ELIMINATEDC3Group C, finished 3rdGROUP C · 3RDBEST 3RD · #11
IN OUR BEST THIRDS RANKING
#36OUR RANK
3PTS
-3GD
1GF
Scotland is out of the 2026 World Cup, eliminated after the group stage.
Scotland got off the mark immediately, a 1-0 win over Haiti in their Group C opener. After that came two of the tournament's heavyweights: a 0-1 loss to Morocco, ranked seventh in the world, and a 0-3 defeat to Brazil.
Three points left them third and level with the eighth-placed third, Senegal, but a goal difference of minus three was always going to fall short of the cut, as the frozen best-third table confirms. Taking the points off Haiti and standing up to two of the world's top seven was a tournament to hold their heads high over.
THE BEST-THIRDS CUT · WHERE IT ALL STARTED
5 goals from the Round of 32.
Eight best third-placed teams go through. Scotland finished 11th of the twelve.
This tracker exists for exactly this race. Third in their group, Scotland finished as the 11th-best third-placed team of twelve, outside the top eight that advance.
How hard was Scotland’s road at this World Cup?
Every team’s road through the tournament, on one chart. Each line shows
how hard each stage is. The base is the gap in FIFA world ranking between
the two sides; on top of that, current form (each team’s last three matches, and how
convincingly they were won against how strong an opponent) nudges the step: a hot opponent makes it
taller, a team’s own hot form makes its own steps shorter. Higher means a tougher road. In the group stage the opponents are known, so each match sits at a
fixed height; each knockout round shows the average difficulty across every opponent still left in that round. Scotland’s road is highlighted, along with every team it played. Hover or tap any team to compare, or pick one from the legend.