FIFA World Cup 2026 has claimed its first casualties, with Haiti and Turkey officially eliminated from the tournament following disappointing group-stage campaigns.
Haiti became the first nation to be knocked out after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Brazil in their second Group C match on Friday.
No path to the knockout rounds
The loss left the Caribbean side rooted to the bottom of the Group C standings with no points from two matches and no mathematical path to the knockout rounds.
Place your bets with Sportingbet South Africa
Despite qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1974, Haiti struggled to make an impact in a difficult group featuring Brazil, Morocco and Scotland.
Consecutive defeats to Scotland (1-0) and Brazil brought an early end to their historic return to football’s biggest stage.
Crucial victory
Turkey soon followed Haiti out of the competition after a 1-0 defeat to Paraguay in Group D.
Midfielder Matias Galarza scored after just 64 seconds – the fastest goal of the tournament so far – to hand Paraguay a crucial victory and condemn Turkey to a second successive defeat.
The result left Turkey without a point from their opening two matches and mathematically eliminated from contention for a place in the Round of 32.
Turkey lost 2-0 to Australia in their opening match.
Paraguay’s victory was made even more remarkable by the dismissal of Miguel Almiron before half-time, forcing the South Americans to play the entire second half with 10 men.
Nevertheless, they held firm to keep their qualification hopes alive while ending Turkey’s World Cup dream.
More eliminations
With the expanded 48-team format allowing the top two teams from each group and the eight best third-placed teams to advance, eliminations were expected to come later than in previous tournaments.
However, Haiti and Turkey have become the first sides to learn their fate before the final round of group-stage matches.
Turkey started the tournament as the 22nd-ranked team in the FIFA rankings, but dropped to 32nd after their two defeats.
Haiti were 83rd entering the tournament, but slipped to 87th after their two losses.
As the race for the knockout stages intensifies, more teams will join the list of eliminated nations over the coming days, while several heavyweights edge closer to securing their places in the Round of 32.
BOOKMARK | FIFA World Cup 2026: Every RESULT from all 104 matches
