The USMNT, Mexico and Canada received plenty of plaudits for their performances at the 2026 World Cup, although eliminations in the round of 16 brought an abrupt end to the tournament for all three co-hosts.

There were plenty of highlights along the way.

Mauricio Pochettino had the United States dreaming of lifting the World Cup trophy on July 19, and they got off to an excellent start by winning Group D with a game to spare. A comfortable victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 kept the momentum going, only for them to crash and burn against Belgium in a match overshadowed by the Folarin Balogun suspension controversy.

Mexico won their opening four games without conceding a goal, sparking hope they could reach the quarterfinals for only the third time ever. On both previous occasions, in 1970 and 1986, the World Cup was played in Mexico. Despite pushing England hard in the round of 32, they were ultimately undone by the superior attacking quality of Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane.

Canada won their first-ever World Cup point, then their first-ever World Cup game, qualified for the knockout stage for the first time, and then won their first-ever knockout game. But in matches against experienced, tournament-ready teams Switzerland and Morocco, they came up short.

How do the 2026 co-hosts compare?

The mood around all three teams has been overwhelmingly positive, yet their performances rank among the least successful by World Cup hosts since the tournament began in 1930.

That said, it depends on the criteria you use, and there are mitigating circumstances worth considering.

If we look solely at how far each host progressed between 1930 and 2026, only two have fared worse than a round of 16 exit.

South Africa became the first host nation to be eliminated in the group stage in 2010, a fate that also befell Qatar in 2022.

In 1982, Spain were eliminated in the second group stage under a different tournament format, although that still meant they finished among the final 12 teams.

The United States had already exited in the round of 16 as hosts in 1994, a feat repeated by 2002 co-host Japan.

All of the other 18 World Cup hosts progressed further, with six going on to lift the trophy: Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934), England (1966), West Germany (1974), Argentina (1978), and France (1998).

World Cup hosts ranked by tournament finish

The expanded format changes the picture

At this point, however, it’s worth remembering that teams have never had to play more matches to reach the round of 16. The expanded 48-team format introduced an extra knockout round after the group stage.

At the same time, some would argue the larger field has diluted the quality in the early rounds, making progression no more difficult than before. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.

The impact of that change is most evident in Mexico’s campaign. El Tri won four matches just to reach the round of 16. To put that into context, only five host nations have ever won more games, excluding penalty shootout victories, at a single World Cup. Italy, who finished third in 1990, and France, the 1998 champions, each recorded six wins.

Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934), and Argentina (1978) all lifted the World Cup after winning four matches, the same total Mexico recorded this year.

The USMNT’s three victories place them firmly in the middle of the pack, level with Brazil, who finished fourth on home soil in 2014.

Canada won twice, the same number of victories that took Switzerland (1954), Mexico (1970), and Russia (2018) to the quarterfinals.

Qatar in 2022 remains the only host nation in World Cup history to fail to win a single match.

World Cup hosts ranked by matches won

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