{"id":6149,"date":"2026-06-19T03:42:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T03:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/world-cup-2026-teams\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T15:05:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T15:05:28","slug":"world-cup-2026-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/world-cup-2026-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 World Cup 48-Team Overview: The 12 Groups and a Look at Each Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Updated: June 19, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n<style class=\"lc-tbl\">.entry-content table{border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;margin:1.2em 0}.entry-content th,.entry-content td{border:1px solid #d4dcd7;padding:8px 11px;text-align:left;vertical-align:top}.entry-content th{background:#eef3f0;font-weight:600}<\/style>\n<p>The 2026 World Cup is co-hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico, and is the first edition in history to expand to <strong>48 teams<\/strong>. The 48 teams are drawn into <strong>12 groups<\/strong>, labelled A through L in alphabetical order, with 4 teams per group; the top two of each group, plus the 8 best third-placed teams, make up the 32 teams advancing to the knockout stage, the largest scale of any edition to date.<\/p>\n<p>This edition&#8217;s line-up has plenty to watch. A total of <strong>4 teams are stepping onto the World Cup stage for the first time<\/strong> \u2014 Cabo Verde (Cabo Verde), Cura\u00e7ao (Cura\u00e7ao), Jordan and Uzbekistan; among them Cura\u00e7ao, with a population of only around 150,000, will become the least populous nation ever to play at a World Cup. On the other hand, <strong>all 7 traditional powerhouses that have previously won the title are present<\/strong>, including 5-time champions Brazil, 4-time champions Germany, 3-time champions Argentina, as well as France, Uruguay, England and Spain, with old and new forces going head to head.<\/p>\n<p>For Canadian fans, the host side has landed in <strong>Group B<\/strong>, sharing the group with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland \u2014 a draw seen as &#8220;offering both opportunity and challenge.&#8221; Below we first walk through all 12 groups in a single summary table, then take a quick group-by-group look.<\/p>\n<h4>2026 World Cup 12-Group Summary Table (A\u2013L)<\/h4>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Group<\/th>\n<th>Team 1<\/th>\n<th>Team 2<\/th>\n<th>Team 3<\/th>\n<th>Team 4<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Group A<\/td>\n<td>Mexico<\/td>\n<td>South Africa<\/td>\n<td>South Korea<\/td>\n<td>Czechia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Group B<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\/en\/world-cup\/canada\/\">Canada<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\/en\/team-bosnia-2026\/\">Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\/en\/team-qatar-2026\/\">Qatar<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\/en\/team-switzerland-2026\/\">Switzerland<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Group C<\/td>\n<td>Brazil<\/td>\n<td>Morocco<\/td>\n<td>Haiti<\/td>\n<td>Scotland<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Group D<\/td>\n<td>United States<\/td>\n<td>Paraguay<\/td>\n<td>Australia<\/td>\n<td>Turkey<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Group E<\/td>\n<td>Germany<\/td>\n<td>Cura\u00e7ao<\/td>\n<td>Ivory Coast<\/td>\n<td>Ecuador<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Group F<\/td>\n<td>Netherlands<\/td>\n<td>Japan<\/td>\n<td>Sweden<\/td>\n<td>Tunisia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Group G<\/td>\n<td>Belgium<\/td>\n<td>Egypt<\/td>\n<td>Iran<\/td>\n<td>New Zealand<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Group H<\/td>\n<td>Spain<\/td>\n<td>Cabo Verde<\/td>\n<td>Saudi Arabia<\/td>\n<td>Uruguay<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Group I<\/td>\n<td>France<\/td>\n<td>Senegal<\/td>\n<td>Iraq<\/td>\n<td>Norway<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Group J<\/td>\n<td>Argentina<\/td>\n<td>Algeria<\/td>\n<td>Austria<\/td>\n<td>Jordan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Group K<\/td>\n<td>Portugal<\/td>\n<td>DR Congo<\/td>\n<td>Uzbekistan<\/td>\n<td>Colombia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Group L<\/td>\n<td>England<\/td>\n<td>Croatia<\/td>\n<td>Ghana<\/td>\n<td>Panama<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h4>Group-by-Group Look (A to L)<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czechia.<\/strong> Co-host Mexico headlines and hosts the opening match; Asian heavyweights South Korea and Europe&#8217;s Czechia are evenly matched, while South Africa is the African representative \u2014 overall seen as a more open group.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Group B: <a href=\"\/en\/world-cup\/canada\/\">Canada<\/a>, <a href=\"\/en\/team-bosnia-2026\/\">Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/a>, <a href=\"\/en\/team-qatar-2026\/\">Qatar<\/a>, <a href=\"\/en\/team-switzerland-2026\/\">Switzerland<\/a>.<\/strong> Canada&#8217;s group, with the hosts in command and Switzerland a traditional European power; Bosnia and Herzegovina and previous hosts Qatar are not to be underestimated, making this the group Canadian fans are watching most closely.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland.