{"id":5373,"date":"2026-06-27T15:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5373"},"modified":"2026-06-27T15:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:35:17","slug":"world-cup-final-day-of-group-play-will-set-the-field-for-the-round-of-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5373","title":{"rendered":"World Cup final day of group play will set the field for the round of 32"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Cape Verde head coach Bubista waves the flag as he celebrates with fans after their 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia after the World Cup Group H soccer match in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Going into the final day of group play at the World Cup<\/a> , there are essentially eight teams vying for four spots in the round of 32.<\/p>

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Tournament co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico have all advanced, along with France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Norway and others.<\/p>\n

The U.S.<\/a> will face Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday in Santa Clara, California, while Canada heads to Southern California to face South Africa on Sunday. Other marquee matchups are set, including Morocco versus the Netherlands, Japan versus Brazil and Norway versus Ivory Coast.<\/p>\n

Third place in a group is no guarantee of advancing. The eight best third-place teams get in with ties broken by goal differential and goals scored, if necessary.<\/p>\n

Teams with four points \u2014 a win, a draw and a loss \u2014 almost certainly will make the round of 32. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sweden, Ecuador<\/a> and Paraguay<\/a> have already advanced that way.<\/p>\n

Scotland and its passionate fans<\/a> are waiting for lots of things to go right to make the knockout stage in a long shot bid with three points.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to watch Saturday:<\/p>\n

Panama vs. England and Croatia vs. Ghana (5 p.m. ET): England and Ghana advance with anything other than blowout losses and could still advance. Croatia gets through with a win or a draw, while Panama has already been eliminated.<\/p>\n

Colombia vs. Portugal and Congo vs. Uzbekistan (7:30 p.m. ET): Portugal advances with a draw and finishes first in the group with a win, while Colombia has already advanced and is atop the group by beating or tying Portugal. Congo is in with a win or draw but out with a loss, and Uzbekistan has long odds and likely needs to win in a romp.<\/p>\n

Algeria vs. Austria and Jordan vs. Argentina (10 p.m. ET): Barring a multigoal loss by Croatia against Ghana earlier, the winner of Algeria-Austria advances and the loser still has a chance, while a draw would get Austria in and probably Algeria, too. Argentina has won the group, while Jordan has already been eliminated.<\/p>\n

Here are the round of 32 matchups already set:<\/p>\n

The Americans had their powerful momentum from two consecutive victories stalled in the loss to Turkey<\/a> . But in the knockout round, they\u2019ll face a Bosnia-Herzegovina<\/a> that is 62nd in the FIFA rankings \u2014 the lowest-ranked World Cup qualifier from Europe. Bosnia finished third in Group B with four points. U.S. star Christian Pulisic<\/a> entered as a substitute in the second half against Turkey. He had not played since leaving the opening win over Paraguay at halftime with a calf injury. \u201cWe play every game like a knockout game,\u201d said U.S. midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, who scored against Turkey. \u201cYou saw that in our intensity and the way we worked. For us, it\u2019s keep doing what we\u2019ve been doing.\u201d<\/p>

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These nations have already made history. It\u2019ll be the first time both are in the knockout stage of the World Cup. Canada<\/a> advanced as runner-up in Group B with four points \u2014 one win, one draw and one loss. South Africa<\/a> was runner-up in Group A, also with four points, including a surprising win over South Korea.<\/p>\n

Japan<\/a> advanced as Group F runner-up with a hard fought 1-1 draw against Sweden and the Samurai Blue\u2019s reward is a knockout match against five-time World Cup champion Brazil<\/a> . It\u2019ll be a full-circle moment for Japan, which brought in Brazilian great Zico in 1991 to professionalize the country\u2019s new domestic league and support Japan\u2019s successful bid to co-host the World Cup in 2002. Now, the Japanese have a chance to show how far they\u2019ve come against a country that has set the standard.<\/p>\n

The Netherlands<\/a> won Group F after a draw with Japan and outscoring Sweden and Tunisia by a combined 8-2. Morocco<\/a> went unbeaten to finish second in Group C in pursuit of becoming the first African winner of the World Cup. Morocco reached the semifinals four years ago in Qatar.<\/p>\n

France came in as the tournament favorite and remains it after winning all three<\/a> of its group games to set up a matchup against Sweden, which had a 5-1 win<\/a> , a 5-1 loss<\/a> and a draw<\/a> .<\/p>\n

Germany comes into the knockout stage off a similarly low-key late defeat<\/a> as the U.S., having already clinched its group with little to play for. Germany is a significant favorite against Paraguay, which lost to the U.S. 4-1 in its opener but steadied itself enough to move on.<\/p>\n

This may be one of the most evenly matched round of 32 games, after Australia beat Turkey<\/a> , lost to the U.S<\/a> and drew with Paraguay. Egypt got through<\/a> as the second-place team in Group G after a late goal by Iran on Friday night was called back for offside.<\/p>\n

Defending champion Argentina faces the smallest country to qualify<\/a> for the knockout stage at a World Cup. Unsurprisingly, Cape Verde goes in as a massive underdog.<\/p>\n

After an opening draw against Morocco, Brazil won its next two by 3-0 scores, with Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior scoring<\/a> to silence critics and Neymar returning<\/a> from injury. Japan has a couple of draws and a 4-0 rout of Tunisia<\/a> to show for itself so far.<\/p>\n

It would have taken beating favored France for Norway to win Group I. Instead, coach St\u00e5le Solbakken opted to rest<\/a> Erling Haaland and all but one starter. That sets up a matchup against the Ivory Coast at the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday.<\/p>

Read more Parents of former NFL player Doug Martin allege excessive police force led to his wrongful death<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Going into the final day of group play at the World Cup, there are essentially eight teams vying for four spots in the round of 32<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nWorld Cup final day of group play will set the field for the round of 32 - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5373\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World Cup final day of group play will set the field for the round of 32 - 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