Three co-hosts, one generational favourite, a 40-year-old striker still banging in goals, and a nation playing their first World Cup in 52 years. Groups A through D at the 2026 World Cup have everything.
Group A: Mexico carry the weight of a nation
Mexico haven't been past the quarter-final since they last hosted in 1986. Forty years later, with the tournament back on home soil, the pressure is suffocating. Javier Aguirre will try to manage it with discipline and a mostly Liga MX squad — don't mistake that for a lack of quality, but don't mistake it for a world-beater either.
The player who could change everything is 17-year-old forward Gilberto Mora. A groin injury has been the obstacle. If he gets on the pitch and hits form, he becomes the story of the group. If not, Mexico are solid but limited.
South Africa are genuinely the underdogs here — a draw and a defeat to Panama in recent friendlies isn't the form of a team ready to cause upsets. Lyle Foster is the name people know, but 21-year-old Relebohile Mofokeng is genuinely rapid and worth watching. Czechia arrive on the back of their biggest domestic scandal in history — 47 people facing match-fixing charges — and a manager in Miroslav Koubek who is 74 years old and plays football to match. Long balls. Deep crosses. Tomáš Chorý at 6ft 6 leading the line. Agricultural doesn't quite cover it.
South Korea are the most unpredictable side in the group. Son Heung-min is 34 and has moved to MLS. Coach Hong Myung-bo oversaw a group stage exit in 2014 and has come back to complaints about defensive, uninspiring football. Lee Kang-in is the creative spark but if the system doesn't serve him, South Korea could struggle. Their odds to qualify from this group deserve a second look.
Group B: Can Canada actually do something at home?
Jesse Marsch has genuinely shifted something in Canada. A Copa America semi-final against Argentina, a climb to 26th in the world rankings, and a high-press identity that should thrive in front of home crowds. South Korea reached the semi-finals as hosts in 2002 — nobody is seriously suggesting Canada replicate that, but a quarter-final isn't a fantasy if they get out of this group with momentum.
Jonathan David is the key. He's been misfiring at Juventus, but he's the type of striker who scores from nothing, and at a World Cup on home soil, those moments tend to arrive. Alphonso Davies gets the headlines, but David might be the one who decides whether Canada's run has substance.
Bosnia and Herzegovina are one of the genuine underdog stories of qualifying — two penalty shootout wins, over Wales and Italy, to get here. Edin Dzeko is 40 years old and scored six qualifying goals for Schalke. He is set to become only the second outfield player aged 40 or over to appear at a World Cup. The first was Kazuyoshi Miura in 1998. That is a fact that deserves a moment.
Switzerland are exactly what they always are: tactically tidy, technically reliable, and destined to reach the round of 16 before running into someone too good for them. Granit Xhaka still runs the show. Twenty-year-old Johan Manzambi is the one to watch alongside him. Qatar under Julen Lopetegui — yes, that Lopetegui — are technically sharp but physically untested against European and South American sides. This group is Canada's to lose.
Group C: Brazil's defence might be the problem
Carlo Ancelotti's appointment was supposed to unlock Brazil. Five World Cup wins, the last in 2002 — the longest drought in their history relative to their status. On paper, the attack writes itself: Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Neymar, and Chelsea teenager Estevao who could be the breakout name of the tournament. He gets more space at international level than in the Premier League, and he punishes defenders when he has it.
The defence is the question nobody wants to answer properly. Aging, potentially exposed, and facing a Morocco side that reached the 2022 semi-finals with some of the most organised defensive football at any World Cup in recent memory. Morocco come in as AFCON champions — officially, after Senegal were stripped of the title — but questions about their mentality have followed them since Brahim Diaz's penalty miss in that final. Azzedine Ounahi against Spain in 2022 was a masterclass. Whether he can reproduce it is the thing to watch.
Scotland are here for the first time since 1998. The opening game against Haiti on June 14 matters enormously — win convincingly and they're in the conversation for the knockouts for the first time in their history. Drop points and the group is effectively over before it starts. Scott McTominay has become a genuine big-game player since joining Napoli. His bicycle kick against Denmark was not a fluke.
Haiti are the story of the group in a human sense. Their first World Cup in 52 years, representing a country in civil unrest so severe that coach Sebastien Migne hasn't set foot there despite being in charge since 2024. Duckens Nazon, their all-time top scorer, has been playing for Iranian side Esteghlal — who haven't played a competitive game since February due to the war. The circumstances are extraordinary. Expecting results to match is probably too much to ask.
Group D: USA have everything to prove — and no guarantees
Mauricio Pochettino was brought in to do one thing: make this tournament feel like a turning point for football in the United States. Two years in, results have been mixed and the pressure is building. This group is not the walkover people assume. Turkiye, on paper, are better than the USA. Paraguay finished level on points with Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay in South American qualifying. Australia are on their sixth consecutive World Cup and lost just once in sixteen qualifying games.
Malik Tillman is one of the more underrated names in the squad — Rangers fans saw it during his loan spell, PSV confirmed it, and now he's at Bayer Leverkusen. Alongside Cristian Pulisic, the USA have enough to cause problems going forward. Whether Pochettino has built a team that can hold a lead is the question that's followed him throughout his tenure.
Turkiye are the group's wildcard. Kenan Yildiz at Juventus has been linked with practically every major European club, is two-footed, and has a long shot that opposition goalkeepers genuinely fear. Arda Guler gets the attention, but Yildiz might be the more dangerous player at this tournament. Turkiye at a major tournament is always a rollercoaster — third in the world in 2002, and capable of going out in the group stage in the same breath.
Paraguay's Julio Enciso scored one of the Premier League's best goals in 2023 and is exactly the kind of player who either lights up a group stage or disappears entirely. Australia's Mohamed Toure — eight goals in nine games for Norwich — is 22 and arriving with the kind of form that gets noticed. This group will not be straightforward for anyone, least of all the hosts.
