The groups numbered G through L at the 2026 FIFA World Cup feature the majority of teams that are tournament favorites including defending Champion Argentina, and UEFA powerhouses Spain, England, and France. We previously projected out groups A through F including teams like Japan, the United States, and Germany. Now we will take a look at the rest of the groups and project out a final bracket for the tournament hosted in the USA, Mexico, and Canada. These teams are still a few days away from kicking off their tournament.
Group G Projection: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
With all due respect to these teams, this is the weakest group in the new 48 team World Cup. Belgium are no longer considered a top contender to lift the title with the “golden generation” partially retired, but they haven’t lost a match since March 2025, beating Wales in qualifying and winning friendlies over the USA and Croatia to warm up. They finished their warm-ups with a 5-0 win over Tunisia.
There’s still some legends here. Romelo Lukaku barely played for Napoli but he’s still a key striker along with Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard. Kevin De Bruyne is the midfield leader, while Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku has tremendous pace. Axel Witsel (Girona) is one of the oldest players in the tournament, while Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois is the goalkeeper. This is a Belgium team that should not lose in the group stage.
Mo Salah’s Egypt lost to Brazil but beat Russia in the warm-up matches. They also managed a draw against Spain in March. One of CAF’s most accomplished sides, Egypt can be a bit stodgy at times, as we saw in the African Cup of Nations this winter. Even with Omar Marmoush (Manchester City) and Salah. A number of players on this squad play in the Egyptian league, particularly for Al Ahly and have tremendous chemistry. Ultimately that gives them an edge to reach the knockouts.
New Zealand are always likely to have a place in an expanded World Cup, as they are the strongest team in OFC but quite weak internationally. They England to a 1-0 deficit, but were defeated 4-0 by Haiti in their warm up matches. They also lost to Finland in March, though they beat Chile 4-1. Nottingham Forest’ Chris Wood is the key man, with most of the squad depth players across Europe, Asia or MLS. Minnesota United’s Michael Boxall is a key defender. Ultimately it would be an achievement if New Zealand got a point from three matches.
Iran, embroiled with geopolitical turmoil as they were forced to train in Tijuana, Mexico, and have had visa issues with the United States, a country they are actively at war with, are also in the unenviable position of not having as strong of a squad as they have had in previous years. They were solid in AFC qualifying, and did beat Costa Rica, Gambia, and Malia to warm-up, but missing striker Sardar Azmoun for political reasons is a serious blow. Mehdi Taremi (Olympiacos) now carries the scoring burden, many of their players are either in Iran’s domestic league or playing in the Middle East. Alireza Beiranvand is back in goal after famously announcing himself to the world at a previous World Cup.
The Egypt vs Iran clash is the pivot game, but Egypt should tip it.
Group H Projection: Spain, Uruguay, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia
The gap in expectations between the top two teams in this group, and the bottom two is quite severe. Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay is an interesting dark horse, they opted not to play any warm u matches, and haven’t won an international match since they beat Uzbekistan in October, 2025. The trouble for Uruguay, who continue to have passionate fan support and punch above their weight internationally, is a lack of a quality striker. Al-Hilal’s Darwin Nunez has not been in-form, and they also rely on players like Tigres UANL’s Rodrigo Aguirre. With Giorgian de Arrascaeta injured with a broken collarbone and out of the group stage of the tournament, the remaining midfielders have pressure to create chances, especially Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde.
The rest of the midfield is quite good including Arrascaeta’s Flamengo teammate Nicolas de la Cruz. If he’s fit, Ronald Araujo from Barcelona is key in the back, along with Atletico Madrid’s Jose Maria Gimenez.
Bielsa’s cautious approach is likely to yield Uruguay a solid group stage performance, but the knockouts remain a question mark. As for Spain, they are one of the top favorites to lift the trophy, this Euro winning team is sweating over the health of Barcelona star Lamine Yamal, and did draw both Egypt and Iraq in warm-up games, before closing their preparations with a 3-1 win over Peru.
Luis De La Fuente has a confident squad full of La Liga talent, including an entire squadron of FC Barcelona players. Pedri, PSG’s Fabian Ruiz, and Arsenal’s Mikel Merino are top class midfielders, and even all three goal keepers are top choice options in their respective leagues. Anything short of a deep run for Spain would be a disappointment.
Debutants Cape Verde beat Serbia and Bermuda with ease to warm up, this squad is light on stars but performed well in CAF qualifying and is underrated. Their final clash against Saudi Arabia could determine if they advance as a third place team. The Saudis drew Senegal and beat Puerto Rico to warm up, breaking a streak of three consecutive losses. Although they did have the shock result in the 2022 World Cup over Argentine, this is a Saudi side that is in decline and really lacks top talent.
Group I Projection: France, Norway, Senegal, Iraq
France believes they can go one further than 2022 and win the World Cup, but they have a difficult group to start. After a loss to Ivory Coast and a win over Northern Ireland, they will open against Senegal. This is arguably the most talented squad in World football, with PSG’s attacking trident of Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, and Bradley Barcola lining up along with Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe. Bayern’s Michael Olise is here, while they have solid backline players like Arsenal’s William Saliba.
France may not survive this group without conceding points, but in the knockout stage that attack looks lethal.
Norway with Erling Haaland (Manchester City) score goals for fun, while they have less history in the World Cup, they dominated their UEFA group that included Italy. Their warm-up matches were a 3-1 win over Sweden, and a draw with Morocco. Leipzig’s Antonio Nusa is a budding star along with Haaland, while Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard marshals the midfield. This Norway team isn’t quite as deep as the top contenders but they have every chance to make noise in the knockouts.
