South Korea Eliminated from 2026 FIFA World Cup After Group Stage Struggles

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, June 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea have been eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, unable to sneak into the knockout stage on the heels of group stage woes. With the tournament having expanded from 32 to 48 nations, the eight best third-place teams get to play in the knockout stage, along with the top two countries from each of 12 groups. After finishing third in Group A with three points on a win and two losses, South Korea failed to crack the top eight among the dozen third-place teams after the group stage ended Saturday. South Korea opened the tournament by beating the Czech Republic 2-1 on June 11 but lost to Mexico 1-0 a week later. South Korea still had a chance to finish second in Group A, behind Mexico, with a win or a draw against South Africa on Wednesday but lost that game 1-0. The result left South Korea at the mercy of other teams and they ended up not getting the help they needed to stay alive in the competition.