Initial play-off line-up — World Cup 2026: Five pairs confirmed for 1/16 final
After the Group D, F and I matches, the first look of the World Cup 2026 play-off came before the fans: some of the teams that will compete in the 1/16 finals have been confirmed, and eight out of the 1,000 from the 3rd places have to be decided.
With the matches held on Friday, 26 June, some key decisions in the World Cup 2026 came out. The fixtures in Group D, F and I have come to an end with changes in the play-off equation.
From Group D, the United States (USA) and Australia are confirmed to advance directly to the 1/16 finals; Paraguay still retains a chance of making the play-offs after finishing third.
In Group F, the Netherlands and Japan went straight to the next stage, while Sweden took third place.
The top-3 positions in Group I are occupied by France, Norway and Senegal respectively.
Of the 12 teams that have already finished third in each group, it will be known later which eight teams will advance to the 1/16 finals — depending on the circumstances captured in the play-off table below.
The play-off lineup (1/16 final pairings) as per current situation is as follows:
- Germany — Paraguay
- France — Sweden
- South Africa — Canada
- Netherlands — Morocco (another name: Morocco)
- Portugal — Ghana
- Spain — Austria
- United States — Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Egypt — South Korea
- Brazil — Japan
- Cote d'Ivoire — Norway
- Mexico — Ecuador
- England — Senegal
- Argentina — Uruguay
- Australia — Iran
- Switzerland — Algeria
- Colombia — Croatia
The World Cup 2026 tournament will be held from 11 June to 19 July in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The current world champion team Argentina: In the 2022 Qatar final, France won by six goals (3:3), 4:2 on penalties after the transfer of passes.
Fixtures in the remaining groups are yet to be finalized for the play-off line-up to become more clear — especially who leads the race for third place will be crucial for each team.
(This play-off format may become chaotic pending changes to fixtures, points table and details of each team's next match.)