England Took Third From Group L, Scotland Went Home

England finished third at the 2026 World Cup after topping Group L with seven points. Scotland beat Haiti, took three points from Group C, and went home when the new third-place table cut them off.

Those paths were set on 5 December 2025 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, when 48 nations were split into 12 groups of four for the first expanded tournament, staged across the United States, Mexico and Canada from 11 June to 19 July.

The Washington Draw Set 12 Groups of Four

FIFA put the three hosts in fixed slots. Mexico opened against South Africa on 11 June at Estadio Azteca. The United States met Paraguay on 12 June in Los Angeles. Canada started the same day in Toronto.

England landed in Group L with Croatia, Ghana and Panama. The first fixture was a rematch of the 2018 semi-final, when Croatia had won 2-1 after extra time in Moscow. Scotland landed in Group C with Brazil, Morocco and Haiti, a reunion of the 1998 section that had also held Brazil, Morocco and the Scots, and Haiti’s first finals since 1974.

Six places were still blank that night. UEFA playoffs and two FIFA playoff paths ran in late March, with semi-finals on 26 March and finals on 31 March. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Türkiye came through European routes. Italy did not. DR Congo filled a FIFA playoff slot and later met England in the round of 32.

The format itself was the change that decided Scotland. Each group sent its top two to a new round of 32. The remaining eight knockout places went to the eight best third-place teams, ranked across groups they never played in. Twelve thirds, eight seats, four teams sent home on a table of points, goal difference, goals scored, conduct, then ranking.

THE ROAD FROM THE DRAW

1. 5 December 2025: Final draw at the John F. Kennedy Center places England in Group L and Scotland in Group C.
2. 26 to 31 March 2026: UEFA and FIFA playoffs fill the last six slots in the 48-team field.
3. 11 June 2026: Mexico against South Africa opens 104 matches across 16 stadiums.
4. 13 June 2026: John McGinn scores as Scotland beat Haiti 1-0 at Gillette Stadium.
5. 17 June 2026: England beat Croatia 4-2 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
6. 27 to 28 June 2026: Croatia’s 2-1 win over Ghana confirms Scotland’s exit; Steve Clarke resigns that night.
7. 19 July 2026: Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final at MetLife Stadium.

June 11 to July 19 is 39 days. The champion played eight matches, one more than at every World Cup from 1998 to 2022.

England Answered 2018 in Arlington

On 17 June at AT&T Stadium, with 70,389 in, Harry Kane won a 12th-minute penalty after Luka Modrić caught Noni Madueke. Dominik Livaković saved the first kick, was judged off his line, and Kane scored the retake. Martin Baturina equalised from outside the box in the 36th minute. Kane headed a Declan Rice corner in the 42nd minute to make it 2-1 and draw level with Gary Lineker on 10 World Cup goals for England.

Petar Musa made it 2-2 in first-half stoppage time. Two minutes into the second half Jude Bellingham cut inside and finished low. Marcus Rashford, on as a substitute, cut in from the left in the 85th minute and made it 4-2. Thomas Tuchel’s first World Cup game as England manager was a win in the fixture that had ended the 2018 run.

England then drew 0-0 with Ghana on 23 June at Gillette Stadium in front of 63,983. Nico O’Reilly headed against the bar. Ghana wanted a penalty when Ezri Konsa caught Prince Kwabena Adu. The point kept both sides on course for the knockouts and left Croatia needing a result.

On 27 June at MetLife Stadium, with 80,663 watching, Panama sat deep for an hour. Bellingham turned in Bukayo Saka’s corner in the 62nd minute. Five minutes later he crossed for Kane to head the 11th World Cup goal of his career, moving him past Lineker. Panama finished the group with no points and no goals, the first World Cup side to draw a blank since Honduras in 2010. Eight years earlier England had beaten the same opponents 6-1 in Russia.

Three Teams Left Group L

Croatia beat Panama 1-0 in Toronto on 23 June through Ante Budimir, on the night Luka Modrić won his 200th cap. On the last afternoon they beat Ghana 2-1 in Philadelphia, Petar Sučić striking from range, Derrick Luckassen levelling, Nikola Vlašić heading Luka Modrić’s corner seven minutes from the end. That win locked second place and, three days after Brazil had beaten Scotland, pushed the Scots out of the third-place race.

Ghana still went through. Four points and a goal difference of zero were enough. England, Croatia and Ghana all reached the round of 32 from the group that had been sold in December as a hard draw.

GROUP L FINAL TABLE

England’s six goals were four against Croatia and two against Panama. The two they conceded both came in Arlington. Tuchel said after the Panama game that his side had done what was needed and that the bigger games would ask for more.

Scotland Beat Haiti, Then Ran Into 1998 Again

Scotland’s first World Cup win since 1990 arrived on 13 June. Haiti had not been at the finals for 52 years. At Gillette Stadium, with 64,146 in, Ché Adams had a close-range shot saved and John McGinn knocked in the rebound in the 28th minute. Scott McTominay had already struck a post. It was a 1-0, and it was the only goal Scotland scored in the tournament.

Six days later, in the same ground, Ismael Saibari scored in the second minute after Brahim Díaz played him in, and Morocco won 1-0. Scotland asked for two penalties, including one when McTominay went down under Neil El Aynaoui, and received neither. Attendance was again 64,146.

Brazil had drawn 1-1 with Morocco on 13 June at MetLife Stadium, Saibari lobbing Alisson before Vinícius Júnior cut inside to equalise, in front of 80,663. Carlo Ancelotti’s side then beat Haiti 3-0 in Philadelphia with two from Matheus Cunha and another from Vinícius, which put Haiti out after two games, the first team eliminated.

On 24 June in Miami, Scotland needed a draw against Brazil to make the knockouts almost certain. A heavy touch from Scott McKenna let Rayan in, the ball broke, and Vinícius rounded Angus Gunn in the seventh minute. A second Vinícius finish was wiped out for a clip on Jack Hendry. He still headed Bruno Guimarães’s cross at the back post in first-half stoppage time. Guimarães then held off Kenny McLean and teed up Cunha at the near post on 60 minutes. Alisson made a cluster of second-half saves from Lewis Ferguson and McTominay. Andy Robertson did not come out for the second half.

The Scottish FA’s own report logged Scotland’s 0-3 defeat in Miami as Vinícius at 7 and 45 minutes and Cunha at 60. FIFA’s match centre timed the second at 45+3. Clarke said after the game that Scotland were going home. Brazil took the group on goal difference from Morocco, both on seven points, Brazil at +6 and Morocco at +3.

GROUP C FINAL TABLE

Brazil went on to play Japan in the round of 32. Morocco met the Netherlands. Scotland waited on other groups, with a 3-point, -3 record that statisticians had given a 42 percent chance before the Brazil match and almost none after it.

Why Three Points Were Not Enough for Scotland

The expansion was sold as a wider gate. Thirty-two of 48 teams would reach the knockouts. A side could lose twice and still live if the third-place ranking was kind. Senegal finished third in Group I on three points and a goal difference of +2, after a 5-0 win over Iraq, and went through. Iran also had three points, from three draws, and went home. Scotland had three points and -3.

THE EIGHT THIRDS WHO WENT THROUGH

Ghana, from England’s group, is in that eight. Scotland is not. Seven of those eight lost their first knockout match. Only Paraguay went further, drawing 1-1 with Germany on 29 June and winning 4-3 on penalties, then losing 0-1 to France in the round of 16. Every quarter-finalist had finished first or second in its group. The extra eight places widened the field and left the last eight looking like the old last eight.

Croatia’s win over Ghana on 27 June closed the door. Within the hour the Scottish FA said Clarke was standing down, seven years after he took the job in May 2019 and a month after he had signed a new four-year deal. He told the squad at their Charlotte hotel. He had already said, after Brazil, that they were going home.

The most emotional part of this goodbye is for my players, without whom we wouldn’t have had any of the memories that we’ve accumulated from 2019 until now. They deserve all the praise and adulation that they receive and it was truly an honour to be called their gaffer.

Steve Clarke, Scotland head coach, on standing down

He later said he had always planned to leave if Scotland did not get out of the group, and that a World Cup with his country had been the last box he wanted ticked. He was the first man since Craig Brown in 1998 to take Scotland to a major finals, and this was the men’s first World Cup in 28 years. Scotland supporters who made the trip had been allowed to wear sporrans through FIFA’s bag rules. They watched a first finals win in 36 years and then two defeats that the new table would not forgive.

