Group-by-Group Breakdown for the 2026 World Cup

Group A

This opening match at the iconic Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th successive World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualification section. The final team in Group A will be the victor 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 twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group looks hinges mostly on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss 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 qualified unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were given a significant advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, 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 apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive approach has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their squad is without clear stars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast 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. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged 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 play in their 8th consecutive World Cup, 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.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest FIFA-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, potentially