I had a thread for the 2022/26 World Cup previously but, now that it's only a few months away, next year's probably deserves its own thread. 42 of the 48 teams are now known, with only 6 left to be added from UEFA and Inter-Confederation playoffs, and the draw for the finals will be happening in just a few hours (12pm ET, 5pm GMT). No doubt the draw will be the usual extravaganza, with the actual draw only being a small part of the razzmatazz. We know that Mexico, Canada and USA will be in groups A, B and D in that order, when the draw is made, as host nations and pot 1 teams. Beyond that, the other 45 teams will be drawn into 12 groups of 4 teams. Being FIFA, it's not going to be a completely straightforward draw, as there are some things that can't happen, no 2 teams from one confederation can be in the same group apart from UEFA, where 2 teams from Europe will be in 4 of the 12 groups. My own team, Scotland, will be there for the first time since 1998, so I have a lot more of an interest in seeing which teams end up where than in the last few draws! Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Portugal, Brazil, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia Pot 3: Panama, Norway, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao (smallest country ever to qualify), Haiti, New Zealand, UEFA Play-off teams A,B,C,D, Inter-Confederation Play-off teams 1,2 Apart from Canada, Mexico, USA and the unknown UEFA play-off teams, the rest of the pots have been decided by FIFA World rankings. Considering Italy might get through from the UEFA playoffs, I suspect most teams will want to avoid a UEFA play-off team as the Pot 4 team in their group!
Well, that draw was excruciating. I had very low hopes for it, and fair to say it didn't even match those. Serves me right for watching the whole thing and not just skipping to the draw itself. Anyway, it's done and the group are all set. Scotland got a tough group, Brazil and Morocco are two of the teams from Pots 1 and 2 we probably didn't want to get. At least we got Haiti from Pot 4 and not the possibility of Italy, or it would have been easily the group of death. USA get Paraguay, Australia and the UEFA playoff winner between Turkey, Romania, Kosovo and Slovakia. Probably a good chance they get out of that group as missed the top teams from each pot, even though they get a UEFA qualifier from pot 4. Canada are the unlucky pot 1 team that could end up with Italy in their group if they qualify. Group I looks the toughest for me at first glance, with France, Senegal and Norway. They should all beat the IC playoff qualifier, whoever it ends up being, so will come down to games between those 3. England's group doesn't look straightforward either, with Croatia and Ghana. Panama will have their work cut out against those 3.
World Cup 2026 draw in full Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Winner of Uefa play-off D* Group B: Canada, Winner of Uefa play-off A*, Qatar, Switzerland Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, Winner of Uefa play-off C* Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Winner of Uefa play-off B*, Tunisia Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay Group I: France, Senegal, Winner of Fifa play-off 2*, Norway Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan Group K: Portugal, Winner of Fifa play-off 1*, Uzbekistan, Colombia Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama *Uefa play-off A: Italy, Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina or Northern Ireland *Uefa play-off B: Ukraine, Poland, Albania or Sweden *Uefa play-off C: Turkey, Slovakia, Kosovo or Romania *Uefa play-off D: Denmark, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland or North Macedonia *Fifa play-off 1: DR Congo, Jamaica or New Caledonia *Fifa play-off 2: Iraq, Bolivia or Suriname
One more observation from a Scottish viewpoint. Last time we were in the World Cup in 1998 in France, we faced....Brazil and Morocco in the group stage, and lost to them both. Getting a sense of deja vu...hopefully not all the way to the results
Not easy groups for Scotland or England. I mean, I suppose it was expected for Scotland being a Pot 3 team... but I would call England's group the early contender for Group of Death. Here's how I'd rank the six groups that are known at the moment (while the other six await their last team from the six playoffs)... ranking them in terms of difficulty... Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama. If I'm England, I'm not taking anything for granted. I could actually seem them not making it out of this group, nothing would surprise me. Even with 8 of the 12 third place teams (based on points) making it out. There's no guarantee there either. Croatia and Panama were the first or second highest seeded team in their Pots (2 and 3) and Ghana was 3rd highest (not factoring in the playoff teams yet). Panama is going to surprise people. Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland. Basically, any one of the four teams could finish 2nd. Honestly. Brazil could be a flop or they could win the whole thing, you just don't know with them. Morocco has been on the rise, their youth teams have been very good recently. Beating the USA each time in the last two WC's knockout rounds for U17 and U21 (I believe). And the US have been developing good youth teams recently as well. I wouldn't sleep on Haiti either. Many will assume they finish 4th automatically... they'll surprise some people I think. Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador. You would expect Curacao not to make it out. But Germany have been underperforming and IC/Ecuador are very capable of winning the group. Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan. I don't expect Jordan to be advancing. Argentina should win the group. The battle is for 2nd between Algeria and Austria. Pretty favorable group for the defending WC champs. Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay. Pretty straight forward here, Spain and Uruguay should advance. Saudi Arabia have always failed to impress me at the WC stage. Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand. I think Belgium are probably the softest of the Pot 1 teams (not including the host nations). Egypt should advance out of this group. But Iran is not a team to be ignored. I don't see the Kiwi's as a threat, they shouldn't make it to the knockout stages. All in all, very favorable groups for the three host nations. I think Canada (if they get Italy) would have a tougher group (but they should finish 3rd at worst, ahead of Qatar). But US and Mexico should get out of their groups and should get into the round of 16 after winning their first knockout stage match. This is really about positioning for the 32 team knockout stage. FIFA set it up so Argentina, Spain, France and England wouldn't face each other until the final/semis depending on the team. I can see why the first three teams should have that consideration. I'm not sure why England should though. Yes they had a decent run of form for the qualification stage (didn't allow a goal)... but I would be surprised if they made it all the way to the semi finals based on their team makeup. This from someone that will be rooting for them of course.
Wow, did I make a great decision to record this for watching at the end, and hiding from spoilers. An hour and 15 minutes of crap that I fast forwarded through… I don't think the US could've asked for a better draw, nobody is a powerhouse, only one European team and even the European team is likely to be one of the weaker qualifiers. Even better, is that Paraguay and Australia, and the European qualifier, is not a country with a large ex-pat population in the US, and we should have a real home-field advantage, assuming the USA fans don't get priced out by FIFA's greed.
Also, has Wayne Gretzky ever taken a Geography Class? He was embarrassing in the World Cup Draw! I'd call him an ugly American, but…
Yeah, you're right now that I remember, there had to a be European team in every group. At least it "should" be one of the weaker ones rather than an Italy or Denmark. He was pretty bad with the pronunciations, wasn't he . Maybe they knew he would be, so gave him the pot draw with all the play-off teams in it for a laugh I thought Rio Ferdinand was terrible as the co-ordinator for the draw too, very wooden and not sure how or why he got the gig. Even his "jokes" or supposedly funny comments went down like a lead balloon...if they were actually meant to be jokes. And his pre-draw skit with the schoolkids, Infantini, McConaughey and Hayek was excruciatingly bad. At least we got to see Salma Hayek....never going to complain about that
I still think it's mainly a really bad draw for us, but there are some positives...if I look and dream closely enough Firstly, negatively. Brazil are just Brazil, we've never beaten them, and I think we've actually now been drawn in their group something like 5 of the 9 times we've qualified for the WC! Morocco are probably the best team in Africa, they're favourites for the upcoming AFCON, have won something like 12 or 13 in a row, and made the semi-final of the last WC. Up and coming team to say the least. Gulp. Haiti are just an unknown to me, although they beat Costa Rica to qualify....and Scotland fans know what happens when we underestimate a team on a par with Costa Rica like in 1990. Now, the positive...the order of matches suits us. Start with Haiti, then Morocco, then finally Brazil (and that one may be in Miami, it's either that or Atlanta). IF we can beat Haiti, then we "just" need to get a point from the next 2 games to likely qualify for the knockouts. Even two losses may be ok, if we don't lose big. Brazil may have already qualified by the last game too. I'm digging deep here, but any nugget of positivity is welcome, lol. And, anyway, it's always great to play Brazil and fun for the fans. And on a smaller possible positive, Brazil aren't the same force as they have been in the past, so you never know...
