Section-by-Section Preview for the 2026 World Cup

Group A

The opening game at the historic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase record at the worldwide showpiece features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh straight finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualification section. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw appears hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase 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 unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualification section, were given a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight prior group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

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

Group D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad lacks obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning 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 last two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable performer with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by dominating a manageable qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring 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 decorated side in African football history, but having failed to reach the finals 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 defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially