Group-by-Group Preview for the 2026 Finals

Pool A

The initial fixture at the historic Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout phase record at the worldwide showpiece includes just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended footballer.

This will represent Korea Republic's 11th successive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them without a loss through a far from easy qualification section. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the European play-off (the remaining 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were given a significant advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that featured a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor condition, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their familiar cautious approach hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their roster is without obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals without reply.

The smallest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team picked, however, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it might have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by topping a straightforward qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as some past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African football history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed through qualifying, winning five games out of five, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated only once in a difficult third-round qualifying section, are on a travel ban, possibly