At this year’s FIFA World Cup eight of the 12 third-placed teams from the group stage will qualify for the knockout phases. Some have criticised the change, saying that it creates more pointless fixtures where the results are almost a formality.

So the World Cup Wire team decided to do our own analysis and these are the eight underdogs in the expanded competition we think might be a danger come the knockout stages.

Sweden

Sweden have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite finishing bottom of their qualifying group. 

Their UEFA Nations League campaign saved their bacon after finishing below Switzerland, Kosovo and Slovenia.

The recent appointment of honorary Swede Graham Potter as head coach propelled them through to the World Cup having failed to qualify for Qatar 2022.

Play-off wins against Ukraine and Poland sent the side to football’s biggest stage.

Star players are in abundance for the Scandinavian outfit – Liverpool’s Alexander Isak and Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres will be up top with support from other Premier League names in Anthony Elanga, Lucas Bergvall and Dejan Kulusevski. 

Faced with a difficult Group F campaign, Sweden will begin against Tunisia in Monterrey on 15 June at 3am on ITV.

Fixtures against The Netherlands (Houston) and Japan (Dallas) will follow in the 48-team event, surely bringing strong hopes for progressing to the last 32.

Ecuador

Ecuador are making their fifth appearance on the biggest stage of all and are coming in with high hopes after an incredible qualifying campaign that saw them finish second above the likes of Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia in the South-American qualifying group.

La Tricolor are led by Head Coach Sebastián Beccacece, and are captained by former West Ham striker Enner Valencia.

Incredibly, Ecuador are unbeaten in all competitions since September 7, 2024, when they lost 1-0 to Brazil. However, they have drawn four of their last six games and this tendency may cost them a top two berth in quite a tricky group including Ivory Coast and Germany. 

But they will certainly be a threat to any team in the knockouts, with a win over Argentina under their belt within the last 12 months. 

South Korea

Coming in for their 12th World Cup appearance, South Korea will once again be led by Spurs legend Son Heung-Min and looking to improve on a last 16 showing in Qatar 2022 where they impressed with their progressive, attacking brand of football.

However, this time around, they are a team in decline. Son is now 33 and not the player who was the Premier League Golden boot holder in Qatar. Bayern centre-half Kim Min-Jae remains a key player at the back but again is maybe not quite in the form he was going into the 2022 tournament.

However, in a relatively weak group, the Taegeuk Warriors will be expecting to pick enough points to get themselves through as one of the best third placed teams. From there, however, it could be an uphill battle.

Ghana

Ghana will be appearing in their fourth World Cup after their debut in 2006.

The Black Stars will be relying on star names like Antoine Semenyo and Mohammed Kudus to guide them through a tricky Group L.

Panama, England and Croatia await, but third place may be enough to reach the last 32.

Experienced captain Jordan Ayew will add a calm head to proceedings as Ghana may look to pounce on an aging Croatia side in the fight for second place.

England are clear favourites for the group stage, however with a World Cup, anything can happen!

Ghana start their campaign in Toronto, before heading stateside to Boston and Philadelphia to round-off Group L.

Head coach, Carlos Queiroz, will be looking to better Ghana’s quarter-final campaign in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

An infamous defeat to Uruguay involved striker Luis Suarez handballing an on-target effort, before Asamoah Gyan blasted the penalty onto the crossbar. Uruguay won 4-2 on penalties. 

Link to our full Ghana article: Can Ghana and Senegal shock the World Cup? – World Cup Wire

Australia

The easiest group of the tournament award goes to Group D. USA, Paraguay, Turkey and Australia will face-off in Donald Trump’s dream scenario.

The Socceroos, led by Tony Popovic, are making their sixth consecutive World Cup appearance.

Their matches are all on the west coast, with Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco greeting the nation of Kangaroos.

Captain Mathew Ryan, who has 103 caps, will be hoping to capitalise on a reasonably easy group and lead Australia to try and match their best World Cup campaign in 2006 and 2022 where they reached the last 16.

Creative maestro and Middlesbrough mastermind, Riley McGree, will be the beating heart of the Socceroos side. He will be hoping to add to his 35 caps after a long season with the Championship play-off contenders. 

Austria

Another team coming into the tournament in good form is Austria, having won their qualifying group and recently recording impressive wins over Ghana and Norway. They also have tournament pedigree after beating the Netherlands 3-2 at the Euros two years ago.

The Burschen are led by former Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick, and have experience in the squad in captain David Alaba and attacking midfielder Marcel Sabitzer blended with upcoming talents like Bayern right-back/midfielder Konrad Laimer.

With defending champions Argentina in their group, Austria may face an uphill battle for an automatic spot against a talented Algeria outfit.

But with wins against good teams in the build-up, Austria could be a dangerous outfit in the knockout stages particularly with a favourable draw.

Norway

Norway are probably the team which finished third that have the most star power, with Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard as well as established Premier League players like Sander Berge, Kristoffer Ajer and Jorgen Strand Larsen. Not to mention Athletico Madrid’s Alexander Sorloth.

However, the Scandinavian outfit are coming into the tournament with a lot of inconsistency – a 4-1 thrashing of Italy is counterbalanced by a 1-1 draw with New Zealand and a recent loss to the Netherlands.

However, when the going is good it’s really good and they will certainly be battle-hardened after a brutal group containing France and a hotly-tipped Senegal. But if the star players come in firing, Norway have the potential to trouble anyone, particularly an England team who they may play in the round of 32.

Scotland

Read our full Scotland preview here: The Tartan Army Rides Again: Scotland’s World Cup Chances – World Cup Wire

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s highly unlikely any of these teams will win the World Cup. However, if you are looking for someone to make an unexpected run, our picks have to be Ecuador for their form coming in, or Norway for the sheer fire-power that they can muster every time they step on the pitch.

Of course this could all go out the window after the first round of fixtures but hey, that’s why we love the World Cup!