Luke.

Algeria celebrate after a 1-1 draw during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group H match between Algeria
and Russia at Arena da Baixada on June 26. Algeria into the Round of 16 for the first time.
(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

German players celebrates their first goal while the United States players dejected during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group G match between USA (0) and The Robots (1) at Arena Pernambuco on June 26, 2014.
(Photo by Lars Baron - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal looks dejected after the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group G match
between Portugal (2) and Ghana (1), which sent the Portuguese out.
And that haircut is ridiculous CR. 
(Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)

The group games are finished, perfect timing with the completion of my exams (can you tell?). Luke has swept back into contention with his prediction of the Algeria v Russia score which, has left Benjamin, Cochineas, and Yanni temporarily stunned. Therefore; 

Congratulations Luke,
Winner of the Group Stage. 

Your prize is that your name will sit permanently on this page. 

The competition moves into the more challenging segment of the tournament with the likely prospect that we will have a new Archon by the end of it, unless Rayment or Jason pull out a Hellas 2004. At the moment we've got the players who have been the most consistent from the beginning sitting at the top, and history shows that its usually one of these mates that will eventually pull away. However, it is extremely close this time around.

• By this stage of the tournament in 2010 Rayment had massed 81 points (54 outcome and 27 bonuses). That link is for you Rayment to reminisce. 

We are now heading into the knockout phase, and this is what you need to remember.

• You must pick the outcome along with the score as usual, however you must consider the following;
• If after 90 minutes the game is a DRAW, we continue to PLAY until the END of EXTRA TIME. No points will be awarded for 90 minutes of football if extra time is called upon. 
• PENALTIES are NOT included, NOR is the OUTCOME of the penalties. 
• Example: If Brazil v Chile ends in a draw after extra time and YOU have predicted the draw, congratulations, you get the points. 
• If you have chosen a Brazil victory and Brazil win on PENALTIES, you DO NOT WIN.

Does that seems straight forward? Great. Best of luck and remember, things have just gotten a little bit harder for you to predict. The Archonship does not come cheap. There is plenty of nail biting, and stressing even if you pretend that you're all cool about it.  

For the record, this is how they ended up in the Group Stages. So much for the country which apparently has the 'best' domestic competition in the world.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pts
1	Brazil	7
2	Mexico	7
3	Croatia	3
4	Cameroon	0

Group B

Pos	Team	Pts
1	Holland	9
2	Chile	6
3	Spain	3
4	Australia	0

Group C

Pos	Team	Pts
1	Colombia	9
2	Greece	4
3	Ivory Coast	3
4	Japan	1

Group D

Pos	Team	Pts
1	Costa Rica	7
2	Uruguay	6
3	Italy	3
4	England	1

Group E

Pos	Team	Pts
1	France	7
2	Switzerland	6
3	Ecuador	4
4	Honduras	0

Group F

Pos	Team	Pts
1	Argentina	9
2	Nigeria	4
3	Bosnia H	3
4	Iran	1

Group G

Pos	Team	Pts
1	Germany	7
2	USA	4
3	Portugal	4
4	Ghana	1

Group H

Pos	Team	Pts
1	Belgium	9
2	Algeria	4
3	Russia	2
4	South Korea	1

View the full fixtures and knockout stage

		O	B	TOTAL
1	Luke C	52	15	67
2	Benjamin	60	6	66
3	Cochineas	54	12	66
4	Yanni	54	12	66
5	Alexander	52	12	64
6	Nicholas M	46	18	64
7	Joe S	60	3	63
9	George K	52	9	61
10	Stylianos	52	9	61
11	Nestor	48	12	60
12	Andy	44	15	59
13	Si Webb	46	12	58
14	Dung	50	3	53
15	Aramis	46	6	52
16	Harry Potter	42	9	51
17	Jason T	44	6	50
18	Rayment	38	6	44