Haiti, Turkey crash out of 2026 World Cup after group stage defeats

Haiti and Turkey have been eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup after suffering defeats in their second group-stage matches.

Haiti’s campaign came to an end in Philadelphia, where five-time champions Brazil secured a comfortable 3-0 victory in their Group C clash.

Matheus Cunha opened the scoring from close range after Vinicius Jr’s effort was parried into his path, setting Brazil on course for another dominant display as they cruised through the encounter.

Vinicius Jr later added to the scoreline as Brazil controlled proceedings to maintain their perfect start, while Haiti remained bottom of Group C with zero points from two matches.

The South American giants underlined their title credentials with a composed performance, leaving Haiti with no mathematical chance of progression heading into their final group fixture.

In Group D, Turkey’s World Cup hopes were also extinguished following a narrow 1-0 defeat to Paraguay.

Matias Galarza scored what remains the fastest goal of the tournament so far, striking after just 64 seconds to give Paraguay the decisive advantage.

Despite being reduced to 10 men in stoppage time, Paraguay held on, with Turkey unable to capitalise or find an equaliser.

The result confirmed Turkey’s elimination after back-to-back defeats, marking an underwhelming exit for a side that entered the tournament with high expectations.

Paraguay, meanwhile, kept their slim hopes of reaching the last 32 alive after recovering from an opening defeat to the United States and will face Australia in their final group match.

Haiti had returned to the World Cup for the first time since 1974, while Turkey’s campaign ended earlier than anticipated despite pre-tournament optimism.