Last eight teams in World Cup knockouts: Sweden, Ghana, Ecuador lead third-place qualifiers for Round of 32

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Last eight teams in World Cup knockouts: Sweden, Ghana, Ecuador lead third-place qualifiers for Round of 32 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

At this year's tournament, eight teams will be thanking FIFA for extending the knockout-stage field with 32 teams instead of the classic 16-team look.

Teams that finished third in their group who had more desirable points and goal differential, got the last-second nod into the knockout stages. If teams had the same amount of points, goal differential (the difference between how many goals a team scores and allows) is examined as a tiebreaker.

Seven teams topped the third-place charts with four points (a win, a draw, and a loss), while Senegal qualified despite only having three total points.

Here are the eight teams that are still standing, despite finishing third place in their groups.

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Third-place standings in 2026 World Cup​

For the first time ever, third-place teams will be able to qualify for the knockout stages at the World Cup. Here's which eight teams fell fortunate to news rules at this year's tournament:

Rank	Team	Points	Goal differential
1.	DR Congo	4	1
2.	Sweden	4	0
3.	Ghana	4	0
4.	Ecuador	4	0
5.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4	-1
6.	Paraguay	4	-2
7.	Senegal	3	0
8.	Algeria	4	-2

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Sweden​

• Thanks to a neutral goal differential, Sweden is on to the Round of 32 with a win against Tunisia, a draw against Japan, and a loss to the Netherlands.
• Sweden will share the pitch with 2022 runner-up France in the Round of 32.

Ghana​

• A hard-fought draw against England and a win against Panama were enough to negate a loss to Croatia in Ghana's final match and push them into the Round of 32 as a third-place finisher.
• Ghana will face the first-place team from Group K, either Portugal or Colombia.

Ecuador​

• After a shocking win against Germany, Ecuador is on its way to the Round of 32 as a third-place team. Their lone loss against the Ivory Coast was recovered by this win and a draw against Curacao.
• They will face the No. 1 seed from a group in the Round of 32.

Bosnia and Herzegovina​

• A win against Qatar and a draw against co-host Canada were enough to save Bosnia and Herzegovina's loss to Switzerland. They qualified for the Round of 32 as a third-place team.
• They will face the co-hosts United States, in the Round of 32.

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Paraguay​

• Despite a tough first match against the United States, Paraguay pushed ahead with a draw against Australia and a win against Turkey and qualified for the Round of 32 as a third-place finisher.
• Paraguay will face Germany in the first round of the knockout stages.

Senegal​

• Although they lost two matches to France and Norway, Senegal's solo win against Iraq was enough to salvage their goal differential and push them into the Round of 32 as a third-place finisher.
• Senegal will face a first-place team in the Round of 32.

Algeria​

• Algeria qualified for the Round of 32 as the third-place team from Group J. After they took a late lead against Austria, the Algerians let up a late goal. With the draw though, Algeria still beat out Iran for the final third-place spot in the Round of 32.
• They will face Switzerland in the Round of 32.

DR Congo​

• In their first World Cup tournament since 1974, DR Congo became one of the last two teams to qualify for the Round of 32. With a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan, Les Leopards finished as one of the eight third-place teams.
• DR Congo will face England in the opening knockout round.

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