2026 FIFA World Cup Groups and Predictions
By: AT
Image Credit: Nasif Tazwar
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will begin on June 11, 2026, with the opening match taking place at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City between co-hosting nation Mexico and South Africa — a rematch of the 2010 World Cup opener in South Africa.
Co-hosted for the first time by three nations — Canada, Mexico and the United States — the 2026 tournament will include 48 nations for the first time, an increase from the 32 that competed from the 1998 World Cup in France to the 2022 edition in Qatar.
In the newly expanded format, the 2026 World Cup features 12 groups of four nations. While the previous 32-nation tournaments saw the top two nations from each group advancing to the round of 16, the 2026 tournament will include the top two nations from each group, as well as eight of the best 12 third-place nations advancing to a new round of 32. The subsequent knockout rounds remain unchanged from the previous tournaments.
Moreover, the 2026 tournament will include four nations making their World Cup debuts: Cape Verde (Group H); Curaçao (Group E); Jordan (Group J); and Uzbekistan (Group K).
The image below shows a preview of the 2026 World Cup groups.
Our Predictions
Although The Go-Ahead Goal had submitted early—group stage predictions after the group-stage draw, which took place in December 2025, we are issuing our updated and final predictions for the group stage, including some spicy takes.
Group A:
1st: Mexico
2nd: South Korea
3rd: Czechia
4th: South Africa
Group B:
1st: Switzerland
2nd: Canada
3rd: Bosnia and Herzegovina
4th: Qatar
Group C:
1st: Brazil
2nd: Morocco
3rd: Scotland
4th: Haiti
Group D:
1st: United States
2nd: United States
3rd: Paraguay
4th: Australia
Group E:
1st: Ecuador
2nd: Germany
3rd: Côte d’Ivoire
4th: Curaçao (debutant)
Group F:
1st: The Netherlands
2nd: Japan
3rd: Sweden
4th: Tunisia
Group G:
1st: Belgium
2nd: Egypt
3rd: Iran
4th: New Zealand
Group H:
1st: Spain
2nd: Uruguay
3rd: Saudi Arabia
4th: Cape Verde (debutant)
Group I:
1st: France
2nd: Norway
3rd: Senegal
4th: Iraq
Group J:
1st: Argentina
2nd: Austria
3rd: Algeria
4th: Jordan (debutant)
Group K:
1st: Portugal
2nd: Colombia
3rd: DR Congo
4th: Uzbekistan (debutant)
Group L:
1st: England
2nd: Croatia
3rd: Ghana
4th: Panama
The Lucky Eight Third-place Nations
In addition to our group-stage predictions, the eight nations that will finish in third-place and advance to the round of 32 are the following:
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Group B);
Scotland (Group C);
Côte d’Ivoire (Group E);
Sweden (Group F);
Iran (Group G);
Saudi Arabia (Group H);
Senegal (Group I); and
DR Congo (Group K).
For more information, see our 2026 FIFA World Cup collection!
