We now know who will be representing Arsenal in the knockout stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
football.london have been keeping tabs on how the tournament has started for the Gunners' stars and will continue to do so throughout their time in Qatar as manager Mikel Arteta will be hopeful his players return unscathed when the Premier League season resumes on Boxing Day.
With the final round of group stage fixtures taking place this week, four more of Arsenal's World Cup contingent confirmed their place in the knockout phase - taking the total up to seven (after Ben White's early return) - which meant there was a chance for the final two players to add their names to the list during yesterday's action.
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Thomas Partey will be on his way back to Arsenal after yet more penalty drama involving Ghana and Uruguay. 12 years ago it was Asamoah Gyan who missed from the spot and on Friday it was Andre Ayew who saw his effort saved, despite the best efforts of his teammates.
The 2-0 defeat means Ghana finished bottom of their group, although Uruguay missed out on qualification having scored fewer goals than South Korea who went through as runners-up thanks to beating Portugal 2-1.
On the other hand, there was joy for Partey's regular midfield partner at club level in Granit Xhaka as he captained Switzerland to a 3-2 win over Serbia to set up a round of 16 tie against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.
Despite starting for the first time at the tournament, it's now 13 games without scoring for club and country for Gabriel Jesus, whilst Gabriel Martinelli came close to marking his full World Cup debut with goal but was denied on a couple of occasions by Devis Epassy as Brazil were beaten 1-0 by Cameroon.
Still reflecting on Thursday's win over Spain which saw Japan progress from Group E as winners Takehiro Tomiyasu delivered a major update on his fitness: "I'm playing in the Premier League, so I was able to show what I can do on a day-to-day basis," he said. "I think I can do even better. I was able to play over 20 minutes and it was a good conditioning adjustment."
Furthermore, footage has been released showing that the ball did indeed stay in play for Ao Tanaka's controversial winner against Spain. Despite one camera angle, in particular, appearing to show the whole of the ball crossing the line, a new aerial view indicates that wasn't the case.
Matt Turner could have the honour of taking part in this tournament's first round of 16 tie as the USA face the Netherlands this afternoon, meanwhile, England pair Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale are preparing for the big game against Senegal, although Football's governing body FIFA have hit their opponents with an £8,700 fine for breaking World Cup rules before the 2-1 win over Ecuador during the week as manager Aliou Cisse attended the routine press conference without one of his players.
William Saliba was selected for press conference duty ahead of France's round of 16 clash against Poland and was asked about Arsenal teammate Gabriel Jesus. His response was to firstly praise what the striker has done at club level this season and to reveal his hope for Brazil.
"He is a top player, he's doing good for us this year with Arsenal," the central defender told reporters. "I hope that he has a good performance, but just today. I hope that they (Brazil) are quickly knocked out. I am not having exchanges with him during the World Cup."
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