ФИФА-гийн чансааг тэргүүлэгч Испани, Аргентин, Франц болон Английн шигшээ багууд 2026 оны ДАШТ-ий хагас шигшээд шалгарсан нь тус тэмцээний түүхэн дэх анхны тохиолдол боллоо.
ФИФА энэ удаагийн тэмцээнд өндөр чансаатай багуудыг хасагдах шатны өөр өөр хэсэгт хуваарилж, хагас шигшээ хүртэл хоорондоо таарахгүй байх нөхцөлийг бүрдүүлсэн. Испани, Аргентин, Франц, Англи багууд бүгд хэсгээ тэргүүлснээр энэхүү төлөвлөгөө ёсоор хасагдах шатанд тус тусын замаар амжилттай урагшилж, шөвгийн дөрөвдүгээрт үлджээ. Хэрэв эдгээр баг хэсгээсээ хоёроор гарсан бол уг хамгаалалтын систем үйлчлэхгүй байх байсан ч тэд бүгд боломжоо ашиглаж чадсан юм.
Испани, Аргентин, Франц болон Англи багууд хасагдах шатанд өрсөлдөгчдөө буулган авч, хагас шигшээд учраа таарлаа. Тухайлбал, Аргентин Кабо-Верде, Египет, Швейцарыг, Испани Австри, Португал, Бельгийг, Франц Швед, Парагвай, Марокког, харин Англи Конго, Мексик болон Норвегийг тус тус хожсон байна. Ялангуяа Испани, Английн зам дардан байгаагүй бөгөөд тэд хүчирхэг өрсөлдөгчдийг ялан ирсэн нь ФИФА-гийн өрсөлдөөний тэнцвэртэй байдлыг хадгалах бодлого үр дүнтэй болсныг харууллаа.
Энэхүү шинэ систем нь 48 баг оролцох болсонтой холбогдуулан өрсөлдөөнийг илүү сонирхолтой болгох, зах зээлийн өндөр үнэлгээтэй багуудыг тэмцээний сүүлийн шат хүртэл хадгалах зорилготой юм. Теннис болон Аваргуудын лигт ашигладагтай ижил төстэй энэхүү зарчмыг ФИФА 2026 оны ДАШТ-д анх удаа нэвтрүүлсэн бөгөөд одоо Франц-Испани, Англи-Аргентины хооронд хагас шигшээ тоглолтууд явагдана.
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The world’s four highest-ranked teams are also the last four standing at the 2026 World Cup — the first time that has happened since FIFA rankings were introduced. Coincidence? Not entirely.
Spain, Argentina, France and England still had to win their groups and survive three knockout rounds. But before the tournament, FIFA introduced a draw system designed to stop them meeting one another too early.
Spain and Argentina were placed in opposite halves of the draw, as were France and England, with each occupying a separate quarter of the knockout bracket. Provided they won their groups, none could face another member of the top four before the semi-finals.
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They all won their groups, so Argentina began the knockouts against Cape Verde, Spain faced Austria, France played Sweden, and England met DR Congo. FIFA could not guarantee the final four — after all, the teams needed to win their games — but the system has produced exactly the semi-final line-up it was intended to make possible.
Here, we take a deeper look at how it all worked — and why this is new for 2026.
What is the pairing system?
FIFA used its rankings to separate the tournament’s four leading seeds across the knockout bracket. Spain, ranked No 1 when the draw was made, were paired with No 2 Argentina and placed in opposite halves. That meant they could not meet before the final.
Third-ranked France and fourth-ranked England were also placed on opposite sides. The four teams therefore entered separate quarters of the bracket and could not meet before the semi-finals, provided each won its group.
It is similar to the way a tennis draw separates its leading seeds. FIFA did not predetermine the results or select the opponents, but it did decide which section of the bracket each top seed would enter as a group winner. It described the arrangement as creating “two separate pathways to the semi-finals”.
England are the fourth ranked team (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Is this new?
Yes. This is the first time FIFA has designed a men’s World Cup draw specifically to prevent the four highest-ranked teams meeting before the semi-finals.
