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Can England play France before the final? How do third-place teams qualify? World Cup predictor burning questions answered
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Published 05/06/2026 at 10:35 GMT+1
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England and France are two of the favourites going into the 2026 World Cup. Here is how and when they could meet in 2026, with TNT Sports' new predictor helping along the way.
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The expanded 48-team format for the 2026 World Cup has completely rewritten the rulebook, transforming the tournament into a fascinating puzzle for football fans. With 12 groups, a massive new Round of 32, and the introduction of complex third-place qualifying matrices, mapping out the road to glory in New Jersey has never been more difficult, with England and France potentially on a collision course.
The traditional knockout routes are gone, replaced by a dynamic bracket structure where a single goal or a surprise runners-up finish can completely flip the tournament on its head. Will the heavy-hitters enjoy a smooth path to the later stages, or are we on a collision course for a big-name blockbuster in the early knockout rounds?
To help make sense of the action ahead, the TNT Sports World Cup Bracket Challenge is officially live, giving you the chance to step into the dugout and predict exactly how the entire tournament will unfold. Before you lock in your definitive predictions and plot your ultimate route to the final, we look at the answers to the burning questions dominating World Cup predictors across the globe.
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Can England play France before the final?
Yes, but only if at least one of them slips up in the group stage. If both heavyweights dominate their groups as expected, the official tournament tree keeps them completely separated on opposite sides of the bracket, setting up a potential blockbuster showdown for the final in New Jersey.
However, the introduction of the 48-team format means a single bad result in the group stage completely alters a team's trajectory. You can map out these exact scenarios using the TNT Sports World Cup Bracket Challenge:
- The final (Both win their groups): England are top seeds in Group L, while France headline Group I. If both teams take care of business and top their respective groups, they are placed on separate sides of the tournament tree. If they both keep winning, they cannot cross paths until the World Cup final on July 19. Lock this path into your predictor to see who they have to clear to get there.
- The semi-final: If one team win their group but the other slip to a runners-up spot, they can end up on the same side of the bracket. For example, if England win Group L but France finish second in Group I, France get thrown into the left side of the draw - setting them up for a potential semi-final clash against England.
- Round of 16: If a true group-stage shock occurs and either England or France scrape through as one of the best third-placed teams, all bets are off. Depending on how the final wildcard slots open up, a third-placed team can be drawn directly against a dominant group winner in the Round of 16. If you think a massive group-stage upset is brewing, map it out in our Bracket Challenge to see what kind of early knockout madness it triggers.
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How do third-place teams qualify?
This is the most critical format change for 2026. With 12 groups of four teams, the top two from each group automatically advance (24 teams). To fill out the new 32-team knockout bracket, the eight best third-placed teams will also progress.
Over half the field (32 out of 48) will advance from the group stage. But ranking those third-placed finishers is not just about points; it introduces a massive cross-tournament scoreboard-watching conundrum. It also makes predicting the knockouts a brilliant headache. In the TNT Sports Bracket Challenge, you will have to hand-pick the eight third-placed survivors you think will make the cut before you can even begin plotting the route to the final.
Here are FIFA's tiebreakers to whittle the 12 third-place teams down to eight, in order:
1. Points
2. Goal difference
3. Goals scored
4. Team conduct score (including players and team officials) regarding the number of yellow and red cards
5. FIFA world ranking
So what are you waiting for?
Head over to the TNT Sports World Cup Bracket Challenge now, pick your third-place wildcards, and see if your prediction of the path to glory holds up.
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