Group B opened the third and final round of the World Cup group stage, this Wednesday (24), and ended with Switzerland and Canada advancing to the knockout stage. The Canadians join the tournament’s co-hosts, Mexico and the United States, also classified in the next round, and will compete in their first knockout stage in World Cups.
The two bracket matches were played simultaneously. Switzerland beat Canada 2-1 and took the lead in the group. Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Qatar 3-1, which was not enough to take second place from the hosts.
Bosnia and Herzegovina finished the group in third, and now awaits the definition of all groups to find out if they advance among the eight best third-placed teams, which is not unlikely given that they finished the group stage with four points. Qatar, in turn, ends its participation in the World Cup.
Remember what group B was like
The four teams debuted with the same score: one point each. In the first stage, the games between Canada and Bosnia and Qatar and Switzerland ended 1-1.
In the second phase, the Canadian team achieved its first victory in the history of the World Cup by beating Qatar 6-0, in Vancouver. Switzerland beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-1 in Los Angeles. Substitutes Rubén Vargas and Johan Manzambi, who scored 3 of the 4 goals against Bosnia.
The first two places in each group advance to the knockout stages, in addition to the eight best third-placed teams considering all 12 tournament brackets. Mexico, United States, Germany, Argentina, France, Norway and Colombia are also already qualified for the next stage.
Just like Qatar, Haiti, Türkiye, Tunisia and Panama are eliminated.
