play1:10Would Italy be the favorites to win Group B if they qualify?Gab Marcotti analyzes Group B consisting of Canada, Switzerland, Qatar and the winner of UEFA Playoff A.
play1:13Could Morocco beat Brazil in Group C at the World Cup?Sam Ogunleye and Ed Dove discuss the strength of Morocco’s squad as well as the potential to defeat group favourites Brazil.
play1:20Lebouef doesn’t believe Germany belong with the World Cup favouritesCraig Burley and Frank Leboeuf question Germany’s chances of winning the 2026 World Cup.
play1:34Can Tunisia cause an upset in Group F?Ed Dove discusses Tunisia’s chances of progression from Group F as they face tough opponents Japan, The Netherlands and a UEFA play off winner.
play1:28Could Mo Salah fire Egypt to World Cup success?Ed Dove discusses the influence Mo Salah could have on Egypt’s World Cup ambitions as they are drawn against Belgium, Iran and New Zealand.
play1:04Garcia: Group H a perfect start for Spain’s World Cup runLuis Garcia is confident Spain will make a bright start to their World Cup campaign in Group H.
play1:28Laurens can’t wait for Haaland vs. Mbappe in World Cup Group IJulien Laurens reacts to the toughest of the World Cup groups, with France, Senegal, Norway and a playoff winner facing off in Group I.
play0:45Onuoha: England will be well prepared to face CroatiaNedum Onuoha is unfazed by England being drawn with UEFA rivals Croatia in Group L at the 2026 World Cup.
play1:35Pep Guardiola: I want England to take the final step under Thomas TuchelManchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that he wants England to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup under Thomas Tuchel.
Moreno: Pressure on USMNT to qualify from ‘accessible’ World Cup Group D (0:54)Ale Moreno thinks the USMNT have been handed a favourable draw with their opponents in World Cup Group D. (0:54)
Would Italy be the favorites to win Group B if they qualify?Gab Marcotti analyzes Group B consisting of Canada, Switzerland, Qatar and the winner of UEFA Playoff A.
Gab Marcotti analyzes Group B consisting of Canada, Switzerland, Qatar and the winner of UEFA Playoff A.
Could Morocco beat Brazil in Group C at the World Cup?Sam Ogunleye and Ed Dove discuss the strength of Morocco’s squad as well as the potential to defeat group favourites Brazil.
Sam Ogunleye and Ed Dove discuss the strength of Morocco’s squad as well as the potential to defeat group favourites Brazil.
Lebouef doesn’t believe Germany belong with the World Cup favouritesCraig Burley and Frank Leboeuf question Germany’s chances of winning the 2026 World Cup.
Can Tunisia cause an upset in Group F?Ed Dove discusses Tunisia’s chances of progression from Group F as they face tough opponents Japan, The Netherlands and a UEFA play off winner.
Ed Dove discusses Tunisia’s chances of progression from Group F as they face tough opponents Japan, The Netherlands and a UEFA play off winner.
Could Mo Salah fire Egypt to World Cup success?Ed Dove discusses the influence Mo Salah could have on Egypt’s World Cup ambitions as they are drawn against Belgium, Iran and New Zealand.
Ed Dove discusses the influence Mo Salah could have on Egypt’s World Cup ambitions as they are drawn against Belgium, Iran and New Zealand.
Garcia: Group H a perfect start for Spain’s World Cup runLuis Garcia is confident Spain will make a bright start to their World Cup campaign in Group H.
Laurens can’t wait for Haaland vs. Mbappe in World Cup Group IJulien Laurens reacts to the toughest of the World Cup groups, with France, Senegal, Norway and a playoff winner facing off in Group I.
Julien Laurens reacts to the toughest of the World Cup groups, with France, Senegal, Norway and a playoff winner facing off in Group I.
Onuoha: England will be well prepared to face CroatiaNedum Onuoha is unfazed by England being drawn with UEFA rivals Croatia in Group L at the 2026 World Cup.
Nedum Onuoha is unfazed by England being drawn with UEFA rivals Croatia in Group L at the 2026 World Cup.
Pep Guardiola: I want England to take the final step under Thomas TuchelManchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that he wants England to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup under Thomas Tuchel.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that he wants England to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup under Thomas Tuchel.
The groups are now set for the 2026 FIFA World Cup! With the conclusion of Friday’s draw, we now know which teams will square off in the group stage of the tournament, and many tantalizing matchups are in store.
What are the top matches to watch, and how will it all go down? We asked ESPN’s writers to break down each group, highlight the top storylines and make their predictions as the clock ticks down to next summer’s big event.
