Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Friday, 05 December 2025 21:21 / Updated Friday, 05 December 2025 21:37
Group I seems to be the group of death at the 2026 World Championship. In the same series, three formidable formations were assigned: France, Norway, Senegal. They will be joined by one of Iraq, Bolivia and Suriname.
The 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, will be the first edition to feature 48 teams.
The expansion of the competition led to the “birth” of less lavish duels, such as Ivory Coast – Curacao (group C), Saudi Arabia – Cape Verde (H), but drawing lots he also booked a group with an impressive poster.
Group of DEATH at the World Championship: Norway, unlucky in their first participation after 28 years
It's about I, which promises to be the most contested group. This pits France (world runner-up in 2022), Senegal, Norway and the winner of the tie between Iraq and Bolivia / Suriname against each other.
Sure, the one who advances from that bracket will be a total outsider in this group, but the fight for the first two positions, the ones that ensure advancement in the elimination stages, is fierce.
France will be one of the favorites to lift the trophy, while Norway is one of the most in-form European teams, led by Erling Haaland, a veritable goalscoring machine. It remains to be seen how the Scandinavians will handle the pressure of playing on such a stage, considering that they have not participated in a World Championship since 1998.
We continue with Senegala force on the African continent, with a squad valued at 400 million euros, which includes stars such as Nicolas Jackson (Bayern Munich), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham), Iliman Ndiaye (Everton), Ismaila Sarr (Crystal Palace), Sadio Mane (Al Nassr) and Kalidou Koulibaly (Al Hilal).
The good part for the teams involved is that the 3rd place holder can also advance to the “16th”. The best 8 teams in 3rd place will join the top two teams.
Other tricky groups appear to be C (Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland), J (Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Jordan) and L (England, Croatia, Ghana and Panama).
All 2026 World Cup groups:
