Round of 16

[bamber]

I wonder who came up with this stupid phrase "round of 16" to describe the first knockout round in the Euros and World Cup? Logically, the round before the quarter finals is the eighth finals.

 

[dar1437]

I thought it was called (last 16)

 

[nara]

I'm sure I've heard it used the last year or two in the Champions League also.

As dar1437 says, it used to be called the 'last 16', or 'The knockout phase', both of which make perfect sense.

'The Round of 16' is a seriously dumb expression, but remember that we are talking about UEFA here.

 

[langland]

I wonder who came up with this stupid phrase "round of 16" to describe the first knockout round in the Euros and World Cup? Logically, the round before the quarter finals is the eighth finals.

Ive heard of the final , the semi final, the wuarter final, ive even heard of the three quarter final. But i never heard of an eighth final

 

[avid]

Sounds expensive to me

 

[albob]

I think this is the first tournament to start with 24 teams, so maybe it is just because they had to have a name
to give the round after the group stage ??

Originally the Euro's had just 4 teams in the final competition !! (17 entered)

 

[bamber]

Well, Langland, the expression "eighth final" was in use long ago. Look at these tickets from the 1966 World Cup group games:

1966 world cup tickets | eBay

No, Nara, you cant't blame UEFA, because "round of 16" is not used in other languages:
French - huitieme de finale
German - Achtes Finale
Dutch - achtste finale
all of which mean eighth finals.

Albob, the 2016 Euros also had 24 teams and the World Cup has had 16 teams qualifying for the knockout stage since 1986.

 

[nara]

No, nara, you cant't blame UEFA, because "round of 16" is not used in other languages:

OK, I'll blame Brexit then. That covers most bases.

 

[silverdale]

It can't be the EU who thought that up, If it had of been they would have called it the;

"The 1 + 3 x 3 - 4 x 2 stage"

and 16 people would have worked on it