Now that the preliminaries are over, it's time for the women's World Cup to really get started. Because for all the excitement about the expanded field and the eight teams that were making their tournament debuts here, when the round of 16 begins Saturday the World Cup will look pretty much the way it has always looked.
Only three of the debutants — Cameroon, Switzerland and the Netherlands — made it out of the group stage. Nine of the other teams that advanced are playing in a World Cup for at least the sixth time.
Among them are the U.