The stakes are ramping up at the World Cup (Picture: Getty)
The second round of group stage games has seen the World Cup dreams of five sides come to a premature end.
Whilst being knocked out of the World Cup after just two matches may seem implausible in a tournament where the eight best third-place sides qualify for the knockouts, the early exits are all down to a new rule that has been introduced for 2026.
Instead of using goal difference as the first tiebreaker to split teams who finish level on the same number of points, which had been the case for every World Cup since 1970, the head-to-head record between sides will now be used instead.
But whilst several countries have already been dumped out of the competition, a number of teams have instead qualified for the knockout stages.
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Introduced at the World Cup for the first time ever, owing to the involvement of 48 nations, the Round of 32 will consist of the 12 group winners, 12 group runner-ups and the aforementioned eight best third-placed teams.
Knocked out
Haiti
Haiti became the first team to be knocked out of the tournament after suffering defeats in their opening two games.
Their 1-0 loss to Scotland was particularly damaging, given the clash with Steve Clarke’s men essentially represented a must-win game owing to the fact Brazil and Morocco also make up Group C.
Haiti’s World Cup hopes are over with one game to spare (Picture: Getty)
A subsequent 3-0 defeat to Brazil in their second game confirmed their fate, bringing a premature end to their first World Cup campaign since 1974.
Turkiye
Much was expected of the Turks, who would have been expected to qualify from a group containing the USA, Australia and Paraguay.
A hugely surprising 2-0 defeat to Australia in their first game was compounded by a 1-0 loss to Paraguay in their second, which was made all the worse by the fact their South American opponents were playing with 10 men for the entirety of the second half.
The two defeats saw Turkiye exit the World Cup after just ten days of competition, with their meeting with the USA on Friday now meaningless.
How the new tiebreaker rule is impacting the World Cup
The decision to switch from goal difference to head-to-head record as the primary tiebreaker between sides in the group stage has already had a knock-on effect.
In previous editions of the World Cup, a team would need to be four points ahead of second place after two games in order to win the group.
This required the other two games in the group to finish as a draw.
Now, however, it is possible to be three points clear of second place and win the group after just two matches.
For comparison, at Qatar 2022, no team had secured top spot in their group after the second round of fixtures. Four sides have already done so in 2026.
The same applies at the other end of the table – the team in fourth can now be three points adrift of third place after their first two fixtures, but they are knocked out if they lost to the side in third in either of their games.
In Qatar four years ago, only two teams were eliminated from the World Cup after their opening two matches. So far, five teams have been knocked out.
Tunisia
Tunisia’s World Cup campaign has been nothing short of a complete calamity.
A 5-1 defeat to Sweden in their first match saw them sack their coach Sabri Lamouchi, who became the first manager ever to lose his job at a World Cup after just one game.
Tunisia’s World Cup campaign has been a disaster (Picture: Getty)
Lamouchi’s successor Herve Renard, who is Tunisia’s seventh manager since their World Cup qualifying campaign started, could not prevent the North African side from losing 4-0 to Japan in their second game to cap off what has been a miserable few days for the team.
Jordan
The World Cup debutants were officially knocked out after losing their second group game to Algeria.
Jordan took the lead against the Algerians but succumbed to a second-half comeback with Amine Gouiri scoring eight minutes from time.
That result, coupled with their 3-1 defeat to Austria, saw them crash out of the competition – although a glamour encounter with Argentina in their final game at least gives them something to look forward to.
Panama
Panama were always going to be the underdogs in a group containing England, Croatia and Ghana – and so it’s proven.
The Central American team have at least been competitive, suffering narrow 1-0 defeats to Ghana and Croatia.
Panama will only have pride to play for against England (Picture: Getty)
It means that England, who are looking to secure qualification to the knockouts on Saturday, will do so playing against a team who have already been knocked out.
Qualified for the knockouts
Co-hosts Mexico and the USA were the first sides to book their place in the Round of 32 having clinched top spot in Groups A and D respectively.
Germany and Argentina will also take their place in the next round courtesy of topping Groups E and J, while France and Norway will battle it out for first place in Group I safe in the knowledge that both teams have qualified.
Colombia have become the latest side to secure their passage in the tournament and will top the group with a point against Portugal in their final game.
The Round of 32 will get underway on June 28 and will wrap up on July 3.
