It left them with an unenviable task in their final group contest against record five-time World Cup champions Brazil, who ran out 3-0 winners in Miami as Vinicius Jr notched a brace and Matheus Cunha also scored.
Scotland then faced an anxious wait to determine if three points would be enough to scrape into the newly-created round of 32 as one of the eight best third-place teams, alongside the 12 group winners and 12 runners-up, or if they would be one of the 16 nations exiting early from the inaugural expanded 48-team tournament.
Here is the final third-place ranking for the 2026 World Cup group stage…
World Cup third-place ranking
|
Pos |
Grp |
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
GD |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
K |
DR Congo |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
+1 |
4 |
|
2 |
F |
Sweden |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
3 |
L |
Ghana |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
4 |
E |
Ecuador |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
5 |
B |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
-1 |
4 |
|
6 |
J |
Algeria |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
-2 |
4 |
|
7 |
D |
Paraguay |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
-2 |
4 |
|
8 |
I |
Senegal |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
+2 |
3 |
|
9 |
G |
Iran |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
10 |
A |
South Korea |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
-1 |
3 |
|
11 |
C |
Scotland |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
-3 |
3 |
|
12 |
H |
Uruguay |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
-1 |
2 |
How were the eight best third-place teams decided?
The eight best third-place teams were ranked based on several criteria.
First, teams were compared by the total number of points they obtained in all group matches. If teams were still level, their goal difference across all group matches was considered. If a tie remained, the total number of goals scored in all group matches was used.
If teams could not be separated using those criteria, Fair Play ranking would have been applied, taking into account the number of yellow and red cards received during all group matches. As a final tiebreaker, the FIFA World Ranking is used.
