KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With a dramatic draw in Kansas City, both teams won.

The 3-3 outcome between Austria and Algeria before 69,045 at Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium on Saturday night meant both teams advanced to the knockout round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

How it happened, in the very last game of the global soccer tournament’s group stage, will become the stuff of World Cup lore.

The teams seemed content to play to a 2-2 draw. This meant both would continue into next week’s knockout rounds.

But then the “Desert Foxes” of Algeria scored with three of four extra-time minutes expired. Riyad Mahrez tucked a shot into the left corner and Algeria celebrated wildly.

And, it turned out, prematurely. As the final seconds expired, Sasa Kalajdzic’s header for Austria found the net.

This turned out to be the final action of the match. Kalajdzic had moments earlier entered the game as a substitution.

When it ended, both teams went to their fan bases in the Arrowhead end zones and celebrated.

There was plenty to feel festive about. Austria advances out of the group stage for the first time since 1982 — but as the Group J runner-up gets the unenviable task of meeting powerful Spain in its next game.

Algeria has reached the knockout round for the second time in its history, and gets Switzerland in its next game.

The unlucky team became Iran, which because of the even outcome fell off the list of third-place teams advancing to the Round of 32.

And with the conclusion, the knockout field was set. A tournament that started with 48 teams is now reduced to 32, and every game will eliminate the loser.

Penalty kicks will determine games that finish regulation and extra time in a draw.

Kansas City’s next matchup was known by the time Saturday’s Austria-Algeria game began.

One side of the knockout-round match essentially came down to Croatia vs. Ghana, with the loser dropping to third place in Group L and packing its bags for Kansas City.

That team became Ghana, based on its 2-1 loss. The Ghanans’ opponent is Colombia, which clinched first place in Group K with a 0-0 draw against Portugal.

The Colombia-Ghana contest will be played on July 3 at 8:30 p.m. The pool of teams that could play in the quarterfinal at Arrowhead on July 11 has also been established.

On one side of the bracket: Argentina will meet Cape Verde and Australia will meet Egypt.

Those winners will meet for a spot in the KC quarterfinal. On the other side of the bracket, its Colombia-Ghana and Switzerland-Algeria.

All the favorites remain and look strong. Argentina and France, the 2022 World Cup finalists in Qatar, coasted through their groups and were two of the three teams that collected all nine points.

The third? Mexico. The biggest surprise is easy. Cape Verde, a West African island nation with a population around the same size as Kansas City’s, is the smallest nation to qualify for the knockout rounds. Last season, the 26 players on Cape Verde’s 26-man roster competed for different club teams.

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