The 2026 World Cup was supposed to be a home party for three nations. Instead, by the end of the Round of 16, all three hosts had gone home. The United States, Mexico and Canada were each knocked out in the same round, on their own continent, in front of their own fans. It is the emptiest a co-hosted World Cup has ever felt heading into the quarter-finals.
None of the three even reached the last eight. The tournament rolls on without a host nation for the first time this deep into a World Cup that any of them helped stage, and the quarter-final bracket is now an all-European and rest-of-world affair.
Interactive · Host nations
Every host's road to the exit
All three 2026 hosts were knocked out in the Round of 16. Tap a nation to see its full tournament path and how it ended.
Record
3W 0D 2L
Goals
11-8
Knocked out by
Belgium 1-4
4-1
ParaguayW2-0
AustraliaW2-3
TurkeyL2-0
Bosnia and HerzegovinaW1-4
BelgiumLMexico: the best of the hosts, undone by England
Mexico were, statistically, the strongest of the three. They won all four of their games before the knockout exit: 2-0 over South Africa, 1-0 over South Korea, 3-0 over the Czech Republic, then 2-0 over Ecuador in the Round of 32. Two rounds at altitude in the Estadio Azteca were supposed to be a fortress. Then England came to Mexico City and won 3-2, ending the host's cleanest run of the three. For a side that had not conceded until the knockouts, shipping three in one night was a brutal way to bow out.
USA: from a flying start to a 4-1 collapse
The United States looked the part early, hammering Paraguay 4-1 and grinding out a 2-0 win over Australia to take control of Group D. A dead-rubber 2-3 loss to Turkey once qualification was secured looked harmless at the time. It was not. After a routine 2-0 win over Bosnia in the Round of 32, the USA ran into a Belgium side that exposed every defensive crack the Turkey game had hinted at, winning 4-1. The heaviest host defeat of the round, and a sobering end to a summer that had promised more.
Canada: the wildest ride, ended by Morocco
Canada gave their fans the most drama. A 1-1 draw with Bosnia, a stunning 6-0 demolition of Qatar, then a 1-2 loss to Switzerland that nearly cost them. They survived, edged South Africa 1-0 in the Round of 32, and reached the last 16 for a golden generation's biggest moment. Morocco had other ideas, winning 3-0 to send Canada out and continue their own march into the quarter-finals.
Why did all three go out?
There is no single villain. Mexico met an England side hitting form at the right time. The USA were physically and tactically overrun by a Belgium team that punished their transitions. Canada ran into the tournament's form horse in Morocco. But a common thread runs through it: none of the three hosts had the defensive ceiling to live with a genuine heavyweight once the knockouts turned serious. Home advantage carried them into the Round of 16; it could not carry them through it.
What's left
The quarter-finals are set without a host: France vs Morocco, Spain vs Belgium, Norway vs England, and the winners of the remaining ties. Morocco and Belgium are the two teams that eliminated hosts and are still standing, and both now look like serious contenders. Track the run-in on the interactive bracket and see who the model favours from here on the odds page.
Follow the rest of the tournament on the Round of 32 bracket, the live knockout odds, and the full match schedule. For a deeper look at the USMNT's summer specifically, read our USMNT tournament review.