The 2026 FIFA World Cup’s newly expanded group stage is proving ruthless. Every team that started in Groups E and F has now been eliminated from contention, with Curaçao finishing last in Group E on just 1 point and Tunisia bottoming out in Group F with zero.

For context, this is the first World Cup featuring 48 teams spread across 12 groups, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

What happened in Groups E and F

Group E was Germany’s playground. The Germans topped the group, while Curaçao managed to scrape together a single point before being sent home. Ecuador also featured in the group.

Group F told a similar story with different characters. The Netherlands took first place, with Japan and Sweden also in the mix. Tunisia couldn’t find a single win and exited with zero points.

Under the tournament’s structure, the top two teams from each group advance, along with the eight best third-placed finishers across all 12 groups. New tiebreaker rules rank teams by head-to-head records when points are level.

What this means for crypto and sports betting markets

This World Cup has so far produced zero noticeable impact on crypto markets. No fan token surges tied to eliminated teams. No meaningful volume spikes on blockchain-based prediction markets.

That’s worth noting because the 2022 World Cup in Qatar did generate measurable trading activity around fan tokens issued by teams like Argentina, Brazil, and Portugal on platforms such as Socios. The absence of similar movement in 2026 suggests either the fan token hype cycle has cooled, or the early-round eliminations of smaller nations simply don’t move the needle.