Women's World Cup Bracket 2015: Teams, Matchups, Schedule for Knockout Fixtures

The 2015 Women's World Cup group play wrapped up Wednesday, as the last of the final 16 teams were locked in for the knockout phase of the tournament.

Three of FIFA's top seven teams were in action Wednesday and took care of business as expected. France routed Mexico 5-0 to inflate their goal differential and take Group F over England, who managed a 2-1 victory over Colombia in advancing to the Round of 16.

Brazil then won for the third time in as many matches 1-0 over Costa Rica, and South Korea became the second team in Group E to win a fixture with a 2-1 triumph against Spain to advance.

All knockout matches can be seen on TV through Fox Sports 1. Check out the full list of fixtures for the next stage of the Women's World Cup in Canada, which gets underway Saturday:

Match	Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	Venue
37	Saturday, June 20	China vs. Cameroon	7:30 p.m.	Edmonton
38	Monday, June 22	USA vs. Colombia	8 p.m.	Edmonton
39	Saturday, June 20	Germany vs. Sweden	4 p.m.	Ottawa
40	Sunday, June 21	France vs. Korea Republic	4 p.m.	Montreal
41	Sunday, June 21	Brazil vs. Australia	1 p.m.	Moncton
42	Tuesday, June 23	Japan vs. Netherlands	10 p.m.	Vancouver
43	Monday, June 22	Norway vs. England	5 p.m.	Ottawa
44	Sunday, June 21	Canada vs. Switzerland	7:30 p.m.	Vancouver

ESPN Stats & Info provided some snapshots of who the favorites figure to be in the knockout action:

The tournament's official Twitter account has an image of the updated bracket to give a clearer idea of what lies ahead for the clubs still alive:

Only Brazil and Japan managed to make it through group play with a perfect record, living up to the hype as legitimate World Cup favorites. Japan in particular had a reputation to uphold as defending champions, and they have done a commendable job thus far.

But now the real competition among elites begins. For those who stumbled at times in the group stage, perhaps the uptick in intensity will be a galvanizing force for good.

That's certifiably what the United States is hoping for. A lackluster attack saw the Americans score four goals in three matches. It plagued them in their most recent contest until a clutch goal by veteran forward Abby Wambach saved the day and allowed the U.S. to take Group D with a 1-0 win in a tense battle with Nigeria.

Wambach remained upbeat about her side's outlook afterwards:

Although the United States seem like the biggest lock to advance to the quarter-finals with a favorable matchup against Colombia, there aren't any guarantees if they can't produce on offense.

Host nation Canada will undoubtedly benefit from the home crowd, and they will need to be as enthusiastic as possible provided Switzerland is disposed of in the Round of 16. A tough showdown with the winner of the knockout phase's most even clash between FIFA No. 11 Norway and sixth-ranked England looms.

Formidable as Germany and France are as the first and third teams in the FIFA hierarchy, respectively, they are on a collision course to meet in the quarter-finals. This only makes the United States' bid to reach the semi-finals even less arduous.

So the outlook for North America looks rather favorable, and those fans are in closer proximity to make the trip to these fixtures. It should only help the U.S. and Canada perform well and level the playing field in what figures to be a fascinating conclusion to the Women's World Cup. 

Note: Scores, stats and information courtesy of FIFA.com.