Caruana continued to struggle through the middle of the year. He finished the Sinquefield Cup in July towards the bottom of the standings with a score of 4/9 (+1-2=6). His last round loss to Peter Svidler knocked his August rating below 2800 for the first time since April 2016. At the World Cup, Caruana made it to the third round. Evgeniy Najer eliminated him in the rapid tiebreak rounds by winning with the black pieces. The World Cup tightened the race between Caruana, Wesley So, and Vladimir Kramnik for the two ratings qualification spots to the 2018 Candidates Tournament to within a few points. However, Kramnik's loss in a classical game against Ivanchuk during the tournament left him in a distant third with only two months remaining.