Europe lead, Asia are out, Africa lose almost everyone: how the confederations fared in the first knockout round of the 2026 World Cup

After the Round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup, all participants in the Round of 16 have been determined. The tournament’s new format, with an expanded knockout stage, gave more national teams the chance to continue their campaign after the group stage, but the very first elimination round seriously changed the balance of power between the confederations.

The main takeaway is that Europe kept the largest representation, South America confirmed its high level, CONCACAF suffered no losses in the Round of 32, while Asia completely ended its campaign at the tournament.

Europe: 7 teams in the Round of 16

Europe started the tournament with 16 national teams. Thirteen UEFA representatives reached the knockout stage, while 7 teams made it to the Round of 16.

The next round will feature:

France
Portugal
Spain
Belgium
Norway
England
Switzerland

At the same time, European teams suffered serious losses. Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Croatia, Austria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were all eliminated already in the Round of 32.

Germany’s defeat to Paraguay was especially loud. The Netherlands lost to Morocco, Croatia were beaten by Portugal, while Austria ended their campaign after the match against Spain.

South America: 4 of 6 teams are already in the Round of 16

South America produced one of the best results in terms of efficiency. Six CONMEBOL representatives played at the 2026 World Cup, 5 of them reached the knockout stage, and 4 made it to the Round of 16. Only Uruguay stopped at the group stage.

Still in the tournament are:

Paraguay
Brazil
Argentina
Colombia

Paraguay delivered one of the biggest results of the Round of 32 by eliminating Germany. Brazil got past Japan, Argentina handled Cabo Verde, while Colombia knocked out Ghana.

The only South American team to stop at the Round of 32 was Ecuador, who lost to Mexico.

At this point, Paraguay have already been eliminated in the Round of 16 by France.

CONCACAF: three teams — and all went through

North and Central America were represented by 6 teams at the tournament. Three national teams reached the knockout stage, and all of them managed to get through the Round of 32.

The Round of 16 features:

Canada
USA
Mexico

Canada eliminated South Africa, the USA got past Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Mexico beat Ecuador. For CONCACAF, this is a very strong result: every team from the confederation that reached the knockout stage stayed alive in the competition.

Canada have already lost to Morocco in the Round of 16.

Africa: 9 teams in the knockout stage, but only 2 in the Round of 16

Africa had a very strong group stage: 9 of CAF’s 10 representatives reached the knockout stage. However, the Round of 32 proved extremely difficult for African teams.

Only two reached the Round of 16:

Morocco
Egypt

Morocco eliminated the Netherlands, then Canada, and will now face France in the quarter-finals. Egypt got past Australia and will meet Argentina in the Round of 16.

The rest of the African teams ended their campaigns. South Africa lost to Canada, Senegal were beaten by Belgium, Ivory Coast by Norway, DR Congo by England, Ghana by Colombia, Algeria by Switzerland, and Cabo Verde by Argentina.

Asia: complete elimination after the Round of 32

Asia became the main disappointment of the tournament. Nine AFC teams played at the 2026 World Cup, but only two reached the knockout stage — Japan and Australia.

Both national teams ended their campaigns already in the Round of 32. Japan lost to Brazil, while Australia were beaten by Egypt. As a result, not a single Asian representative remained in the Round of 16. This raises the question of whether 9 places for Asia were too many, and whether 1 or 2 spots should perhaps have been given to South America or Europe instead.

Oceania: no knockout stage

Oceania was represented by one national team, but New Zealand failed to get out of the group. As a result, OFC was not represented in the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup.

Confederation representation in the Round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup