World Cup third place teams: Who is projected to move on?

The race to make the 2026 World Cup round of 32 is in full swing, and the pressure is ramping up for the teams in third place of every group.

New for this edition of the tournament is an expanded field of 48 teams, meaning more spots for the knockout round. Not only do the top two teams in each group advance, but some of the third place teams will make it as well.

However, which eight teams that qualify won't be decided until the final match day of the group stage, because all of the third place squads are jockeying for position.

With the final match days of every group underway, here is a look at the third place standings to advance.

World Cup third place standings

There are 12 groups in the World Cup. The top eight third-place will advance to the round of 32, and the standings will shift as teams finish up group play.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was the first third place team to affirm its spot in the knockout round. Ecuador and Sweden followed. On Friday, June 26, Uruguay became the first third place team to be eliminated, resulting in Paraguay making it through, and Senegal later advancing.

Standings updated as of Saturday, June 27 at 1:10 a.m. ET. Teams in bold have advanced. Teams with asterisk have one more match to play. These are all the teams currently or finished in third place of their respective group.

1. Sweden: 1-1-1 (0) – 4 points (Group F)
2. Ecuador: 1-1-1 (0) – 4 points (Group E)
3. Bosnia and Herzegovina: 1-1-1 (-1) – 4 points (Group B)
4. Paraguay: 1-1-1 (-2) – 4 points (Group D)
5. Senegal: 1-0-2 (+2) – 3 points (Group I)
6. Iran: 0-3-0 (0) – 3 points (Group G)
7. Croatia*: 1-0-1 (-1) – 3 points (Group L)
8. South Korea: 1-0-2 (-1) – 3 points (Group A)
9. Algeria*: 1-0-1 (-2) – 3 points (Group J)
10. Scotland: 1-0-2 (-3) – 3 points (Group C)
11. Uruguay: 0-2-1 (-1) – 2 points (Group H) ELIMINATED
12. Congo DR*: 0-1-1 (-1) – 1 point (Group K)

How are third place standings determined?

FIFA uses these criteria in order to determine the placement and rank of third place teams in the standings. If there is a tie among teams, FIFA goes down through every step used:

• Points obtained in group matches (three points for win, one point for tie, none for loss)
• Goal differential
• Goals scored
• Fair Play: combining the number of all yellow and red cards obtained (the fewer, the better)
• FIFA ranking