World Cup 2026 third-place table: Who has qualified for last 32? Final standings as one team goes through with three points
Updated 28/06/2026 at 08:49 GMT+1
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The group stage at the 2026 World Cup is complete. The top two teams from each of the 12 groups qualified for the next round automatically, and they were joined by eight third-placed teams in a fresh look for the tournament.
‘Nothing is impossible!’ - Cabo Verde boss on reaching last 32
Video credit: SNTV
Scotland gained three points from their campaign, and were officially eliminated after Croatia beat Ghana 2-1 on Saturday.
Korea Republic, like Scotland, finished their group early, and then had an agonising wait in North America until their exit was confirmed on the final day of fixtures.
Bosnia & Herzegovina, meanwhile, are through with four points, as are Sweden. Ecuador's shock win over Germany also moved them on to four points.
Cabo Verde have been one of the surprise packages at the World Cup, and they plunged Uruguay into third place, with the two-time champions crashing out on two points.
Iran were dramatically denied second place in Group G with a heartbreaking late VAR call for offside, with their three draws seeing them exit on goal difference.
The team to ultimately knock them out were Algeria, who gained a point on the final day to send themselves through.
That came a couple of hours after DR Congo secured their spot with a come-from-behind victory over Uzbekistan. Senegal were the only side to go through on three points.
| Team | Games played | Points | GD |
| 1. Dr Congo (Q) | 3 | 4 | +1 |
| 2. Sweden (Q) | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 3. Ecuador (Q) | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 4. Ghana (Q) | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 5. Bosnia & Herz. (Q) | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| 6. Algeria (Q) | 3 | 4 | -2 |
| 7. Paraguay (Q) | 3 | 4 | -2 |
| 8. Senegal (Q) | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 9. Iran (E) | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 10. Korea Rep. (E) | 3 | 3 | -1 |
| 11. Scotland (E) | 3 | 3 | -3 |
| 12. Uruguay (E) | 3 | 2 | -1 |
Opta’s supercomputer predicted after the first round of matches that teams had a 99.81% chance of making the last 32 if they end up third in their group on four points.
For teams who finish on three points, that dropped to a 66.77% chance of qualifying - and just 4.66% for teams who only get two points.
What were the tiebreakers?
If third-placed teams finish on the same number of points, then the tie-breakers are as follows:
- Goal difference
- Goals scored
- Team conduct score (the amount of yellow and red cards received)
- FIFA world ranking
According to Opta's predictions, three points, and a positive goal difference, should be enough to qualify for the last 32.
Even 0 or -1 goal difference was good enough most of the time in Opta's simulations.
Who will the third-placed teams face in last 32?
According to FIFA’s official tournament regulations, eight of the 12 group winners will be paired with a third-place team in the round of 32. These are winners of groups A, C, D, E, G, I, K and L.
Confirmed round-of-32 fixtures
- South Africa v Canada
- Germany v Paraguay
- Netherlands v Morocco
- Brazil v Japan
- France v Sweden
- Ivory Coast v Norway
- Mexico v Ecuador
- England v DR Congo
- USA v Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Belgium v Senegal
- Portugal v Croatia
- Spain v Austria
- Switzerland v Algeria
- Argentina v Cabo Verde
- Colombia v Ghana
- Australia v Egypt
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