Every Team Eliminated From the 2026 World Cup

Plenty of teams have already seen their World Cup journeys end in heartbreak.

Cristiano Ronaldo bid farewell to the world stage in heartbreaking fashion. | Ryan Pierse/FIFA/Getty Images

The 2026 World Cup is the biggest in tournament history, with 48 teams traveling to the United States, Canada and Mexico in pursuit of glory. In the end, however, there can only be one winner.

We’ve already seen the end of underdog stories and the fall of giants, with this summer producing plenty of excitement and drama, and there is still likely to be plenty more before the trophy is lifted on July 19.

Here’s every team to have been eliminated from the 2026 World Cup so far.

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Group Stage

Türkiye’s exit was a huge surprise. | Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images

• Haiti
• Türkiye
• Tunisia
• Jordan
• Panama
• Czechia
• Qatar
• Curaçao
• Iraq
• Uruguay
• Saudi Arabia
• New Zealand
• Scotland
• Uzbekistan
• South Korea
• Iran

Haiti became the first team eliminated from the tournament after losing its first two group games, shortly before Türkiye’s profligacy brought another early exit for a team many expected to make some noise in the knockout stages.

Tunisia fired its manager after one game in an unsuccessful attempt to salvage a slow start to life in Group F, while Jordan and Panama, Czechia, Qatar, Curaçao and Iraq’s eliminations were all confirmed soon after.

Group H was headlined by Spain and featured the heroics of Cabo Verde, but that came at the expense of Uruguay. The South American giant seemed certain to reach the knockouts but failure to beat any of the teams in the group, including Saudi Arabia, sealed a shocking early exit.

New Zealand was eliminated with one point in Group G, while in Group C, Scotland’s dream summer came crashing down as defeats to Morocco and Brazil left the team unable to qualify as one of the best third-placed teams.

Uzbekistan failed to pick up a single point in Group K and was knocked out shortly before South Korea, but the most dramatic exit went to Iran. Amid complaints over its treatment from both the United States and FIFA, Iran looked to be sneaking through to the knockouts in third place before a 96th-minute header from Austria’s Saša Kalajdžić sent the Europeans through instead.

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Round of 32

Germany could not overcome Paraguay. | Image Photo Agency/Getty Images

• South Africa
• Japan
• Germany
• Netherlands
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Sweden
• Ecuador
• DR Congo
• Senegal
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Austria
• Croatia
• Algeria
• Australia
• Cabo Verde
• Ghana

South Africa crashed out by conceding to Canada’s Stephen Eustáquio in stoppage time, one day before a spirited Japan side let a one-goal lead slip and was dumped out by Brazil.

Then came the biggest shock of the round of 32 as Germany fell to Paraguay on penalties to extend a run of 12 years without a knockout victory at the World Cup. There was some surprise to see the Netherlands exit early, although defeat to Morocco was somewhat justifiable.

Côte d’Ivoire put in a series of encouraging showings but was unable to advance past Norway. Sweden, meanwhile, was no match for a France side backed by many to go on and win the entire tournament.

Next to fall were Ecuador and DR Congo, bested by Mexico and England respectively, and Senegal soon joined them after giving up a 2–0 lead to lose 3–2 to Belgium.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was no match for the USMNT, while Austria was comprehensively beaten by a rampant Spain side.

Controversy reigned as a late VAR intervention sent Croatia out at Portugal’s hands and Algeria slumped to defeat against Switzerland. Egypt needed penalties to sneak beyond Australia.

The feel-good story of the summer belongs to Cabo Verde. Given the daunting task of dueling with Argentina and Lionel Messi, the lowest-ranked team to ever qualify for the knockout stages were downed by a 111th-minute Cristian Romero header, having previously twice come from behind to send the game to extra time.

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Round of 16

Neymar retired from Brazil duty after the defeat. | Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images

• Canada
• Paraguay
• Brazil
• Mexico
• Portugal
• USA

Canada became the first of the three co-hosts to leave the competition after a 3–0 defeat to Morocco, before Paraguay’s surprisingly extended summer came to an abrupt halt against Kylian Mbappé and France.

For the first time since 1990, Brazil failed to reach the quarterfinals of a World Cup, falling to an Erling Haaland-led Norway outfit making some serious noise this summer. Hours later, Mexico’s time in the tournament was cut short following a dramatic 3–2 defeat to England.

Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo soon saw their dreams of a maiden World Cup title dashed by a stoppage-time winner from Mikel Merino, who secured Spain’s 1–0 win just six minutes after coming into the game.

The co-host USA saw its dreamy World Cup run come to a cruel and heartbreaking end, falling to Belgium 4–1 in Seattle. The Stars and Stripes looked out of sorts for 90 minutes straight, which starkly contrasted the confidence and poise the team had played with up until that point.

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