JUMP TO: Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G, Group H, Group I, Group J, Group K, Group L
X factor/Biggest question: Mexico, as in the country, more than the team. With all due respect to their northerly neighbors, this is a proper footballing country, steeped in footballing culture. Games here are just going to feel different than in the other two host nations. That can work for Mexico — obviously, the fan support and familiarity play a role — or it can work against Mexico (and by extension, for the other nations) if the pressure gets to be too much.
Predicted order of finish: Mexico, South Korea, UEFA Playoff D, South Africa. Host nations used to never exit in the group stage — 2010 and 2022 changed that. Surely that can’t happen here, can it? — Gab Marcotti
Would Italy be the favorites to win Group B if they qualify?
Top-line takeaways: Canada’s wait to secure their first World Cup point should soon be over. Coach Jesse Marsch will not take anything for granted — especially given four-time winners Italy could be their opening opponents on June 12 — but Group B offers genuine hope of progress for the co-hosts.
This is their third World Cup, and they have lost every single match at the previous two, including four years ago in Qatar. Yet they avoided some of the heavyweights in Pot 2 to land Switzerland, who are ranked 17th in the world by FIFA, a full 10 places above Canada.
X factor/Biggest question: How effective will Davies be? Much will depend on Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies recovering from his ACL injury and returning to his prior form. Davies is Canada’s standout individual talent, but he underwent an operation in March after suffering the injury while on international duty against United States. Tensions between Bayern and Canada Soccer surfaced with the Bundesliga club accusing them of “negligence” over their handling of the injury.
Predicted order of finish: Switzerland, Canada, UEFA Playoff A, Qatar. It’s hard to predict given one team is yet to be finalized, but Canada should have enough to qualify. — James Olley
Could Morocco beat Brazil in Group C at the World Cup?
Top-line takeaways: This is a group that Brazil should win, but Morocco are a dangerous second seed in this section, especially after their heroics at the 2022 World Cup when they became the first African nation to reach the semifinals.
Carlo Ancelotti has been hired to win Brazil’s sixth World Cup, though, and the former Real Madrid coach will be happy with a group that also contains Scotland and Haiti. Haiti are appearing in their first World Cup since 1974 and Scotland are back for the first time since 1998 and they meet in the first game, so the winner could take a huge leap toward making it to the knockout stages.
Overall, this group will almost certainly be decided by the Brazil-Morocco clash. Morocco will believe they can pull off a shock, especially with Brazil under so much pressure to perform and win the World Cup for the first time since 2002.
Best game of the group: Brazil vs. Morocco. This has a box office feel to it because Brazil will have to hit the ground running straight away to avoid an upset against the African side. Achraf Hakimi is Morocco’s star right back and the Paris Saint-Germain defender has the big-game mentality to inspire his team, while goalkeeper Yassine Bounou showed himself to be one of the world’s best during Qatar 2022.
If Brazil can count on their stars — will Neymar be fit and available? — then Ancelotti’s side should make a winning start to the tournament. Make no mistake, though. Brazil would have much preferred to start off against Scotland or Haiti than a team as dangerous as Morocco.
X factor/Biggest question: Can Scotland get out of the group? The Scots have qualified for eight previous World Cups, but they failed to reach the knockout stage on every occasion. Now, they are in a really tough group and will meet Brazil for the fifth time since the 1974 World Cup, when they held the then-world champions to a 0-0 draw.
With third place potentially earning a qualifying spot, Scotland need to beat Haiti to have any hope of ending their long wait to escape the group stages.
Predicted order of finish: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti. The top two look pretty set in stone, but Scotland will just edge out Haiti for the third spot and maybe a place in the knockout stages. — Mark Ogden
Top-line takeaways: If you’re Mauricio Pochettino and the United States, you couldn’t ask for a much better draw than this. That’s not to say it’ll be a walk in the park, but cast your eyes across some of the other groups and it becomes clear it could have been much worse.
Put simply, they were drawn against the sixth-best team in CONMEBOL qualifying in Paraguay; an Australia side that lost 1-0 to Bahrain and was held 0-0 with Indonesia in its quest to get here; and one of four teams that failed to come through the European gauntlet in their first try.
You’d take that, right? It’ll probably peeve the three confirmed teams that they can’t start their preparation on the final opponent until March, as we don’t yet know which one of Türkiye, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo will join them.
If the qualifiers perform according to the respective talent levels of each team, we can expect to see Türkiye take up the last slot. That would certainly put the cat among the pigeons; they have stars like Arda Güler (Real Madrid) and Kenan Yildiz (Juventus) ready to roll.