World Cup 2026: how teams reached the playoffs

June 28, 2026 12:31 a.m. ET

The group stage of the 2026 World Cup has ended and the playoff round bracket has been determined.

Here’s how each team qualified or ended their tournament early.

QUALIFIED: Mexico, USA, Germany, Argentina, France, Norway, Colombia, Switzerland, Canada, Brazil, Morocco, South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Australia, Spain, Cape Verde, Paraguay, Egypt, Portugal, England, Ghana, Belgium, Senegal, Croatia, DR Congo, Algeria, Austria.

ELIMINATED: Haiti, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Panama, Qatar, Czech Republic, Curacao, Iraq, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Scotland, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Iran.

– World Cup match schedule: schedule, results, features
– Knockout bracket for round 32 onwards.

Go to: Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E,
Group F, Group G, Group H, Group I, Group J, Group K, Group L

1/8 finals

Sunday, June 28:
South Africa against. Canada (Inglewood, California), noon local time / 3:00 pm ET.

Monday, June 29:
Brazil against. Japan (Houston), noon local time / 1 p.m. ET.
Germany against. Paraguay (Foxboro, MA) 4:30 PM ET.
Netherlands against. Morocco (Guadalupe, Mexico), 7:00 pm local time / 9:00 pm eastern time.

Tuesday, June 30:
Ivory Coast against. Norway (Arlington, TX), noon local time / 1:00 pm ET.
France against. Sweden (East Rutherford, NJ), 5:00 pm ET.
Mexico against. Ecuador (Mexico City), 7:00 pm local time / 9:00 pm ET.

Wednesday, July 1:
England against. DR Congo (Atlanta), noon ET
Belgium against. Senegal (Seattle), 1:00 pm local time / 4:00 pm ET.
United States against. Bosnia and Herzegovina Third Place (Santa Clara, California), 5:00 p.m. local time/8:00 p.m. ET

Thursday, July 2:
Spain against. Austria (Inglewood, California), noon local time / 3:00 pm ET.
Portugal against. Croatia (Toronto), 7:00 pm ET
Switzerland against. Algeria (Vancouver, Canada), 8:00 pm local time / 11:00 pm eastern time.

Friday, July 3:
Australia against. Egypt (Arlington, TX), noon local time / 2:00 pm ET.
Argentina against. Cape Verde (Miami Gardens, FL), 6:00 PM ET.
Colombia against. Ghana (Kansas City, MO), 8:30 pm local time / 9:30 pm ET.

Group permutations

GROUP A

Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czech Republic

Mexico had already finished top of Group A, but Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat of the Czech Republic confirmed the hosts’ status as one of the tournament’s top teams. Ahead is the game against Ecuador in the 1/8 finals.

Second place in the group was – surprisingly – South Africa. Bafana Bafana They started the day in fourth place but Thapelo Maseko’s 63rd-minute strike lifted Hugo Broos’ side above their South Korean rivals and into the knockout stages for the first time in history. South Africa will play Group B runners-up Canada in the round of 16.

South Korea were eliminated from the tournament despite their three points and minus-1 goal difference appearing to put them in a decent position to advance as the third-placed team.

Czech Republic started the day dreaming of progressing to the next round, but will instead head home to Europe with a single point to their name and a goal difference of minus 4.

GROUP B

Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland

Switzerland defeated Canada and took first place in the group, and also played in the 1/8 finals match with Algeria.

Canada As a result, I took second place. They will play the team that finished second in Group A, South Africa. If Canada had won the group, they would have had the opportunity to play a round of 16 game in front of their fans in Vancouver. Instead, they will head to Los Angeles to begin the elimination rounds.

Late on Wednesday Bosnia and Herzegovina became the first third-place team to advance to the playoffs. With four points and a goal difference of minus 1, the results in Groups A and C, as well as the standings in the other groups, meant that Dragons failed to fall out of the top eight in the third place table. They will play the USA in the round of 16.

Qatar As a result, we dropped out of the World Championship.

GROUP C

Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland

Brazil defeated Scotland and won the group. They will now face the Japanese team that finished second in Group F in the round of 16.

Morocco qualified in second place and will face the Netherlands in the next round.

ScotlandJust three points and a goal difference of minus-3 were not enough for them to become one of the top eight third-placed teams, and the Tartan Army’s game came to an end.

Haiti have already been eliminated despite their resilient performance against Morocco in the last match of the group stage.

