European Giants Knocked Out, Uruguay Fail to Get Out of Group Stage: FIFA World Cup 2026 Underachievers

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has produced numerous surprises and none of them would have shocked the international footballing world as two European giants, Germany and the Netherlands, crashed out of the tournament at the Round of 32 stage.

Julian Nagelsmann’s men lost to Paraguay on penalties

While teams like Egypt, Cape Verde, and Paraguay, along with co-hosts USA and Canada, have punched above their weight continuously in the ongoing World Cup, several teams have underachieved given their past achievements and on-paper strength of the squad.

Let’s have a look at the top five teams which failed to make it to the Round of 16 stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup:

#5 Senegal’s late meltdown causes their elimination

In their first three matches of the ongoing World Cup, Belgium looked like a shadow of the team that achieved a third-place finish at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In fact, Senegal was leading Belgium 2-0 when the second hydration break of the match was taken around the 70th-minute mark.

While the players were walking out, Belgium’s key players Youri Tielemans and Leandro Trossard were involved in a verbal spat as the two were caught on camera arguing about a potential chance.

With five minutes to go and the Red Devils still two down, substitute Romelu Lukaku found the back of the net, followed by Trossard and Tielemans combining for the equalizer as Belgium extended the game to extra time.

There was late drama yet again as the match extended past the 120th minute and Tielemans was fouled inside the Senegal penalty area, followed by his second goal of the evening, which helped Belgium make it to the Round of 16.

#4 Croatia ended up losing in a toe-to-toe contest

Two Real Madrid legends, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric, were captaining their respective nations, Portugal and Croatia in the Round of 32 clash. The match was being touted as the farewell fixture for one of the legendary players and the action on the field did not disappoint.

After a drab first half, Ivan Perisic opened the scoring for the Croats early in the second half followed by Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his first World Cup knockout stage goal from the spot. In injury time, Goncalo Ramos headed in the goal that completed the comeback for Roberto Martinez’s men.

In the dying embers of the game, Croatia had a goal disallowed for offside as one of the Croatian players headed on the free kick to the far post which was ultimately headed in before VAR stepped in and chalked off the goal, handing Portugal an Iberian Derby in the Round of 16.

#3 Uruguay crashed out of the group stage

Marcelo Bielsa came into the tournament with hopes of leading Uruguay to new heights, but the veteran manager failed to even get them out of Group H. After a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia in their World Cup opener, Bielsa’s men drew 2-2 with Cape Verde, followed by a crushing defeat to Spain, which sealed their fate in the tournament.

Uruguay made it to the World Cup courtesy of a strong showing by Darwin Nunez in front of goal in the CONMEBOL qualifiers, but the former Liverpool striker blanked at the main stage, leaving the South American nation wanting more from its best players.

Bielsa is famous for making his sides play attacking football, but the failure to keep a clean sheet against all three teams in their group ultimately cost La Celeste as they crashed out of the World Cup group stage for the second consecutive time.

#2 The Netherlands endured another poor tournament campaign

The Netherlands remained unbeaten throughout the group stage and topped their group, but had to face Group C runners-up Morocco in the Round of 32, which turned out to be the most closely contested encounter in the whole round.

In a battle of defensive stars, Morocco fielded skipper Achraf Hakimi, Issa Diop, Chaddi Riad, and Noussair Mazraoui while Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman decided to change the formation and field five defenders in Denzel Dumfries, Paul van Hecke, Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake, and Micky van de Ven.

With Cody Gakpo’s opener cancelled out by Diop and later the Dutch losing on penalties, the decision to change the formation for a crucial fixture was criticised heavily by fans and pundits alike.

#1 Germany’s disappointing showings at major tournaments go on

After winning their first two matches of the ongoing World Cup, Germany was exposed by Ecuador as they came back from a goal down to win against the Germans and qualify for the knockout stage.

Paraguay qualified for the Round of 32 as one of the best third-placed sides, finishing behind Australia on goal difference in Group D, and was the clear underdog against Germany.

Julio Enciso shocked everyone at the cusp of half-time as he opened the scoring, giving his side the lead. Leroy Sane equalized for the 2014 FIFA World Cup winners in the second half and Jonathan Tah seemed to have given them the lead in the first half of extra time, but his goal was controversially ruled out for a debated foul by Waldemar Anton on the goalkeeper.

The match went down to the penalties and sudden death, where none of the back-up penalty takers, including the experienced Leon Goretzka, stepped up to take responsibility, and ultimately central defender Tah blasted over to send his team packing towards Europe.

In the immediate aftermath of the defeat, Julian Nagelsmann accepted that big changes are needed to help German football flourish, and the former Bayern Munich manager followed up with his resignation soon after the debacle.

Former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool icon Jurgen Klopp is being touted as the favorite to fill the German hot seat ahead of a crucial four-year period for Die Mannschaft, where they would be competing at the 2028 Euros in the United Kingdom and the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which would be mainly played in Europe.

The outcry after the defeat to Paraguay signals a requirement for a big change in the national team system, and a well-loved German coach like Klopp is exactly what Joshua Kimmich’s men need ahead of two crucial tournaments for the national team.

Contributed By – Mohak Arora, Parimatch Sports Analytics Expert