Capping Group Stages

I just caught the fever of World Cup and it's pretty exciting so far. Lots of surprises! But in these last games of the group stages, do you bet based on just team talent and motivation or situational plays like ie usa/Germany playing maybe to tie just so Portugal and Ghana won't make it. It has to be in the team strategy discussions at this point. If that comes into play there are a couple of games that both teams that should come in and coast like chile and holland and usa/ Germany. So many angles. Also does playing for country = playing to win no matter if winning isn't necessary?