Netherlands, Japan, Sweden and Tunisia have all been eliminated before the Round of 16.
And group F, that was literally the group of death 💀: 3 countries went through.
1 played Brazil 🇧🇷
1 played Morocco 🇲🇦
1 played France 🇫🇷
Only three players in history have won Man of the Match in all three group-stage games at the World Cup🌟
Africa has set a new World Cup record after nine nations progressed to the Round of 32, marking the continent's highest-ever representation in a single knockout stage.
The expanded 48-team format has seen nine of the 32 qualified teams come from Africa, accounting for 28.1% of the knockout field, the highest proportion the continent has ever achieved in World Cup history.
The nine teams to qualify are Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, Cape Verde, Senegal, Ghana, DR Congo and Algeria.
The record-breaking qualification means Africa will have more teams than ever before competing for a place in the Round of 16 as the 2026 FIFA World Cup enters its knockout phase.
Our editors picked the best XI from the opening round of the World Cup. Haaland and Messi made it, sure. But the real story is Cape Verde.
The full team:
GK Vozinha (Cape Verde)
DEF Brown (Germany) · Katić (Bosnia & Herz.) · Lopes (Cape Verde) · Rezaeian (Iran)
MID Ayari (Sweden) · Hwang In-beom (South Korea) · Bouaddi (Morocco)
FWD Just (New Zealand) · Haaland (Norway) · Messi (Argentina)
Do you agree with this team?