With four teams remaining at the 2026 World Cup, 44 teams are very disappointed.
Some more than others. Teams like Jordan and Uzbekistan were happy to make an appearance. But many of the teams below will be especially ruing the way their tournaments ended.
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The Germans at least made it out of the group stage this year. But is that really an achievement when two-thirds of the field advanced to the knockout rounds?
Germany was one-and-done in the knockout rounds too thanks to a shootout loss to Paraguay. It was the first time the Germans had ever lost a World Cup match in PKs and also meant Germany hasn’t won a knockout round game at the World Cup since winning the tournament in 2014.
The rebuild is officially on after the loss too. Julian Naglesmann was quickly ousted as the team’s coach and replaced by former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. After helping Liverpool break its Premier League title drought, Klopp now has to get Germany back to being capable of winning a World Cup.
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Brazil
Brazil seems just as far from being a real contender as Germany. The Round of 16 loss to Norway wasn’t a fluky upset; Norway dominated the game and was better in the middle of the field.
The appointment of longtime manager Carlo Ancelotti didn’t immediately fix Brazil’s midfield fragility. Pre-tournament injuries to Rodrigo and Eder Militáo weakened the squad, but neither play midfield. Casemiro was called upon to do too much throughout the whole tournament, and he was often overstretched no matter who he was partnered with.
Ancelotti is contracted through the 2030 World Cup. There will be a lot of squad turnover in the next four years, as the Neymar era is officially over and 30-something players like Marquinhos, Casemiro and even Alisson won’t be back for the next World Cup. With so many attacking riches to pick from, the top priority for Ancelotti will be to build a reliable midfield that comes close to resembling the ones that powered Brazil’s World Cup winners.
United States
The quarterfinals were the standard for the United States at this tournament. There was little excuse for the U.S. to not watch its best-ever World Cup result while playing every game on home soil.
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But losing to Belgium in the Round of 16 after a mess unfolded before the match is especially painful, even if it wasn’t of the team’s own making. President Donald Trump’s push to get Folarin Balogun reinstated — whether it worked or not — will forever mar the tournament and future FIFA decisions for years to come.
Even if you believe political meddling has been happening for years at FIFA, for it to happen so openly about an on-field decision is beyond brazen. There are plenty of people who think the USMNT got what it deserved in Belgium’s thrashing.
South Korea
The way South Korea went out of the 2026 World Cup turned into a full-blown national crisis. After beating Czechia 2-1 to open the tournament, South Korea lost 1-0 to Mexico and then meekly lost 1-0 to South Africa to fall outside the top eight third-place teams.
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The performance against South Africa led to the immediate resignation of Hong Myung-bo, a former national team player. His resignation came as President Lee Jae Myung called for an investigation and the team’s official fan club said that Hong should “kneel before the entire nation and leave the football world forever.”
That seems a bit harsh, even if South Korea was in one of the easiest groups in the entire tournament.
African teams with late knockout round leads
Getting eight teams to the Round of 32 was an indisputable success for the African continent. However just Morocco and Egypt advanced to the Round of 16.
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The biggest Round of 32 collapse among African nations came from Senegal, which had a 2-0 lead over Belgium through 85 minutes. But the Belgians scored two goals to send the game to extra time before Youri Tielemans was fouled in the box and converted the penalty for a 3-2 Belgium win.
DR Congo took a 1-0 lead over England in the Round of 32 and held on for 68 minutes before Harry Kane equalized in the 75th minute and then took the lead in the 86th. But that’s excusable; asking DR Congo to fend off England’s attack with a one-goal lead for nearly the entire game is a big ask.
Egypt, meanwhile, then one-upped Senegal in the Round of 16, when it became the first team to lose a knockout round game 3-2 in regulation after leading 2-0 with 75 minutes to go. After brilliantly striking twice on the counter — and having another goal controversially called back for a foul at the other end of the field — Egypt couldn’t stand firm against Argentina in the final 20 minutes of the game. Argentina scored three times in 13 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals.
Uruguay
The inaugural World Cup champions are far, far away from a third title.
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Uruguay crashed out in the group stage for the second straight tournament in 2026. After drawing against Saudi Arabia — and needing an 80th-minute goal for that point — and Cape Verde, Uruguay needed at least another tie against Spain in its final group game to have a chance to advance.
That tie didn’t happen, as Uruguay keeper Fernando Muslera let Álex Baena’s shot bounce off his gloves and into the back of the net in the 42nd minute. Uruguay didn’t come close to a goal in the second half, and then its frustrations boiled over in the final minutes as Agustin Canobbio got a red card in added time.
Since making the semifinals in 2010, Uruguay has won just one knockout round game. And that tournament along with a quarterfinal appearance in 2018, are the only time the Uruguayans have made it past the Round of 16 since finishing fourth in 1970.
Cristiano Ronaldo‘s sixth and final World Cup ended without the storybook finish he sought.
(Zhizhao Wu via Getty Images)
Cristiano Ronaldo’s final World Cup
In a World Cup filled with star performances from Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane, among others, Ronaldo’s career ended with a whimper.
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Sure, he scored a brace against Uzbekistan and got his first-ever knockout round goal in a win over Croatia. But that goal came from the penalty spot and Ronaldo was subbed off before Portugal got its game-winner.
The 41-year-old was far too often a non-factor in his final World Cup and his performance combined with Messi’s continued dominance makes it clear that the debate between Ronaldo and Messi has an undisputed winner. And no, that winner is not Ronaldo.
Australia
It was the shootout from hell for the Socceroos in their Round of 32 loss to Egypt. Head coach Tony Popovic replaced starting goalkeeper Patrick Beach with longtime keeper Mathew Ryan ahead of the shootout given Ryan’s ability to stop penalties. Well, Ryan didn’t save a single Egyptian penalty.
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Meanwhile, Australia sent two center backs to the penalty spot to take kicks. Henry Souttar was the first penalty taker for Australia and he missed. And 18-year-old defender Lucas Herrington also missed his penalty kick, allowing Egypt to win on just its fourth shot of the shootout.
