Section-by-Section Preview for the 2026 Tournament

Group A

This first game at the iconic Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible footballer.

It will represent South Korea's eleventh successive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualification section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw looks hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping 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 manager in a qualifying campaign that featured a streak of three successive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a poor 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 seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their roster is without obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final 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

After successive group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking style has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they netted 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 live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as successful 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. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

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

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring 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 not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, winning five games out of five, netting 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. Team Melli, who lost once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a travel ban, potentially