2026 World Cup: live ranking of the best third-placed teams

With the new 48-team format, the 2026 World Cup allows the 8 best third-placed teams from the 12 groups to advance to the round of 16. Tiebreakers are: points, goal difference, goals scored, fair play, FIFA ranking. This system was used before in 1986, 1990, and 1994. Argentina in 1990 and Italy in 1994 reached the final after qualifying as best third-placed teams.