World Cup: South America has the fewest teams in the quarterfinals since 2002

The 2026 World Cup saw, this Tuesday (7), all eight classified for the quarter-final stage. Only one South American team is still alive in the fight for the title, the lowest number since 2002.

With an epic comeback against Egypt, Argentina beat their opponents 3-2 and are seeking their second consecutive title in the competition. In the last six World Cups, the country was only outside the quarterfinals in 2018, when it fell to future champions France.

In this round of 16 phase, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay ended their participation early. The Brazilian team, led by Carlo Ancelotti, was beaten 2-1 by Erling Haaland's Norway.

The Colombians were eliminated this Tuesday, after losing the penalty shootout to Switzerland. The Paraguayans defeated Germany in the previous phase, but could not resist the strong French team, who won the match 1-0.

Before that, Ecuador stopped in the round of 32, losing to the hosts Mexico by a score of 2-0. The worst campaign among the South Americans was that of Uruguay, which fell in the group stage in a group with Spain, Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia.

For the first time, the quarterfinals of the World Cup are without Brazil, Germany and Italy

Source: CNN