Senegal lost to the USA and drew with Saudi Arabia to warm up, those defensive question marks may weaken their claim as a tournament dark horse, but this is a solid squad captained by legend Sadio Mane, with Bayern’s Nicolas Jackson as striker and names like Chelsea’s Mamadou Sarr in the back.
Iraq qualified via the final playoff series, they are outmatched offensively, having lost to Venezuela, after a surprise draw against Spain to warm up. They also managed a 1-0 win over Andorra. There’s some budding talent in this Iraq side like Zidane Iqbal but ultimately, they wouldn’t be favored to secure a point in this group.
Group J Projection: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Defending Champions Argentina have joined together for Lionel Messi’s last ride. Having won seven consecutive matches since a loss to Ecuador in World Cup qualifying last September. Argentina’s preparations were against weaker sides, and there’s still question marks if this squad is old or has lost something, but Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina have consistently been Champions when they play tournament football. Veteran names like Messi pair with new talent like Como’s Nico Paz, Argentina must hope their fresher faces can give them a boost in what could be hot conditions in some matches.
Austria beat Tunisia to warm-up and are without defeat in five matches. Ralf Rangnick has questions at the striker position but having Marcel Sabitzer, Konrad Laimer and other stars in the XI makes a difference.
Algeria upset the Netherlands and beat Bolivia to warm-up, they are in tremendous form and have enjoyed their training camp in Kansas. Riyadh Mahrez (Al-Ahli) is still the midfield leader, they have a solid backline with Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini among the names they can call on. On current form they would have an edge over Austria.
Jordan were a surprise AFC qualifier, they lack offensive firepower and star names, against Colombia and Switzerland they conceded far too easily, losing 2-0 and 4-1 respectively. Getting a point out of this group would be an achievement.
Group K Projection: Portugal, Colombia, DR Congo, Uzbekistan
Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo a host of top talent including PSG’s Joao Neves are top 10 contenders to lift the trophy. They beat Chile and Nigeria to warm-up and are without defeat since they lost to Ireland last November. Solid in the back and in the midfield with Burno Fernandes (Manchester United), there are question marks in goal and if they can create enough goals, especially with Ronaldo a bit more limited now due to age, but they still have the strongest team in the group.
Colombia with Luis Diaz has a veteran squad, still relying on James Rodriguez as the #10, they beat Costa Rica and Jordan to warm-up. The backline is suspect, with the goalkeeper and defensive four a bit lacking, but Colombia has plenty of midfield savvy and attacking forwards like Luis Suarez (Sporting CP) to score goals. That should be enough against Uzbekistan and DR Congo, before the massive clash with Portugal in Miami. Colombia can go far, but only if the likes of Davinson Sanchez and Jhon Lucumi can play their best football in the back.
DR Congo and Uzbekistan are surprising names to see in this tournament, Congo came through the final playoff and should have a slight edge on Uzbekistan for the third-place spot. They drew with Denmark and beat Chile to warm-up. Chancel Mbemba (Lille) is among the names, while Uzbekistan relies on Manchester City’s defender Abdukodir Khusanov. They lost to Canada and the Netherlands in warm-ups.
Group L Projection: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
Expectations are high for Thomas Tuchel’s England, they beat Costa Rica and New Zealand to warm-up, after a perfect qualifying campaign. The biggest question is the starting XI, Harry Kane hopes to win the Golden Boot as striker, while there is an injury cloud around Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka. Jude Bellingham is expected to be the creative #10, while the likes of Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) and Declan Rice (Arsenal) are here. Against top teams, England’s defence and goalkeeping will be tested, including against Croatia to open the tournament.
Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic, and company have a great record in World Cups and even though critics argue they are too old, Croatia knows what to do in tournament football. They lost to Belgium but beat Slovenia to warm-up.
Ghana have been awful despite a solid squad, heading into the tournament they drew with Wales and lost to Mexico. They haven’t won a match since qualifying for the tournament. Veteran manager Carlos Queiroz was brought in to try to stabilize things, but despite having players like Antoine Semenyo (Manchester City) expectations are extremely low.
Panama needs to get a point out of their opening clash with Ghana, they drew Bosnia and beat the Dominican Republic to open the tournament. Despite being a solid CONCACAF team, the squad lacks punch, especially if PUMAS midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla isn’t healthy. Panama will hope their team cohensiveness can make a difference when it matters most.
Knockout Stage Projections
Round of 32
Canada d. South Korea
Japan d. Morocco
Germany d. Paraguay
France d. Sweden
Colombia d. Croatia
Spain d. Algeria
Austria d. Turkey
Belgium d. Czechia
Brazil d. Netherlands
Ecuador d. Norway
Mexico d. Scotland
England d. Senegal
Switzerland d. Iran
Portugal d. Ivory Coast
Argentina d. Uruguay
USA d. Egypt
There’s a number of top matchups in this potential round of 32, can Colombia’s firepower get past Croatia, Japan vs Morocco is a dark horse battle. The Ivory Coast would back themselves against Portugal, Argentina vs Uruguay is a rivalry. Ecuador vs Norway is a style clash, while England need to be worried about Senegal.
Round of 16
France d. Germany
Japan d. Canada
Spain d. Colombia
Belgium d. Austria
Brazil d. Ecuador
England d. Mexico
Portugal d. Switzerland
Argentina d. USA
Almost every round of 16 clash on is tightly contested and should be decided by slim margins.
Quarterfinals
France d. Japan
Spain d. Belgium
Brazil d. England
Argentina d. Portugal
Semifinals
France d. Spain
Argentina d. Brazil
Ultimately Argentina has a slightly easier path to the final, but with France’s squad it’s hard to go against them.
Third Place
Spain d. Brazil
Final: France d. Argentina
