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Three World Cup co-hosts down to one

1 min read

11:22UTC

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

French Football Federation

The FFF called an 11:00 CEST press conference for 28 July, at its Paris headquarters, following an extraordinary executive committee meeting, at which Zinedine Zidane is expected to be presented as head coach succeeding Didier Deschamps. As of this writing no communique confirms the appointment, contract length or start date.

Morocco

Morocco is pushing for the 2030 final at its Grand Stade Hassan II in Casablanca, a planned 115,000-seat venue that would be the world's largest football stadium on completion. The venue is contested by a Spanish petition for the Santiago Bernabeu, and FIFA has fixed neither the venue nor the tournament's proposed 64-team format.

FIFA

FIFA's first tournament report, published 27 July, itemises nearly 300,000 accredited personnel, 73,700 security staff and 300,000 square metres of custom-grown turf, with no revenue or cost figure attached. As a Swiss association answering to its own Congress rather than a treasury, FIFA has followed the same operational-before-financial sequence it used after Qatar 2022.

Javier Tebas / La Liga

La Liga president Javier Tebas said on 21 July that FIFA's system is rotten from the root and that Gianni Infantino's time as president has, in his words, concluded. Tebas has no vote in FIFA's process, so days after the IOC declined jurisdiction over a separate ethics complaint, he used the only instrument he has.

Mexico City government

Head of government Clara Brugada presented a closing report on 22 July crediting the tournament with 44 billion pesos of economic activity, 2,000-plus accelerated public works and 100,000 formal jobs in June alone. The city has not published the method behind that figure, and three other Mexican bodies count the same five weeks differently.

Town of Foxborough

Foxborough answered Kraft Group's June lawsuit on 7 July with a 61-page counterclaim, calling the stadium's owners 'a collection of multibillion-dollar corporations' trying to shift its $7.8 million security bill onto taxpayers. The town says its licensing power and its billing power run through the same board, and it wants the court to award its own costs too.