Argentina's Lionel Messi, right, controls the ball against Jordan's Amer Jamous during a World Cup Group J match in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday. (AP photo)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — If the World Cup was the NCAA basketball tournament, then teams like Morocco and the Netherlands would have some serious anger toward the selection and seeding committee right now. England, Mexico, Portugal and Spain might not be all that happy, either.

Lionel Messi and Argentina, on the other hand, probably wouldn’t complain much about their potential path to the World Cup final four.

The bracket is set for the knockout stage of the World Cup. There was no selection committee; slots were predetermined — Group A winner on this line, Group D runner-up on this line, etc. — so it wasn’t exactly like how the NCAA tournaments go. And FIFA doesn’t reseed like some sports, so a couple lower seeds are certain to get into at least the Round of 16.

So, when taking the 32 qualifiers for the knockout stage and ranking them like it’s an NCAA tournament — essentially seeding the field 1 to 32 based on the FIFA live rankings entering Sunday — it’s easy to see why some “regions” might be tougher to navigate than others.

A single game in this stage was played Sunday, Canada defeating South Africa 1-0 in second-half stoppage time.

A breakdown of the World Cup bracket by region:

Foxborough

• Quarterfinal: July 9 at Foxborough, Massachusetts.

• Round of 32 matchups: No. 12 Germany vs. No. 27 Paraguay, No. 2 France vs. No. 26 Sweden, No. 29 South Africa vs. No. 25 Canada, No. 7 Netherlands vs. No. 6 Morocco.

• Outlook: Netherlands vs. Morocco in the Round of 32 means that at least one of the seven highest-ranked teams left in the tournament won’t even get to the Round of 16. Perennial European powers France and Germany could meet in the Round of 16.

• If the seeds hold: France vs. Morocco in the quarterfinal.

Inglewood

• Quarterfinal: July 10 at Inglewood, California.

• Round of 32 matchups: No. 8 Portugal vs. No. 13 Croatia, No. 3 Spain vs. No. 18 Austria, No. 14 United States vs. No. 30 Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. 10 Belgium vs. No. 17 Senegal.

• Outlook: The U.S. gets one of the lowest-ranked teams left to open the Round of 32 and would remain in the Pacific time zone until the semifinals. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal did not get an easy draw, with Croatia right off the bat and potentially Spain in the Round of 16.

• If the seeds hold: Spain vs. Belgium in the quarterfinal.

Miami Gardens

• Quarterfinal: July 11 at Miami Gardens, Florida.

• Round of 32 matchups: No. 5 Brazil vs. No. 16 Japan, No. 24 Ivory Coast vs. No. 19 Norway, No. 9 Mexico vs. No. 20 Ecuador, No. 4 England vs. No. 28 Congo.

• Outlook: Mexico and England are heavily favored in the Round of 32, then would be in line to go head-to-head in the Round of 16 — in what would be a road game at Mexico City for England. And Mexico is one of only two teams not to surrender a goal in the group stage, with Spain being the other.

• If the seeds hold: Brazil would play England in the quarterfinal.

Kansas City

• Quarterfinal: July 11 at Kansas City, Missouri.

• Round of 32 matchups: No. 1 Argentina vs. No. 31 Cape Verde, No. 22 Australia vs. No. 21 Egypt, No. 15 Switzerland vs. No. 23 Algeria, No. 11 Colombia vs. No. 32 Ghana.

• Outlook: Again, there is no “selection committee,” but if there was it would have gotten this one right by putting the best scorer in Argentina’s Lionel Messi against the tournament’s best story in Cape Verde in the Round of 32. And Messi gets to be at home in Miami Gardens, a few miles from Inter Miami’s stadium for that matchup.

• If the seeds hold: Argentina vs. Colombia in the quarterfinal.

Inside the bracket

News and notes about the Round of 32:

• France, Mexico and Argentina were the only teams in group play with 3-0-0 records.

• There are four Round of 32 matchups between unbeaten teams: Netherlands (2-0-1) vs. Morocco (2-0-1), Belgium (1-0-2) vs. Senegal (1-0-2), Brazil (2-0-1) vs. Japan (1-0-2) and Argentina (3-0-0) vs. Cape Verde (0-0-3).

• Expect some goals in France vs. Sweden (combined 17 goals in the group stage), Netherlands-Morocco (16), Belgium-Senegal (14), Brazil-Japan (14) and U.S.-Bosnia and Herzegovina (13).

• On the flip side, the first goal of Mexico-Ecuador might be that match’s decider. Mexico wasn’t scored on in group play and Ecuador surrendered only two goals.

• The semifinal matchups are the winner of the Foxborough quarterfinal against the winner of the Inglewood quarterfinal (at Arlington, Texas, on July 14) and the winner of the Miami Gardens quarterfinal against the winner of the Kansas City quarterfinal (at Atlanta on July 15). The final is at East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 19.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here.