With the group stage complete after all 12 groups finished their fixtures, 16 teams have been eliminated from the 2026 World Cup.
There were several memorable results during the group stage, including Cape Verde’s draw with Spain and Curaçao’s point against Ecuador. Albeit Curaçao lost by six goals to Germany, even scoring against one of the tournament favorites was a historic achievement for the nation.
Despite those surprises, there were not many unexpected eliminations, largely because eight third-placed teams also advanced to the knockout stage. Uruguay’s exit is arguably the biggest surprise of the group stage.
The 16 eliminated teams
- Group A: South Korea (3 points) and Czechia (1 point)
- Group B: Qatar (1 point)
- Group C: Scotland (3 points) and Haiti (0 points)
- Group D: Turkiye (3 points)
- Group E: Curaçao (1 point)
- Group F: Tunisia (0 points)
- Group G: Iran (2 points) and New Zealand (1 point)
- Group H: Uruguay (2 points) and Saudi Arabia (2 points)
- Group I: Iraq (0 points)
- Group J: Jordan (0 points)
- Group K: Uzbekistan (0 points)
- Group L: Panama (0 points)
