sports
World Cup 2026: third-place table, who has qualified and who needs what?
With the group stage hurtling towards its end we look at who needs what to make the knockout phase
TL;DR
- The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout phase, along with the eight best third-placed teams.
- Tie-breaking criteria include head-to-head points, head-to-head goal difference, head-to-head goals scored, overall goal difference, overall goals scored, team conduct, and Fifa ranking.
- Mexico, Switzerland, Brazil, Morocco, USA, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Egypt, Iran, Belgium, Spain, Uruguay, Cape Verde, France, Norway, Argentina, Colombia, Portugal, England, and Ghana have all qualified or are in strong positions.
- Several teams like Bosnia-Herzegovina, Scotland, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Curaçao, Sweden, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Iraq, Austria, Algeria, DRC, and Uzbekistan are awaiting final results to determine their fate.
- Haiti, Qatar, Turkey, Tunisia, and Panama have been eliminated.