The first 48-team World Cup delivered giant-killings almost from the first knockout kick. Norway and Haaland toppled Brazil, Paraguay knocked out Germany, Morocco beat the Netherlands, and hosts Mexico went out at the Azteca. Here are the results nobody saw coming, the favourites who stumbled, and the minnows who delivered.
Of all the upsets in a chaotic month, one stands above the rest: Norway beating Brazil 2-1 in the Round of 16 at MetLife Stadium on 5 July.
At their first World Cup since 1998, and the first for Erling Haaland and captain Martin Odegaard, Norway walked into MetLife as underdogs against five-time world champions and pre-tournament favourites Brazil, and walked out having knocked them out. It was the result that redrew the bracket, removing one of the sides most fancied to win the whole thing and turning Norway from a fun story into a genuine threat. Their run finally ended 2-1 after extra time against England in the quarter-final at Hard Rock Stadium on 11 July, but by then Haaland's Norway had already produced the defining shock of the tournament.
The brand-new Round of 32 wasted no time claiming heavyweights. Two of Europe's biggest names were gone before the last 16 even began.
Two of the three co-hosts were eliminated in the Round of 16, a bitter blow for a tournament staged on home soil.
The most painful was Mexico, beaten 3-2 by England at the Estadio Azteca on 5 July, knocked out of their own World Cup in the stadium that hosted the opening match. A day later, the United States were thrashed 4-1 by Belgium in Seattle. Only Canada of the hosts reached the last 16 with a chance to go further, before losing 3-0 to Morocco. For all the talk of home advantage across the three nations, the co-hosts could not translate it into a deep run, and the early exits of Mexico and the USA were among the stories of the tournament.
The expanded 48-team field gave the smaller nations more chances than ever, and several took them.
Cape Verde, one of the smallest nations ever to reach a World Cup, took defending champions Argentina to extra time in the Round of 32 before losing 3-2, a heroic near-miss on their debut. Egypt went further, beating Australia on penalties and then pushing Argentina to a 3-2 finish in the Round of 16. Neither pulled off the win, but both showed why the wider field made 2026 the most unpredictable World Cup in memory. See more in our dark horses guide.
Not every shock is a giant-killing. Sometimes it is a scoreline nobody expected from two teams who had defended their way to the semi-finals.
England beat France 6-4 in the third-place play-off at Hard Rock Stadium on 18 July, a ten-goal thriller and one of the highest-scoring matches of the entire tournament. Two sides that reached the last four on the back of organised, cautious football threw it all aside in the bronze-medal match. It carried a sting in the tail, too: France's goals helped Kylian Mbappe pull clear of Lionel Messi to win the Golden Boot. For all the drama, the favourites still contested the final, where Spain beat holders Argentina 1-0 after extra time to be crowned champions.
Go deeper on the knockouts, the outsiders and the numbers:
The outsiders who survived the group stage and had a real route deep into the tournament.
Read the guide ›Goals, assists and clean sheets: who topped the charts, from the Golden Boot to the Golden Glove.
See the numbers ›The full path to the MetLife final, every round's venues and dates, and how the bracket flowed.
Map the bracket ›From 1950 to today, the greatest giant-killings the World Cup has ever produced.
Look back ›This account of the 2026 shocks was compiled from the completed knockout results and the bracket, cross-checked against the following pages:
WorldCuply.com is the premium .com for 2026 World Cup content, coverage and commerce. The listing is live now, with the champions crowned and the drama done.