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At least 10 countries have officially been eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the group stage continues to produce dramatic results ahead of the Round of 32.

Curacao became the latest nation to exit the tournament after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Ivory Coast, ending the Caribbean side’s historic debut World Cup campaign.

The Elephants secured victory thanks to a brace from Nicolas Pépé, a result that sealed their place in the knockout stage while simultaneously confirming Curacao’s elimination.

Several other teams have also seen their World Cup dreams come to an end following disappointing performances in the group stage.

In the North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region, Panama and Haiti have already been knocked out alongside Curacao after failing to accumulate enough points to progress.

Europe has also witnessed a number of early exits, with Scotland, Turkey and the Czech Republic all eliminated after falling short in their respective groups.

From the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Qatar, Uzbekistan and Jordan have been confirmed as eliminated, bringing an end to their participation in the global tournament.

Tunisia remains the only African country officially out of the competition so far, while several other African representatives are still battling for places in the knockout rounds.

Countries Eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Curacao
Panama
Haiti
Scotland
Turkey
Czech Republic
Qatar
Uzbekistan
Jordan
Tunisia
With the group stage nearing its conclusion, six more teams are expected to be eliminated before the Round of 32 lineup is finalized, as countries continue to fight for the remaining qualification spots.

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South Africa coach, Hugo Broos, has said his players silenced their critics after Bafana Bafana qualified for the World Cup knockout stage for the first time in their history.

South Africa defeated South Korea 1-0 on Wednesday to finish second in Group A behind co-hosts Mexico, who won all three group matches.

The African side, appearing at the World Cup for the fourth time, had been written off after losing 2-0 to Mexico in their opening game.

However, they recovered with a draw against the Czech Republic before beating South Korea in Monterrey through Thapelo Maseko’s second-half goal.

“I’m very proud of the performance of my team and I think we gave an answer to all those big mouths of the last weeks that thought that we had to change something,” Broos said.

“We just did what we did. We just did what I wanted to do and this is the result.”

Broos, 74, who has coached South Africa since 2021, described the achievement as emotional, noting that he was nearing the end of his career.

“I said it already in the past that probably it will be one of the last games of my career and when you can end a career like I had in this way, I think everybody or every coach dreams of it,” he said.

The Belgian said he always believed in the squad despite criticism.

“Between me as a coach and them as players is yes, maybe something unique, I’m the coach, but I’m not a coach,” he said.

“I think I’m a friend of theirs. So the relationship between the players and me, this is very good.”

South Africa will face co-hosts Canada in Los Angeles on Sunday, with a place in the last 16 at stake.

“I just know that the players will be ready again and try to achieve the third round,” Broos said.

“It should be even more historic. But those players are chasing those things. Those players want to prove to everyone and to show that they are a good team. So we will see next Sunday if we can go further.”

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As the 2026 World Cup gathers momentum in North America, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has expressed frustration over Nigeria’s absence from the tournament.

Wike, who spoke at the commissioning of the Gwagwalada-Kuje Road project on Wednesday, where ex-Super Eagles’ captain, Joseph Yobo, was among dignitaries, expressed sadness over Nigeria’s failure to feature at the World Cup.

The minister said that despite Nigeria’s credentials and the number of players of Nigerian heritage featuring at the World Cup, not seeing the Super Eagles play on the biggest stage is hard to accept.
“Yes, we have congratulated one of our stars, Joseph Yobo.

“But let me use this medium through you to tell the Super Eagles: we are not happy,” the minister said while addressing Yobo at the event.

“If nobody else will tell you that—because I saw people clapping for you the moment they saw the Super Eagles—I said, ‘I won’t clap.’ I won’t clap because I watch the World Cup. I see countries I have never heard of before qualifying to play in the World Cup, and I am sitting down for hours watching countries that are completely unknown.
“In this contest, we have no less than 13 top Nigerian players playing all over the world, but here we are; we did not qualify. Yobo, go and tell them. We are not happy.”

Nigeria failed to reach a second consecutive World Cup tournament after losing to DR Congo in the African playoff tournament last year.

The Super Eagles, who first featured in the competition in 1994, made the play-offs after losing the direct ticket to South Africa despite beating neighbours Benin Republic 4-0 in the final match of the qualification series.
Despite that, Nigeria got a lifeline via the African playoffs after finishing as one of the four second-best-placed teams in the qualification race.

They won their first match against Gabon but agonisingly fell on penalties to the Leopards of DR Congo. That meant the Central Africans represented the continent in the intercontinental playoffs, where they eventually picked one of the two tickets to the World Cup.