The teams of Egypt, England, Portugal, Ghana, and Paraguay have qualified for the Round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup, without playing their matches in the third round, after benefiting on Friday from the results of the final round of Group 8.
With Spain winning against Uruguay 1-0 and Cape Verde drawing with Saudi Arabia 0-0, Uruguay finished third in the group with only two points.
Thus, the third team in the first groups (South Korea with 3 points), the third (Scotland with 3), the eighth (Uruguay with 2), and the ninth (Senegal with 3) will not be able to surpass those teams that have four points.
This is Egypt's first qualification for the knockout rounds, after participating in the editions of 1934, 1990, and 2018.
With the increase in the number of participating teams from 32 to 48, the Round of 32 is introduced for the first time in the knockout stages.
Qualifying for this round are the champions and runners-up of the 12 groups, in addition to the best 8 teams ranked third.
While those teams have secured their qualification, one must wait for the conclusion of the group stage matches on Saturday to determine their opponents in the next round.
Paraguay is the only team among those that finished its three matches in the group stage, compared to two matches for the other four teams, namely Egypt, England, Portugal, and Ghana.