United States, Mexico and Canada, joint hosts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, have all been eliminated from the tournament, following the USA’s 4-1 defeat to Belgium in the Round of 16 on Monday in Seattle.
The US exit completes a difficult tournament for all three co-hosts, who had each reached the knockout stage on home soil but fell short of the quarterfinals.
Canada was the first of the trio to bow out, losing 3-0 to Morocco in the Round of 16 on Saturday, July 4, in a tie in which Morocco’s Azzedine Ounahi scored twice before a late strike from Soufiane Rahimi sealed the result.
Canada’s campaign was also hampered by injury concerns over star winger, Alphonso Davies.
Mexico followed on Sunday, suffering a 3-2 defeat to England at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, in front of more than 80,000 fans.
Jude Bellingham scored twice in a 98-second span in the first half, and Harry Kane converted a penalty after England were reduced to 10 men, to end Mexico’s bid for a first quarter-final appearance since it last hosted the tournament in 1986.
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Mexico coach, Javier Aguirre, is set to be replaced by his assistant, Rafael Marquez, following the exit. The United States’ elimination on Monday completed the sweep.
Belgium ran out comfortable 4-1 winners at Lumen Field in Seattle, a result that followed a build-up dominated by controversy over a reinstated red card against US forward, Folarin Balogun, and comments from US President Donald Trump on the match.
The 2026 World Cup is the first to be jointly hosted by three nations, and the first held with an expanded 48-team format.
The tournament, which began on June 11, runs across 16 cities 11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada and is scheduled to conclude with the final on July 19.
With all three co-hosts now out, the remaining quarter-final field is made up entirely of non-host nations, including Morocco, France, Norway, Spain, Belgium, England, Argentina and Egypt or Switzerland and Colombia, with the final pairings still to be completed.
