The biggest FIFA World Cup in history created intrigue in the group stages and now, as the knockout rounds heat up, only 16 teams remain.
Here at The Sporting News we have football fans covering our 2026 World Cup bracket – or wall chart as it’s called in some parts of the world – in a printable PDF with the full 32-player field on Saturday. Download, print, hang on the wall.
This year’s knockout matches began on June 28, and the round of 16 will continue until July 3. The Expanded World Cup reached the round of 16 from 4 to 7 July, followed by quarter-final (9-11 July) and semi-final (14-15 July) matches. It all culminates in the final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium.
In addition to the printable bracket below, you’ll also find tips and tools to help you fill it out, including picks and analysis from TSN’s expert writers.
World Cup 2026 headquarters: Latest World Cup news | Full World Championship schedule | Buy tickets to the World Cup
Printed 2026 FIFA World Cup grid
Download the Sporting News printable World Cup bracket (PDF) by clicking here.
CH
MORE: Live betting promotions for the World Cup | The best bets on the World Cup without any problems
There are still World Cup teams left
Below are the teams that have already qualified for the 2026 World Cup playoffs. This table will be updated throughout the remainder of the group stage.
1/8 finals
| Date | matchup |
| Saturday, July 4 | Morocco (C2) against. Canada (B2) |
| France (F1) against. Paraguay (D3) | |
| Sun, July 5 | Brazil (C1) against. Norway (I2) |
| Mexico (A1) against. England (L1) | |
| Monday, July 6 | Spain (H1) against. Portugal (K2) |
| USA (D1) against. Belgium (G1) | |
| Tuesday, July 7 | Argentina (J1) against. Egypt (G2) |
| Switzerland (B1) against. Colombia (K1) |
Quarterfinals
| Date | matchup |
| Thu, July 9 | France (F1) against. Morocco (C2) |
| Fri, July 10 | TBD against. TBD |
| Saturday, July 11 | Norway (I2) against. TBD |
| TBD against. TBD | |
When will the 2026 FIFA World Cup end?
The 2026 World Cup final is scheduled to be played 3:00 pm ET on Sunday, July 19th. at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
How does the World Championship bracket work?
The 2026 FIFA World Cup consists of two stages: a group stage and a knockout stage.
Thirty-two of the 48 teams will advance to the playoffs. All teams finishing first or second in their group receive automatic qualification, making 24 of the 32 playoff entries.
The remaining eight spots go to the top third-place finishers.
How do qualifying tournaments for third place work?
All 12 third-place finishers are ranked in the same way as groups, based on group stage points and other metrics such as goal difference.
The top eight teams in this table will advance to the playoffs.
Seeding at the playoff stage
The entire playoff bracket is predetermined. For example, the winner of Group F will face the runner-up from Group C, and the winner of Group J will face the runner-up from Group H.
All group winners are paired with either the runner-up from another group or the third-place player from another group. All group winners and runners-up from the same group are placed on opposite sides of the bracket to avoid rematches before the final.
The only unknown at the start of the tournament is where each potential third-place finisher will end up. Until all the qualifying tournaments are known, it is impossible to predict where and when they could potentially play if that happens.
There are a total of 495 mathematical combinations of third place determinants from different groups. This has all been written out in advance and each potential outcome can be found in Appendix C (page 80) of the 2026 FIFA World Cup regulations. Whichever combination comes true will determine where each third place finisher ends up in the overall bracket.
2026 World Cup playoff schedule
1/8 finals
| Date | Match number | matchup |
| Sun, June 28 | 73 | Canada 1South Africa 0 |
| Mon, June 29 | 74 | Germany 1 (4-3 penalties)Paraguay 1 |
| 75 | Morocco 1 (3-2 penalties)Netherlands 1 | |
| 76 | Brazil 2Japan 1 | |
| Tue, June 30 | 77 | France 3Sweden 0 |
| 78 | Norway 2Ivory Coast 1 | |
| 79 | Mexico 2Ecuador 0 | |
| Wed, July 1 | 80 | England 2DR Congo 1 |
| 81 | USA 2Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 | |
| 82 | Belgium 3Senegal 2 | |
| Thursday, July 2 | 83 | Portugal 2Croatia 1 |
| 84 | Spain 3Austria 0 | |
| 85 | Switzerland 2Algeria 0 | |
| Fri, July 3 | 86 | Argentina 3Cape Verde 2 |
| 87 | Columbia 1Ghana 0 | |
| 88 | Egypt 1 (4-2 penalties)Australia |
1/8 finals
| Date | Match number | matchup |
| Saturday, July 4 | 89 | France 1Paraguay 0 |
| 90 | Morocco 3Canada 0 | |
| Sun, July 5 | 91 | Brazil vs Norway |
| 92 | Mexico vs England | |
| Monday, July 6 | 93 | Spain vs Portugal |
| 94 | USA vs Belgium | |
| Tue, July 7 | 95 | Argentina in Egypt |
| 96 | Colombia v Switzerland |
Quarterfinals
| Date | Match number | matchup |
| Thursday, July 9 | 97 | France vs Morocco |
| For free. July 10 | 98 | Match Winner 93 vs Match Winner 94 |
| Saturday, July 11 | 99 | Match Winner 91 vs Match Winner 92 |
| 100 | Match Winner 95 vs Match Winner 96 |
Semi-finals
| Date | Match number | matchup |
| Tue, July 12 | 101 | Match Winner 97 vs Match Winner 98 |
| We got married. July 13 | 102 | Match Winner 99 vs Match Winner 100 |
Third place
| Date | Match number | matchup |
| Saturday, July 18 | 103 | Second place match 101 vs Second place match 102 |
Final
| Date | Match number | matchup |
| Sun, July 19 | 104 | Match Winner 101 vs Match Winner 102 |
SN’s Kyle Bonn contributed to this article.