After a rollicking ride through the group stages, we've entered the knockout rounds with a thirst for more drama.
The Dutch navigated a tricky test against the USA on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 win, while Argentina made hard work of Australia, prevailing 2-1. The two victors both looked to be in total control, then wobbled near the end before eventually sinking the two plucky underdogs.
Ultimately, they got the job done.
Now we turn our attentions to France v Poland and England v Senegal.
England square up to Group A runners-up Senegal on Sunday night and though they will be dogged, if Gareth Southgate's men harbour any serious ambitions of going all the way in Qatar, this one should not cause them major problems.
Before that the fancied French face Poland. Didier Deschamps' men ended their group game with a 1-0 loss to Tunisia but qualification had already been sorted by then and if Kylian Mbappe remains in the groove, anything is possible.
FIFA have been banging the drum about how this World Cup is setting new records; for the first time ever teams from all continents advanced to the round of 16.
It was new ground for the Asian Football Confederation, with three teams (Australia, Japan and South Korea) reaching the knockouts, while the African teams, Senegal and Morocco, are also represented in the knockout stages for the second time.
However come the end of the last-16 games it would be a surprise if the last eight isn't made up of the familiar European and South American powerhouses: Netherlands, England, France, Brazil, Argentina, Croatia, Spain and either Portugal or Switzerland, who face each other on Tuesday.
It's tough at the top. France manager Didier Deschamps steered the reigning World Cup champions through the group stages but had to contend with a barrage of abuse after his team lost their final group match 1-0 to Tunisia.
Deschamps made nine changes to his side with Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele all starting on the bench.
"We can't tick all the boxes," Deschamps said afterwards. "The first objective was the most important and that was to seal our place in the round of 16.
"The 24 players won their first two games and lost the last one, but I need all 24 to be available for me in four days.
"A couple of them have been able to rest up, they will have fresh legs. We were coming out of two high-intensity games. We will play four games in 12 days, we needed a breath of fresh air."
All will be forgiven if they stride into the last eight on Sunday afternoon.
Poland drew with Mexico, beat Saudi Arabia and then lost passively to Argentina - failing to register a shot on target - but they still managed to squeeze through in second place to set up this knockout tie.
There'll be plenty of 'Mbappe v Lewandowski' headlines, the rising superstar against the old master.
Lewandowski, now 34, scored nine goals in qualifying and was on the mark in the group game against Saudi Arabia.
"I'm aware it might be my last World Cup and I wanted to be able to say that I've played and scored at World Cups," Lewandowski said.
He will of course want more on Sunday but it's a seriously tall order for a Polish outfit that don't seem to have a supporting cast strong enough to provide their main man with adequate ammo. This should be France's day.
Semi-finalists at the 2018 World Cup, beaten finalists at Euro 2020, can Southgate's men go one step further to deliver the big one?
You'd certainly say they're one of a few countries who look capable of it, but the pressure is on now that the safety nets have been removed.
Southgate's tournament record is excellent, yet he has his critics, with some observers frustrated by what they perceive to be an overly cautious approach.
Jack Grealish is one example of a supremely gifted player who is not consistently trusted by the manager. Phil Foden is another, but the Manchester City man could well be too good for Southgate to ignore. He was in the thick of things when England swept past Wales to top their group, as was Marcus Rashford.
It will be interesting to see what way the English line up for this one given the depth of talent they possess.
"I guess the biggest thing is the expectation levels and the satisfaction levels," Southgate said on the eve of the game when reflecting on the pressure his team are under.
"We're now on to the more important part of the competition and we've got to get this bit right as well."
Senegal are the reigning African Cup of Nations champions. The pre-tournament loss of Sadio Mane was a massive blow but they have other familiar names in the ranks that have a bit about them.
Kalidou Koulibaly scored the winner against Ecuador that earned them progression to the last 16, Ismaila Sarr is a potent attacking threat while keeper Edouard Mendy will be aiming to frustrate his Chelsea team-mates Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount.
He will expect to be kept busy, while Senegal could also be without their head coach Aliou Cisse due to illness.
The 46-year-old was missing from his media duties on Saturday, having also been unable to take training on Friday.
Cisse has been boss for the last seven years. He was there when Senegal exited at the group stage in 2018 because their disciplinary record was worse than that of Japan, but the African Cup of Nations glory wiped away that pain. Cisse has actually got a bit of stick himself for being a bit too negative but his team know their roles and will be a tough nut to crack.
Southgate certainly isn't taking anything for granted, adding: "We're aiming to win the game and to avoid extra time if you can, and to avoid penalties if you can, because you'd like to get a victory in 90 minutes.
"But if we need to go 120 minutes, if we need to go beyond that, then we've got to be ready for that mentally and physically. And I believe we are."
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