On Thursday, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Sweden finished third in their respective groups, but guaranteed their advancement to the next round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The second of the four matchdays scheduled until June 27, which concludes the action in the twelve groups, saw 18 teams secure their passage to the knockout stage.

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In Group E, Ecuador was fighting for survival and defeated Germany 2-1. It was impossible to displace Germany from first place in the group, but Ecuador´s National Team managed to finish as one of the best third-placed teams, thanks to having a goal difference of 0. Ivory Coast, who needed to defeat Curaçao in Philadelphia, won 2-0 with a brace from Nicolas Pépé, securing second place with six points. Curaçao was eliminated with a single point.

Now Ecuadorian players awaits its opponent from among eleven possibilities: Mexico, the United States, Switzerland, England, Ghana, Croatia, Egypt, Iran, Belgium, Colombia, or Portugal.

In Group D, the host United States confirmed its lead with six points, despite a comfortable 2-3 defeat against already-eliminated Turkey in Los Angeles. Australia, which drew 0-0 with Paraguay in San Francisco, secured second place with four points.

FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 Groups Final Point Table #shorts #worldcup #info #fifa #sports #sportsnews #football #pointtable pic.twitter.com/mqZcB9Uq5Z

— Suman Chowdhury (@sumansirc) June 26, 2026

Paraguay, third with four points and a negative goal difference of 2, will need a combination of results to secure one of the eight spots reserved for the best third-placed teams. The criteria for selecting these spots are the number of points, goal difference, goals scored, cards, and FIFA ranking.

The Albirroja will be eliminated if eight scenarios occur: a win between Belgium and New Zealand; Iran defeats Egypt without a large margin; Uruguay defeats Spain and Cape Verde defeats Saudi Arabia; Austria and Algeria draw; the Democratic Republic of Congo defeats Uzbekistan; Portugal needs to avoid a heavy defeat against Colombia, and Croatia needs to avoid a loss to Ghana.

In Group F, the Netherlands finished top with seven points after defeating already eliminated Tunisia 3-1 in Kansas. Japan drew 1-1 with Sweden in Dallas. The Netherlands will face Morocco on June 29 in Monterrey, while the Blue Samurai will play Brazil in Houston. Sweden is likely to play France on June 30.

The matchups for South Africa vs. Canada, Netherlands vs. Morocco, United States vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Brazil vs. Japan are set.

The 18 confirmed teams (Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Australia, Mexico, United States, Germany, Argentina, France, Norway, Colombia, South Africa, Switzerland, Canada, Brazil, and Morocco) will be joined by eight more teams that qualify as the best third-place finishers in their respective groups.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Argentina not only celebrated its second victory in the Football World Cup, but also that Lionel Messi became the all-time leading goal scorer in World Cup history. pic.twitter.com/kjpG0kGppz

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