GROUP D

USA, Paraguay, Australia, Türkiye

United States Already top of Group D, Thursday’s 3-2 defeat to Turkey had no real impact on the hosts, although head coach Mauricio Pochettino will have plenty to think about ahead of the knockout rounds. The USMNT will play Bosnia and Herzegovina in San Francisco in the round of 16.

Australia and Paraguay drew 0-0 in the other group match, meaning the Socceroos will move into second place. Tony Popovic’s side will now face Group G runners-up Egypt in Dallas on July 3.

With four points and a goal difference of minus-2, Paraguay advanced and would face Germany.

Türkiye have already been eliminated ahead of the game against the USA and will head home wondering where their form was on Thursday during their first two matches.

GROUP E

Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador

Germany had already finished first in the final round of matches, so their 2–1 defeat to Ecuador had no impact. They will play Paraguay in the 1/8 finals.

But this result was huge for Ecuadorwho saved their World Cup with their victory. Anything less would have knocked them out of the tournament. They finished third in the group and will face Mexico in the round of 16.

Meanwhile, Ivory Coast defeated Curacao and secured second place in the group. They will face Norway, who finished second in Group I.

Curacao are eliminated but the World Cup debutants can hold their heads high after a surprise draw with Ecuador in gameweek two.

GROUP F

Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia

Netherlands defeated Tunisia in the last game week and won the group. They will face Group C runners-up Morocco in the round of 16.

Japan finished second with a draw against Sweden and will now face Group C winners Brazil.

Despite third place Sweden safely qualified for the knockout stages with four points and will face France.

Tunisia were eliminated from the World Cup.

GROUP G

Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand

On a crazy evening, the top two places in Group G swapped places seven times during the evening and three times in the last 10 minutes of the two games.

In the end, BelgiumA resounding 5-1 win over New Zealand was enough to seal top spot, while Egypt held on to a 1-1 draw with Iran thanks to a late VAR offside call denying Melli’s side second place.

This means that Kevin De Bruyne and Co. will face Senegal, and Egypt It will face Group D runners-up Australia on July 3 in Dallas, Texas.

Iran were in a good position to qualify for the knockouts, but the results were all against them on Saturday and they were eliminated from the tournament on goal difference.

New Zealand go home with a single dot in your name.

GROUP H

Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay

Spain beat Uruguay 1-0 on Friday to win the group. In the first round of the playoffs they will face the Austrian team that finished second in Group J.

Third draw in three matches for Cape Verde finished second and became the smallest country ever to reach the knockout stages of a World Cup – in their debut tournament, no less. They have earned the right to meet Lionel Messi and Argentina in the round of 16.

With only two points to my name, Uruguay fail to finish among the top eight third-placed teams, so their World Cup ends in a shocking early finish.

Saudi Arabia were also eliminated after earning only two points in the group stage.

GROUP I

France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway

France won the group and looked convincing in the process, taking all nine points available and finishing with a goal difference of plus 8. They will play Sweden in the round of 16.

Norway changed greatly due to the defeat to France and finished in second place. They will now travel to Dallas to face Yann Diomande and Ivory Coast.

In a win or go home match for the remaining two teams Senegal won over Iraq with a score of 5-0 and took third place. They will face Belgium in the knockout stages.

Iraq were eliminated.

GROUP J

Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan

Argentina won the group before playing their last match of the stage. They will play Cape Verde in the 1/8 finals.

Algeria and Austria played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with two goals coming in stoppage time in the second half. The result was enough to send both teams into the knockout stage, with Austria in second place and Algeria as one of the top third-placed teams.

Austria will play Spain in the round of 16, while Algeria will face Switzerland.

Jordan were eliminated after finishing in fourth place.

GROUP K

Portugal, DR Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia

Colombia secured top spot after a goalless draw with Portugal and will face Ghana in the round of 16.

Portugal has already qualified for the playoffs, will finish second and will meet Croatia in the round of 16.

DR CongoUzbekistan’s impressive comeback from 3-1 took them into the knockout stages, where they will face England first.

Uzbekistan were eliminated after finishing in fourth place.

GROUP L

England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama

England secured automatic passage to the next round by defeating Panama. They will face DR Congo in the 1/8 finals.

Croatia defeated Ghana to finish second and face Group K runners-up Portugal.

Ghana advanced as one of the top third-placed teams and will face Group K winners Colombia.

Panama already eliminated before the final game week.