Group-by-Group Analysis for the 2026 World Cup

Pool A

This first match at the historic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight berth as hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a anything but easy qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group looks depends largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were given a significant advantage by being chosen as a host for the final phase 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's first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after eight previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, able both of dominating opponents 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 dismal state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar defensive approach hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their roster is without obvious superstars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group phase exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the final team picked, however, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate 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 create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool 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, scoring 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 successful side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 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 qualification group, are on a travel ban, potentially