England’s Knockout Path Ran to Third Place

As Group L winners, England were paired with a third-placed side. DR Congo’s 3-1 win over Uzbekistan on the last group night moved the Congolese onto four points and +1 and into England’s round of 32 in Atlanta, instead of Senegal.

On 1 July at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Brian Cipenga scored in the seventh minute, DR Congo’s first World Cup knockout goal. England trailed at half-time in a World Cup match for the first time and still won. Kane’s late double in Atlanta, a 75th-minute header from Anthony Gordon’s cross and an 86th-minute drive, made it 2-1. Those two goals took Kane to 13 at World Cups, one past Pelé’s 12. England had never before won a World Cup match after trailing at the break.

ENGLAND FROM THE ROUND OF 32

• 1 July, Atlanta: England 2-1 DR Congo. Cipenga 7; Kane 75, 86.
• 5 July, Mexico City: Mexico 2-3 England, round of 16 at Estadio Azteca.
• 11 July, Miami: Norway 1-2 England, quarter-final.
• 15 July, Atlanta: England 1-2 Argentina, semi-final. Gordon 55; Enzo Fernández 85, Lautaro Martínez 90+2. Attendance 68,239.
• 18 July, Miami: France 4-6 England, third-place match. Saka scored three (37, 45+1, 87 penalty). Rice 3, Konsa 18, Bellingham 90+8; Mbappé 48 and 66, Barcola 54, Dembélé 90+6. Attendance 64,478.

Third place is England’s best finish since 1966. Tuchel later said his team had beaten three top-ten sides at the tournament. The hangover argument, still running into the autumn, is that Argentina ended the run in Atlanta and that bronze does not close the elite-game file. Group L, billed as a problem, had been the easy part of the map.

THE TOURNAMENT IN FOUR NUMBERS

• 104 matches: 72 in the groups, 32 in the knockouts, across 16 stadiums in three countries. The United States staged 78, Canada 13, Mexico 13.
• 308 goals: 2.96 per match, the highest rate at a World Cup since 1970.
• 6,810,966 attendance: FIFA recorded a record 6,810,966 fans, 65,490 per match.
• Spain 1-0 after extra time: Ferran Torres in the 106th minute at MetLife Stadium on 19 July, attendance 80,663, Spain’s second title and first since 2010.

Kylian Mbappé won the Golden Boot with 10 goals. Rodri took the Golden Ball, Unai Simón the Golden Glove, Pau Cubarsí the young player award. Spain conceded one goal in the tournament and finished unbeaten. England played eight matches, same as the finalists, because the third-place game is still on the docket.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Won the 2026 World Cup and Where Was the Final Played?

Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time on 19 July at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with Ferran Torres scoring in the 106th minute. Enzo Fernández was sent off in extra time for a second yellow. Spain became the first country to hold the men’s and women’s World Cup titles at the same time. Argentina were going for a second straight title and finished runners-up; France finished fourth after the 6-4 bronze match.

How Were the Eight Best Third-Placed Teams Ranked?

FIFA ranked the 12 group thirds by points, then goal difference, then goals scored, then the team conduct score, then the FIFA ranking. There was no head-to-head step, because those sides had not played each other. Inside each group of four, head-to-head points came first when teams were level, which is why Brazil finished above Morocco on overall goal difference after they drew 1-1.

Which Third-Placed Team Went Furthest in the Knockouts?

Paraguay. The CONMEBOL side finished third in Group D on four points and -2, beat Germany 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the round of 32 at Gillette Stadium, and lost 0-1 to France in the round of 16. Ghana, DR Congo, Sweden, Ecuador, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Algeria and Senegal all went out in the round of 32.

Did Italy Qualify for the 2026 World Cup?

No. Italy were in UEFA playoff Path A with Northern Ireland, Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia and Herzegovina reached the finals, finished third in Group B, and advanced on four points and -1. Türkiye came through Path C into Group D. The March playoffs were the last act of the 5 December draw, which had left six groups with placeholder slots.

The December map gave England a 2018 ghost and Scotland a 1998 reunion. One of those groups sent three teams into the round of 32 and put a bronze medal on the plane home. The other sent Scotland out on the same three points that saved Senegal, because minus three is not plus two, and the new table does not care which group the balls came from.