The World Cup group stage is a round-robin mini-league. Each team plays every other team in their group once (3 matches total). Teams earn 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss. The top 2 teams from each group advance, plus the 8 best third-placed teams across all 12 groups.

After 3 matches, teams are ranked by total points. If two or more teams are tied on points, tiebreakers decide who finishes higher.

1. Goal difference (goals scored minus goals conceded)
2. Goals scored
3. Head-to-head result between tied teams
4. Fair play points (fewer cards = better)
5. Drawing of lots (random draw by FIFA)

Drawing of lots has never been used in World Cup history but remains a last resort.

The 2026 World Cup has 12 groups labeled A through L, each with 4 teams. That means 36 group-stage matchdays and 72 total group matches. Each team plays exactly 3 games.

32 teams advance to the knockout stage: 24 automatic qualifiers (top 2 per group) plus 8 best third-placed teams. From there, it is single elimination all the way to the Final.