Here are the nations, including South Africa and Morocco, that have advanced to the round of 32 of the men's FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the USA as of June 25, 07:30 GMT
Once the FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage concludes, focus will shift to the round of 32 and the first matches in the men's global football tournament's knockout stage.
The top two teams in each of the 12 groups, as well as the eight best third-place finishers, advance to the round of 32.
The round of 32 runs from June 28 to July 4, with the winners of each match advancing to the round of 16.
Teams that have qualified for the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup
Group A: Mexico, South Africa
Group B: Switzerland, Canada
Group C: Brazil, Morocco
Group D: USA
Group E: Germany
Group I: France, Norway
Group J: Argentina
Group K: Colombia
What is the format of the World Cup knockouts?
The top two teams in each of the 12 groups, along with the eight best third-place finishers, advance to knockouts.
The knockout phase begins with the round of 32, introduced for the first time at a World Cup after the expansion of the tournament from 32 to 48 teams.
Then comes the round of 16, followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and a playoff for third place. The final is on July 19.
The stage-wise breakdown of the tournament’s schedule is:
- Group stage: June 11 to June 27
- Round of 32: June 28 to July 3
- Round of 16: July 4-7
- Quarterfinals: July 9-11
- Semifinals: July 14-15
- Bronze medal match: July 18
- Final: July 19
What are the rule changes for the tie-breaker criteria at the 2026 World Cup?
FIFA is using head-to-head records instead of goal difference as the primary tie-breaker for teams level on points for the first time at a World Cup.
Haiti, Turkiye, Tunisia, Jordan and Panama have been eliminated because they are unable to catch the third-placed teams in their respective groups, as they lost to those teams.
Tie-breaker criteria for World Cup groups
According to FIFA’s rules for the tournament, if two or more teams in the same group are equal on points after the group stage ends, the following criteria, in the order below, will be applied to determine the ranking:
Step one
- Greatest number of points gained in the group matches.
- Superior goal difference in the group matches between the teams concerned (head-to-head).
- Greatest number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned (head-to-head).
If the teams are still tied, the criteria below apply:
Step two
- Superior goal difference across all group matches.
- Greatest number of goals scored across all group matches.
- Highest team conduct score (players and team officials) relating to the number of yellow and red cards obtained.
If the teams somehow still cannot be separated, then the following criteria apply:
Step three
- The two or more teams still equal on points shall be ranked according to the most recent published edition of the FIFA world rankings.
The criteria for the eight best‑ranked teams
The eight best teams among those ranked third will be determined as follows:
- Greatest number of points gained in all group matches.
- Goal difference resulting from all group matches.
- Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.
- Highest team conduct score (players and team officials) relating to the number of yellow and red cards obtained in all group matches.
- The two or more teams still equal on points shall be ranked according to the most recent published edition of the FIFA world rankings.
