Qualification of the "best thirds" in the World Cup.. Justice or distortion of the competition's course?
The debate over adopting the "best third-placed teams" mechanism to select 8 teams from third place during the group stage of the 2026 World Cup has intensified after the matchups for the Round of 32 became clear.
This mechanism has been criticized by observers because it "facilitates the task of some teams that qualified for the Round of 32 despite their modest performances, while complicating the task of group leaders who will find themselves facing strong opponents in the first knockout round."
Through the "third-placed teams" route, teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paraguay, Ecuador, Sweden, Senegal, Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ghana have qualified.
For example, the Bosnia and Herzegovina team (ranked 64th in the world) will face the United States (ranked 15th in the world) in the Round of 32. Meanwhile, Algeria (ranked 28th in the world) will face Switzerland (ranked 19th) after avoiding a matchup with Spain (ranked second in the world) through a thrilling draw against Austria.
In this regard, Idris Abis, a national sports analyst, stated that "the increase in the number of teams participating in the World Cup finals to 48 teams necessitated the adoption of the best 8 'third-placed teams' rule to achieve balance in the Round of 32."
Abis pointed out in a statement to Hespress that this reality "led several teams, after failing in the first two matches, to seek qualification through the third match," adding that "these calculations made some groups that did not operate fairly negatively impact other teams despite their high value, as they were in strong groups."
The national analyst explained that "this is what led the international and national public opinion and analysts to call for a review of this process," predicting that "the mentioned constraints will be addressed within FIFA, and perhaps amendments will be made to overcome them during the 2030 and 2034 World Cup editions."