osu! World Cup 2023: Round of 16 Recap

They say during the weekends, you can hear rumblings of furious circle clicking all over the world...

The osu! World Cup has begun! This year, you can expect a weekly rundown of each stage with the end goal of burning all the best moments into the retinas of your eyes, and what better way to start than with last weekend's Round of 16? Watch the highlights of the round below, or maybe watch the Round of 32 recap first in case you weren't there two weeks ago.

If you don't have 20 minutes to spare, just continue reading for the abridged summary.

Germany vs. Canada

View the VOD here!

And no, your eyes are not deceiving you.

This clash between tournament veterans at such an early stage came about due to Canada's exceptional circumstances while playing the Qualifiers at TwitchCon, resulting in an unusual 11th seed placement. The spectators were expecting odds as good as a coin flip, well represented by the osu! World Cup pick'ems getting nearly even votes. The North American squad had the better start going up 3–1 including an important break point on Mysteka - Jerrybeans. Germany responded quickly on the low-approach-rate map jun with Alison - SUNKiSS DROP ~jun side~, claiming the break point right back. Criller's SS and Shiox's 1x100 score provided much needed confidence.

However, the slug fest of break points continued on a highly contested Yamamoto Mineko - Presea pick. Eventually, this turned out to be the crucial point for Canada, and they converted their first match point into the seed upset 5–2 victory against the bronze medallist of 2022.

Thailand vs. New Zealand

View the VOD here!

The team from Thailand were swept against the United States back in the Round of 32, while New Zealand just barely missed out on advancing in the winners' bracket against Italy. Thus, the confidence level from the Kiwis seemed quite high, and the odds were in their favour.

As it happens, Thailand struggled quite a bit to win their own first two picks by a margin of less than 30k points on each map. However, New Zealand didn't manage to win a single break point while confidently winning their own picks, which consequently led to the tiebreaker. Here, disaster struck for Thailand as Deppyforce disconnected during the last map and a restart was not possible anymore. New Zealand took the lead back and increased it — until Deppyforce resurrected and proceeded to full combo the tiebreaker along with chests and Zoomer.

That combined with Lesperry's otherwise huge carry for the team throughout the match, the Kiwis have been eliminated after two heartbreaking tiebreaker losses whereas Thailand's roster will continue their journey in the Quarterfinals to face Ukraine next.

Kazakhstan vs. Japan

View the VOD here!

Kazakhstan qualified for the osu! World Cup for the first time since the inception of the tournament, which was a surprise to the average viewer. As seed #32, every point feels like a small victory. This roster orbiting around Kamensh1k showed that everything is possible, especially in early rounds.

They took the first step against Japan on Motley Croe - Kickstart My Heart, clutching the map victory by a difference of less than 10,000 points. The Japanese team swiftly replied with two points including a convincing break point on sHimaU - Noumen Break. Then, out of nowhere, the team from Central Asia won three consecutive maps, bringing them to 4–2, double match point. Japan desperately needed their own 3–0 run to stay in the tournament. Top player Teacchyyy was there when most needed, missing just once on Toromaru - Ebb Tide and top-scoring NM2, keeping Japan in the match to force the tiebreaker.

At this point, it was a difference of experience. rollpan with nerves of steel landed a clean FC to advance the land of the rising sun to the Quarterfinals. What an amazing performance by Kazakhstan who almost made the miracle happen.

For the coming weekend, you really don't want to miss out on the North American clash between the United States and Canada. And what about Germany — will they start their rampage through the losers' bracket, or fall at the hands of a new unforeseen star of the show?

View the match schedule in the OWC 2023 wiki article (it's updated regularly) and put what excites you into the calendar, then check out the osulive Twitch channel to tune in for the Quarterfinals this weekend!

—Junihuhn