The World Cup is really starting to ramp up this week as the final group matches are being played and the knockout round begins this upcoming weekend.

It’s been quite a thrilling World Cup so far, with last-minute goals to go along with rampant triumph and disappointment.

This week, we look at some of the surprises the World Cup has offered up so far.

Germany

What a tournament it has been for the World Cup champs.

After its rough defeat in the opener to Mexico, Germany needed a win against Sweden in order to have a realistic shot at making it out of the group stages.

Many who thought it would come out in full force against Sweden had to be thoroughly shocked by the lackluster first half performance in which Sweden took a 1-0 lead.

Marco Rues tied the game shortly after the start of the second half, but then more adversity flew Germany’s way when Jerome Boatang got sent off in the 82nd minute.

It seemed as though Germany’s fate was doom until it was able to stun Sweden with a 95th-minute goal to win the game and possibly save its tournament from disaster.

Croatia

When the Croatian coach told the press that its game against Argentina would be the “easiest game” for them, everybody thought he was crazy.

Then his team backed up the trash talk by stunning the world in beating Argentina and perhaps the world’s best player, Lionel Messi, 3-0.

That is what the World Cup is all about.

While it’s tough to tell if the victory was more because of Argentina’s ineptitude or Croatia’s stellar play, there is no denying that it is a formidable team that is sure to give whoever it plays a ton of problems.

Argentina

Along with the biggest shock of the tournament comes the biggest disappointment for the tournament.

As said in an earlier column, this year could’ve been the year that Messi finally put his brilliance on display during an international tournament.

Instead, Messi and Argentina are teetering on the edge of not even making it out of the group stages for the first time in Messi’s career. What’s worse is that Argentina is arguably in one of the worst groups, talent-wise.

While all the blame doesn’t fall on Messi’s shoulders, it may be up to him to galvanize his squad to the win it needs over Nigeria in order to extend its tournament.

Group G strikers

Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku have put on an absolute clinic thus far in the World Cup. Between the two of them they have 9 goals (Kane: 5 Lukaku: 4).

Sure, they might be in one of the most lopsided groups in the tournament, but goal scorers scoring goals is what makes soccer so exciting to watch, and these two are some of the best in the business.

What will be exciting this upcoming week is seeing the two square off against each other for first place in their group.

While the matchup has major implications for each of their teams, it also could be instrumental in deciding who gets the tournament’s coveted golden boot (the award for who scores the most goals).