CONCACAF shines at World Cup 2026

The group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup has concluded, and the tournament’s first assessment confirms that the expanded 48-team format has increased competitiveness across football’s confederations. While Europe remains the bloc with the most teams advancing, Africa produced the most remarkable performance in its history, South America maintained its exceptional efficiency, and the AFC benefited from strong performances by Japan, Australia and Iraq.

The 72 matches of the opening phase determined the 32 teams that will compete in the round of 32, which began this Saturday at venues across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

UEFA once again demonstrated why it remains the world’s leading football confederation. Of its 16 representatives, 13 advanced to the knockout stage, the highest total of any confederation.

Spain, France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Norway remain in contention for the title.

Although several traditional powers experienced more difficult group-stage campaigns than expected, Europe still possesses the largest number of genuine title contenders and remains the benchmark for international football.

The South American Football Confederation once again produced the tournament’s highest level of efficiency. Five of its six representatives reached the knockout stage: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Paraguay.

The only exception was Uruguay, whose elimination became one of the biggest surprises of the group stage. With just six participants, CONMEBOL achieved an 83.3% qualification rate, confirming its status as the confederation with the strongest average performance per team.

Argentina completed the first round with a perfect record, Brazil topped its group, and Colombia emerged as one of the most convincing teams of the tournament.

The Confederation of African Football delivered the World Cup’s biggest breakthrough. Nine of its 10 representatives advanced to the knockout stage: Morocco, South Africa, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, Senegal, Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ghana.

Never before had Africa placed so many representatives in the knockout phase of a World Cup.

The collective performances highlighted the tactical and competitive evolution of African national teams, with several sides winning their groups and others qualifying among the best third-placed teams.

The AFC experienced a mixed campaign but still achieved a notable result by sending three teams into the round of 32: Japan, Australia and Iraq.

Japan once again demonstrated its continued growth on the international stage by finishing among the strongest teams in its group. Australia, which has competed under the AFC since 2006 despite being geographically part of Oceania, secured qualification by finishing second in Group D behind the United States. Iraq also progressed to the knockout stage.

By contrast, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan and South Korea failed to advance beyond the group stage. Australia’s success further strengthens the AFC’s overall performance and highlights the impact of its move from the Oceania Football Confederation two decades ago, a decision that has contributed to raising the competitive level within the AFC.

The Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Association Football capitalised on hosting the tournament. The United States, Mexico and Canada all reached the knockout stage, while Curaçao, Haiti and Panama were eliminated.

The three host nations met expectations and kept alive the region’s hopes of matching its best historical World Cup performance.

The performances of the United States and Mexico were particularly impressive, with both teams finishing top of their respective groups.

Without Australia, which left the OFC for the AFC in 2006, Oceania had only New Zealand as its representative. The OFC side failed to reach the knockout stage and ended its participation in the group phase.

Although the OFC now has a guaranteed World Cup place thanks to the expanded format, the competitive challenge remains significant given the progress made by other confederations.

With the round of 32 now underway, the challenge for each confederation is to transform a promising group-stage campaign into a historic run capable of challenging the decades-long dominance of Europe and South America at the World Cup.

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