How third-placed teams go qualify for knockout stage for 2026 World Cup
Wia dis foto come from, SMILEY N. POOL/GETTY IMAGES
Wetin we call dis foto, some teams dey wait anxiously for di final round of group games to know dia fate whether dem go qualify as one of di best third-place teams
Published
Read am in 5 mins
Di World Cup group stage don almost end – we almost dey reach di 72 games across 12 groups.
Some teams already don qualify for di Round of 32 stage, odas gatz wait for all di group stage games to end bifor dem go sabi dia fate.
As at 25 June, at least 12 teams don qualify – Mexico, South Africa don make am to R32 afta all dia group games.
Switzerland and Canada also bin qualify from group B just like Brazil and Morocco for group C.
USA don qualify for group D, Germany for group E, France and Norway for group I, Argentina for group J and Colombia for group K.
Some teams like Haiti, Türkiye, Tunisia, Panama, Qatar, and Jordan all already don comot even bifor di last round of group games.
Dis teams comot sake of dem no get enough points and head-to-head tie-breaker rules afta dem bin lose many games for dia various groups.
Di oda groups go sabi which two teams go qualify afta dem play dia final round of games.
Wey some teams gatz wait and hope say dem be part of di best eight third-placed teams to qualify for di knockout stage for dis news format for di tournament.
Dis be how di third-place teams fit qualify.
Afta di first two teams for each group qualify, two oda teams go remain for each group.
Out of each group, di team wey get di least points go comot.
But some teams fit finish third wey dem go qualify for knockout stage, odas fit finish third but dem no go fit qualify for dis same knockout stage.
As at 25 June, Bosnia & Herzegovina bin dey lead di third place rankings wit four points, five odas – Sweden, Croatia, Algeria, Paraguay, Cape Verde, Belgium all get three points ahead of dia last group game.
Scotland wey finish third for dia group wit Brazil and Morocco get three points. At di moment, dem dey for di list of top eight best third-place teams.
But dia case dey shake, sake of di six oda teams wey dey inside di top eight now go play dia last group game, if dem pick points from dis games, dem go get advantage ova Scotland.
Goal difference from all di group games
If di teams wey finish third for di various groups get di same points, di next tin dem go check to decide who go make am for di knockout stage na goal difference. On top di third-place rankings at di moment for example, Czechia, DR Congo, Ecuador and Senegal neva win any game yet, but dem get chance to qualify if dem get good result for dia last group games.
Czechia, DR Congo and Ecuador bin get one point each wit (-1) goal difference wey Senegal bin get zero points wit (-3) goal difference.
Highest number of goals for di group matches
Afta dem check di goal difference, di next criteria na highest goals wey di team don score for dia group stage games. Di more goals di team get, di better di chance say dem go qualify for di knockout stage.
Dat be di reason why afta two defeats for two games, Senegal still get chance to qualify; dem go enta di top eight best third place teams if dem beat Iraq to get three points and score more goals to cancel dia (-3) goal difference.
Dem also score three goals for dia first two games, Croatia also score three goals for dia first two games.
Sweden dey rank high for di top eight third place table sake of dem score six goals for dia first two games on top dia three points.
Highest team conduct score
Dis criteria dey base on yellow cards and red cards for players and officials for dia three group games. Di more di yellow and red cards, di lower di score for di team.
Teams wey get fewer yellow and red cards go get advantage on top dia points to stand chance to progress.
Highest Fifa world ranking position
If afta di first four criteria, two or more teams still bin get equal points, dem now go carry dia most recent Fifa ranking position to select di best one to join di odas for di top eight best third-place teams.
Dis simply dey mean say di higher di rank of di team for di latest Fifa world ranking, di beta di chance for dat team to qualify for di knockout stage.
Dis be how tins go shape up, na so some teams like Scotland wey already bin play all dia three games, wit three points dey sweat to wait for di final group games for all di groups to know if dem qualify or not.
