Eight third-place teams will advance to the 2026 World Cup Round of 32. Here's where the standings sit as the group stage winds down.

Teams finishing in third place in the World Cup group stage can still advance in the knockout round, but it's a fight to make it to Round of 32.

World Cup 2026 third-place ranking: Final table as Scotland crash out in group stage - Steve Clarke resigns as Tartan Army’s wait for a maiden knockout berth goes on

As teams wrap up their group-stage games at the World Cup, a handful of countries — those that finish third in their group — will wait in limbo, unsure whether they have done enough to advance to the knockout rounds. Only the top eight of the 12 third ...

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is entering its decisive moments of the group stage with teams battling for a place in the knockout rounds. Under the tournament's expanded 48-team format, qualification for knockout rounds is no longer reserved just for the group winners and runners-up.

After much fretting and hand-wringing, including from within the lofty powers of soccer administration, the expansion of the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams has proven to be well received. Several minnows have not only avoided humiliation but battled valiantly ...

Adil Boulbina celebrates after the match as Algeria qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup Reuters/Annegret Hilse If you’re a fan of a team that finished in third place in a World Cup group, the immediate question on your lips was: “Are we in?”