It used the same basic principle at the 2025 Club World Cup, although Real Madrid were the only one of the four leading seeds to reach the last four.
The change was announced before the World Cup draw in December, when FIFA confirmed that Spain and Argentina would be put in opposite pathways, with France and England separated in the same way.
Could the teams have faced each other earlier?
Yes, because the protection applied only if they won their groups. Spain won Group H and Argentina won Group J, placing them in protected positions on opposite sides of the bracket. But the runner-up from Group H was assigned to play the winner of Group J in the round of 32.
Had Spain finished second while Argentina still won their group, they would have met in the first knockout round instead of being kept apart until the final. This can be seen from the fact that Argentina played Cape Verde, the team that finished second in Spain’s group, in the first knockout round
England also needed to win Group L to retain their protected route. Had they finished second, they would have entered a different section of the bracket and could have faced Spain as early as the round of 16.
The system, therefore, kept the four leading seeds apart only while they occupied the group-winner positions. It offered no protection against the other 44 teams.
So why has it worked out at this World Cup?
First, Spain, Argentina, France and England all won their groups, preserving the four routes FIFA had created for them.
They then survived three knockout rounds apiece. Argentina beat Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland; Spain overcame Austria, Portugal and Belgium; France defeated Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco; and England got past DR Congo, Mexico and Norway.
Those were not uniformly easy routes. Spain eliminated Portugal and Belgium, England faced group winners Mexico and a Norway side who had knocked out Brazil, while France met a Morocco team who had already eliminated the Netherlands. Argentina needed extra time against Switzerland.
Now France face Spain and England play Argentina. FIFA could not guarantee that line-up, but its draw gave it the best possible chance of occurring.
Were the semi-finalists at previous World Cups not the top-ranked teams?
Leading countries have regularly reached the latter stages, but the four highest-ranked teams had never all made the semi-finals together since the FIFA rankings were introduced in 1992, and at several tournaments, two of the pre-tournament top four reached the last four — but never three or four.
In 2010, Spain and the Netherlands reached the final, but fellow top-four sides Brazil and Portugal went out in the quarter-finals and last 16, respectively. In 2022, Argentina and France also reached the final, but Brazil lost in the quarter-finals, and Belgium were eliminated in the group stage.
The same two-out-of-four pattern occurred in 2014, when Germany and Brazil reached the semi-finals, but Spain and Portugal went out in the groups.
Why did FIFA implement this?
The expansion from 32 to 48 teams changed the structure of the competition, and under the old format, the top two sides from each of the eight groups advanced directly to the last 16. Group winners always faced runners-up at that stage, meaning two group winners could not meet immediately.
The 2026 format has 12 groups, eight third-place qualifiers and an additional round of 32. The fixed bracket means two group winners can now meet in the round of 16.
That happened three times at this tournament: the United States played Belgium, England met Mexico, and Switzerland faced Colombia. All six had won their groups.
Without the special placement of the four highest-ranked sides, one of those early group-winner meetings could instead have involved two top-four teams. FIFA’s system removed that possibility, provided all four won their groups.
Officially, FIFA presented the change as a way of maintaining “competitive balance”. The additional benefit for the organisers is that it also increased the chance of the highest-ranked and most marketable teams surviving until the tournament’s final week.
France are in the semi-final against Spain (Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Does this happen in other sports?
Yes. Seeding systems designed to separate the strongest competitors are common. At Wimbledon, the first and second seeds are placed in opposite halves, meaning they cannot meet before the final. The third and fourth seeds are then also put in different halves, ensuring none of the top four can meet before the semi-finals.
The Champions League now uses a similar system. The top eight clubs from its league phase are paired according to finishing position: first with second, third with fourth, fifth with sixth and seventh with eighth. The clubs in each pair are placed on opposite sides of the knockout bracket.
For example, Arsenal and Bayern Munich finished first and second in the 2025-26 league phase and were placed on opposite sides, meaning they could not meet before the final. Liverpool and Tottenham, who finished third and fourth, were separated in the same way.
