Teams knocked out of the World Cup so far

With all of the second round group matches completed, only two teams have been officially eliminated from the World Cup, though a number of them are still dining in the last chance saloon.

The hosts Qatar, the smallest nation ever to host a World Cup, were the first to be eliminated.

Embed from Getty Images

Whilst the discourse has been dominated by their unsuitability to host the tournament on grounds of their human rights record, discrimination of the LGBTQ+ community and treatment of the thousands of migrant workers used to build the stadiums for the World Cup, less attention has been paid to their lack of sporting achievement.

This was a country that has never even made the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup before, and, although they were ranked 50^th in the world before the start of the tournament, that ranking was boosted by some suspicious results in friendlies on the eve of the competition.

In their first match, they were hopelessly outclassed and trailed by two goals at halftime, but it could have been worse if not for some generous refereeing. The fans in the stadium, many of whom it transpired had been paid to be there, showed what they thought of their team by voting with their feet at half time and never to return.

They performed more creditably in their second game with Senegal and did at least manage to score, although they were trailing by two goals by that time.

Nevertheless, results elsewhere sealed their fate. Even when the World Cup is expanded to 48 teams in four years’ time it is difficult to envisage Qatar qualifying in their own right for some time to come.

One team who will definitely be there, however, is Canada, who will be one of the co-hosts, along with the USA and Mexico.

They were appearing in their first World Cup since 1986 this year, but had earned their place on merit, after finishing top of their CONCAF qualifying group, ahead of Mexico and the USA.

Their campaign began with a match against the second ranked team in the world Belgium, but, despite the disparity in their status, Canada were much the better team for much of the match. They missed an early penalty, and were punished when Belgium converted one of the few clear cut chances that came their way.

A lack of cutting edge ultimately cost them, but an XG (Expected Goals) in their favour at the end of 2.15 to 0.52 told its own story.

They did score in their next game, going ahead with the fastest goal of the World Cup so far against Croatia. But the beaten finalists from four years ago did not panic, got their passing game going and, in the end, proved too strong for them.

Despite their early exit, Canada can take a great deal of heart from their performances. They have a young and energetic team, and if they can learn to be more clinical in front of goal, they could be difficult opponents for some teams in 2026.