Knockout stage

 The knockout stage comprised the 16 teams that advanced from the group stage of the tournament. There were four rounds of matches, with each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round. The successive rounds were the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final. There was also a play-off to decide third and fourth place. For each game in the knockout stage, any draw at 90 minutes was followed by thirty minutes of extra time; if scores were still level, there was a penalty shoot-out to determine who progressed to the next round.^[82]

Bracket

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Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

26 June – Port Elizabeth

Uruguay

2

2 July – Johannesburg (Soccer City)

South Korea

1

Uruguay (p)

1 (4)

26 June – Rustenburg

Ghana

1 (2)

United States

1

6 July – Cape Town

Ghana (a.e.t.)

2

Uruguay

2

28 June – Durban

Netherlands

3

Netherlands

2

2 July – Port Elizabeth

Slovakia

1

Netherlands

2

28 June – Johannesburg (Ellis Park)

Brazil

1

Brazil

3

11 July – Johannesburg (Soccer City)

Chile

0

Netherlands

0

27 June – Johannesburg (Soccer City)

Spain (a.e.t.)

1

Argentina

3

3 July – Cape Town

Mexico

1

Argentina

0

27 June – Bloemfontein

Germany

4

Germany

4

7 July – Durban

England

1

Germany

0

29 June – Pretoria

Spain

1

Third place play-off

Paraguay (p)

0 (5)

3 July – Johannesburg (Ellis Park)

10 July – Port Elizabeth

Japan

0 (3)

Paraguay

0

Uruguay

2

29 June – Cape Town

Spain

1

Germany

3

Spain

1

Portugal

0