Most things that garner massive amounts of hype often fall short of expectations, but that is not be true of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

From upsets, 18 extra-time goals, two penalty shootouts, and many other exciting moments, this World Cup has been every bit as exciting as it was made out to be.

Now, there are only two more matches to be played before the quarterfinals begin, and here is a look at the storylines that have stuck out from the past week of the world’s most popular sporting event.

Greatness upstaged

Coming into the tournament, it seemed the clear favorite to win the tournament was defending champion Germany.

The Germans were coming off a Confederation Cup victory with what many thought to be a B-team and were loaded with world-class players. Entering the final game of the group stage, Germany only had to beat the weakest team of its group in South Korea.

Seemed easy enough for a team of its caliber, but it wasn’t.

Instead, South Korea gave Germany a fight to the final minute, until South Korea was able to find the back of the net to send the defending champs home early.

Germany wasn’t the only great team to be sent home earlier than many had thought; it was joined by Spain, Argentina, and Portugal, which all exited in the Round of 16.

That is all just part of the unpredictability a tournament like this one brings.

Cinderella

Every good tournament needs a Cinderella team to shake things up. This World Cup, that team is host Russia.

Russia entered the tournament as the lowest-rated team in the field. It might not have even made the cup had it not been the host.

Yet, Russia is a part of the final eight teams remaining.

The Russians have certainly impressed people so far this tournament, making a mockery of the FIFA rankings that had them ranked as the 70th team in the world. After finishing second in their group, many thought their World Cup would end in the knockout round against Spain.

Russia had other ideas.

Instead of being an easy win for Spain, Russia proved to be an incredibly tough opponent, going toe-to-toe with the Spaniards and ended up tying them after 120 minutes of play. That led to a penalty shootout, in which Russia edged Spain, 4-3.

Now, Russia will try to continue its magical run in the quarterfinals against Croatia.

Belgium vs. Japan

There has certainly been no shortage of thrilling games so far in the World Cup, but perhaps the best so far was the Round of 16 matchup between Belgium and Japan.

Before kickoff, Belgium was the favorite, and the only question about the game was by how much it would win by. Belgium had been dominant in the World Cup, while Japan had sneaked through its group by having fewer yellow cards than Senegal, the team it tied for second.

But Belgium’s supposedly easy win turned into a hard-fought battle, and it wound up down, 2-0, early in the second half. Eventually, the Belgians rallied to tie it, becoming just the second team in World Cup history to erase a 2-goal deficit in the knockout round.

After the equalizer, it seemed as if the two teams were destined for extra time, until Nacer Chadli was able to put home a last-second goal to save Belgium from a disastrous early exit that has plagued several top-tier teams this tournament.