Section-by-Section Preview for the 2026 Tournament

Pool A

The first fixture at the iconic Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout phase record at the global tournament features just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th straight World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a anything but easy qualification group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off 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 maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably 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 mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European playoff (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were handed a major boost by being chosen as a host for the fourth round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that included a streak of three successive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their squad lacks clear stars, but despite an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's final team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring 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 constant declinism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it could have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more effective performer with his national side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight World Cup appearance by dominating a manageable qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as some past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding 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 peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed through qualification, 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 lost once in a difficult third-round qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially