Coupe du monde 2026 : Les meilleurs 3es n’ont pas fait long feu
The campaign for the best third-placed teams of the 2026 World Cup is officially over. Paraguay's defeat in the round of 32 sealed the fate of the remaining teams who had qualified through this status, ending the run of all the teams that had advanced from the group stage.
Before Paraguay, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sweden, Ghana, Ecuador, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Algeria, and Senegal had already been eliminated from the competition. Paraguay will thus remain the only nation among the best third-placed teams to have progressed beyond the first knockout round, without, however, managing to advance further.
This assessment reignites questions about the new 48-team World Cup format. The introduction of eight qualifiers from among the best third-placed teams was intended to offer more opportunities to national teams, but it also fueled considerable criticism throughout the tournament.
Several observers pointed to a more complex group stage, where qualification scenarios often depended on calculations involving several groups. This format sometimes reduced the intensity of certain matches, as some teams could hope to advance to the next round without finishing in the top two of their group.
The results of the final phase seem to confirm the skeptics' doubts. None of the teams that received a second chance managed to play a major role in the knockout stage, all being eliminated before the round of 16. This observation could fuel discussions about the effectiveness and sporting merit of this system in future editions of the World Cup.
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