Teams out of World Cup 2026: Updated list of nations eliminated from FIFA tournament
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Teams out of World Cup 2026: Updated list of nations eliminated from FIFA tournament originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The 2026 World Cup presents competing nations with a far greater chance of progressing to the knockout phase than most of the previous tournaments ever have.
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The decision to expand the field to 48 teams from 32 means there is an additional knockout round. That means all but 16 nations will get to continue their campaigns beyond the group stage.
Of course, the expansion will not be good news for everyone. There will still be bitter disappointment for those who are eliminated early on, just as there will be for those that falter in the knockouts — especially those teams who are expected to go deep in the tournament.
Below is an updated list of those teams whose World Cup 2026 campaign has already come to an end.
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Teams out of World Cup 2026
The nature of the expanded tournament means there will be few teams confirmed to be eliminated before we get to the final round of group matches.
That's because eight of the best third-place sides will progress to the knockouts alongside the top two from each group, and those third-place standings will not become clear until all games on matchday three have been completed.
However, as of June 22, we have three teams who are definitely not going through to the next round.
Teams eliminated from World Cup 2026
NationFIFARankingDate
EliminatedStage
EliminatedHow
EliminatedHaiti83Jun. 20Group stage1-0 loss vs. Scotland, 3-0 loss vs. BrazilTurkey22Jun. 20Group stage2-0 loss vs. Australia, 1-0 loss vs. ParaguayTunisia45Jun. 21Group stage5-1 loss vs. Sweden, 4-0 loss vs. Japan
Haiti, Turkey and Tunisia became the first three teams to be eliminated from the 2026 World Cup. The reason they were knocked out so early is partly because of a new rule relating to group-stage tie-breakers: teams are now ranked in each group by virtue of their record against one another if they are level on points.
Haiti, for instance, lost 1-0 to Scotland on the opening matchday and then 3-0 to Brazil, so the best they can manage is to end the group stage on three points. However, even if they manage to do so, they will be unable to overtake Brazil or Morocco in Group C, so the best they can hope for is to be level with Scotland on three points. In that scenario, Scotland would finish above Haiti as they won the head-to-head meeting.
MORE:Teams to qualify for Round of 32 | Updated group scenarios
What are World Cup group tiebreaker rules?
FIFA confirmed its group-stage tie-breaking criteria for this World Cup back in April.
If two or more teams are level on points after the group games have been completed, the below is applied to determine the final standings:
- Head-to-head result in the group game(s) between the teams concerned
- Goal difference from those games
- Goals scored in those games
If these are not enough to split the teams, we move to the following criteria:
- Goal difference in all group matches
- Number of goals scored in all group matches
- The highest "team conduct score" (calculated based on yellow and red cards for players and staff)
If the teams are still deadlocked, the nation that places highest in the most recent FIFA rankings will finish higher in the standings.
WORLD CUP GROUP STANDINGS:
Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E | Group F
Group G | Group H | Group I | Group J | Group K | Group L
Do third-place teams advance at World Cup 2026?
In this expanded tournament, the eight best teams that finish third in their group will also progress to the Round of 32.
The third-place teams will be ranked by the following criteria:
- Most points in the group stage
- Highest goal difference in the group stage
- Most goals scored in the group stage
- Highest "team conduct score"
- Highest FIFA ranking
How many teams play in the World Cup?
Previously, since 1998, there were 32 nations that qualified for the World Cup.
However, starting in 2026, the field was expanded to 48 teams.
This means an additional four groups in the opening phase of the competition, plus an extra stage in the knockouts (the Round of 32). All told, that means the winning team at the tournament will play eight games in total.
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