25JUL

Three World Cup co-hosts down to one

1 min read

11:57UTC

Mexico's exit left the United States as the last World Cup co-host standing, as Morocco, France, Norway and England filled four quarter-final places.

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Key takeaway

Mexico's exit leaves the United States as the last World Cup co-host in contention.

Mexico's elimination on Sunday left the United States as the last of the three World Cup co-hosts still in the tournament, a day after Morocco and France had filled two of the eight quarter-final places ¹. Four of those berths are now settled, with Norway and England joining them on Sunday.

The United States stages most of the 104 matches, with Mexico and Canada sharing the rest, in the first World Cup co-hosted by three nations. Canada went out to Morocco on 4 July , the first host eliminated, and Mexico became the second. Morocco and France, drawn to meet on 9 July , and Norway and England now occupy half the last-eight bracket.

The United States play Belgium on Monday, with the reprieved Folarin Balogun available, in the tie that decides whether any host nation reaches the last eight. Portugal against Spain completes Monday's card, and Switzerland against Colombia and Argentina against Egypt close the round of 16 on Tuesday. Co-host attrition has outpaced the pre-tournament billing, and the draw is now filling around the three nations that built the event.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

The 2026 World Cup is jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, the first tournament ever shared between three countries. Canada was the first co-host eliminated, beaten by Morocco on 4 July, and Mexico followed a day later against England. That leaves the United States as the only host nation still in the competition. Four of the eight quarter-final places are now filled: Morocco, France, Norway and England. The United States play Belgium on 6 July hoping to keep the third co-host alive.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

Canada and Mexico both drew knockout opponents, Morocco and England respectively, ranked above them in FIFA's world rankings. Their elimination reflects the standard variance of bracket seeding rather than any disadvantage specific to hosting the tournament.

The expanded 48-team format, used for the first time in 2026, added a round of 32 that did not exist in the 32-team era. That extra knockout round means more good teams eliminate each other earlier, raising the odds that any single co-host meets a stronger side before the quarter-finals rather than after.

Sources:Al Jazeera

Mentions:United States →Mexico →Canada →Morocco →France →Norway →England →Belgium →Portugal →Spain →Switzerland →Colombia →Argentina →Egypt →Folarin Balogun →World Cup →

First Reported In

Update #35 · England oust Mexico; Azteca held safe

Al Jazeera· 6 Jul 2026

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Causes and effects

Caused by

Morocco knock Canada out of home Cup

Morocco's win over Canada eliminated the first co-host and began setting the quarter-final bracket.

Occurred 4 Jul 2026

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Morocco meet France in 2022 rematch

The Morocco-France quarter-final draw fixed part of the bracket referenced in the co-host attrition summary.

Occurred 4 Jul 2026

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England oust Mexico to reach last eight

England's win over Mexico eliminated the second co-host and confirmed a quarter-final berth.

Occurred 6 Jul 2026

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Haaland double ends Brazil's World Cup

Norway's win over Brazil confirmed the fourth quarter-final berth in the same bracket update.

Occurred 5 Jul 2026

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This Event

Three World Cup co-hosts down to one

Only the United States can still give the tournament a home quarter-finalist, and they must beat Belgium on Monday to do it.

Led to

Belgium end USA's home World Cup

Mexico's exit two days earlier left the United States as the last co-host in contention before losing to Belgium.

Occurred 5 Jul 2026

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Different Perspectives

Real Madrid

Operating internally on the basis Rodri joins, according to David Ornstein's reporting, despite no talks having taken place with Manchester City. The gap between internal planning and actual negotiation is itself notable.

Manchester City

Unwilling to sell Rodri, with manager Enzo Maresca stating he returns to the club after back surgery. No club-to-club talks with Real Madrid are taking place, contradicting the framing of a deal in motion.

CONMEBOL

Backs the move to a 64-team 2030 tournament co-hosted across South America. Has not engaged publicly with FIFPRO's workload or heat-threshold objections drawn from this tournament's data.

FIFA

Points to its 30 June technical and officiating reviews as the authoritative account of the tournament's football, including Collina's rejection of bias claims. Has not publicly responded to the renewed compensation call or disputed FIFPRO's heat-threshold figures.

FIFPRO

Measures a four-degree gap between its own 28C postponement threshold and FIFA's 32C cooling-break trigger, breached in 19% of matches played. Cites a 70-83 match workload projection to oppose the 64-team 2030 format.

Human Rights Watch

Documents 54 immigration-custody deaths before kickoff and two since, and revives the compensation duty FIFA's own advisers identified after Qatar 2022 and never acted on. Treats the pattern as unresolved FIFA liability, not a closed file.