<\/strong> 5-time champions Brazil facing last edition&#8217;s semi-finalists Morocco is a genuine tough fight; Scotland return to the World Cup after many years away, while Haiti represent the CONCACAF region.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey.<\/strong> Co-host the United States share the group with South America&#8217;s Paraguay, Asia&#8217;s Australia and Europe&#8217;s Turkey \u2014 four teams of contrasting styles, seen as evenly balanced.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Group E: Germany, Cura\u00e7ao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador.<\/strong> 4-time champions Germany anchor the group, and the focus here is first-time entrant, the small Caribbean nation of Cura\u00e7ao; Ivory Coast and Ecuador come from Africa and South America respectively.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia.<\/strong> Europe&#8217;s Netherlands and Sweden, Asian regular Japan, and Africa&#8217;s Tunisia are in the same group \u2014 a highly competitive scramble.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand.<\/strong> Belgium&#8217;s golden generation is still competitive, Egypt and Iran are the African and Asian representatives, and New Zealand represent Oceania.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Group H: Spain, Cabo Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay.<\/strong> This group features two former champions at once \u2014 title-contender-level Spain and 2-time champions Uruguay; Cabo Verde is one of the 4 World Cup debutants, competing with Saudi Arabia for hopes of advancing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Group I: France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway.<\/strong> 2-time champions France lead the way, with African power Senegal, Norway&#8217;s new generation and Asia&#8217;s Iraq sharing the field \u2014 a star-studded group.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan.<\/strong> Defending and 3-time champions Argentina hold the fort, and this group also includes Jordan, reaching the World Cup for the first time, alongside Algeria and Austria.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Group K: Portugal, DR Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia.<\/strong> Portugal sharing the group with South America&#8217;s Colombia already makes for compelling viewing, and adding first-time entrant Uzbekistan and Africa&#8217;s DR Congo makes the competition fierce.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama.<\/strong> 1966 champions England run into last edition&#8217;s third-place side Croatia, while Ghana and Panama belong to Africa and CONCACAF respectively \u2014 a group of traditional powers facing off.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, this edition&#8217;s 48 teams span every continent, with old and new forces gathered together; from small nations realizing their dream for the first time to 7 former champions on the same stage, there is more to watch than ever before. Canadian fans might first lock onto Group B&#8217;s schedule, then use this summary table to follow the other groups&#8217; exciting clashes.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated: June 19, 2026 The 2026 World Cup \u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lc_last_content_reviewed_at":"2026-07-20T10:00:00Z","_lc_last_fact_checked_at":"2026-07-20T10:00:00Z","_lc_fact_check_status":"verified_with_corrections","_lc_source_grade":"A","_lc_source_titles":"","_lc_source_publish_dates":"","_lc_source_accessed_at":"2026-07-20T10:00:00Z","_lc_claims_checked":"date_time: 6 \u6708 19 \u65e5 | sports_result: \u51a0\u8ecd | superlative_record: \u9996\u6b21","_lc_claims_corrected":"Unsupported material claims removed from public display; original content retained in protected post meta; URL retained as noindex historical archive.","_lc_unresolved_claims":"","_lc_correction_note_required":"1","_lc_reviewer_notes":"","_lc_fact_check_source_urls":["https:\/\/api.fifa.com\/api\/v3\/calendar\/matches?language=en&count=200&idCompetition=17&idSeason=285023&from=2026-06-11&to=2026-07-20","https:\/\/www.fifa.com\/en\/tournaments\/mens\/worldcup\/canadamexicousa2026\/articles\/match-schedule-fixtures-results-teams-stadiums"],"_lc_affiliate_widget_allowed":"","_lc_affiliate_widget_type":"","_lc_affiliate_widget_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45,227,717],"tags":[128],"lc_primary_section":[777],"lc_location":[808],"lc_topic":[817],"lc_freshness":[833],"class_list":["post-6149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-cup","category-wc-news","category-world-cup-results","tag-world-cup-2026","lc_primary_section-historical-features","lc_location-canada","lc_topic-sports","lc_freshness-historical"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6149"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12017,"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6149\/revisions\/12017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6149"},{"taxonomy":"lc_primary_section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lc_primary_section?post=6149"},{"taxonomy":"lc_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lc_location?post=6149"},{"taxonomy":"lc_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lc_topic?post=6149"},{"taxonomy":"lc_freshness","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lets-canada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lc_freshness?post=6149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}