World Cup 2026 // What We Now Know.

Over the past couple of months, most teams have been wrapping up their World Cup Qualifying campaigns in European football. Many teams had already qualified, but we just got a whole lot more of them. Now, there's still six teams remaining to punch their ticket. But, here's what we know so far and what to expect come next summer. 

Group selection will be chosen between four different "pots" for this upcoming tournament like it always is. The best teams/hosts in "pot one", the next best in "pot two" and so on (via. FIFA rankings.) Obviously, if Italy ends up coming through, it'll bump a couple of teams down spots. One team from each "pot" will form each group at the 2026 World Cup (barring any rule changes.) 

United States Of America
Mexico
Canada
Spain
Argentina
France
England
Brazi;
Portugal
Netherlands
Belgium
Germany 

Croatia 
Morroco
Columbia
Uruguay
Switzerland
Japan
Senegal
Iran
South Korea
Ecuador
Austria
Australia

Norway
Panama
Egypt
Algeria
Scotland
Paraguay
Tunisia
Ivory Coast
Uzbekistan
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
South Africa 

Jordan
Cape Verde
Ghana
Curacao
Haiti
New Zealand
UEFA Playoff Winner
UEFA Playoff Winner
UEFA Playoff Winner
UEFA Playoff Winner
IC Playoff Winner
IC Playoff Winner

• Like mentioned above, Italy is a notable country fighting for its WC dreams once again this year. It will have to face Northern Ireland, and then the winner of Wales/Bosnia to secure its spot.
• Ukraine & Sweden face off against each other as well with the winner going up against Poland & Albania. Three of these teams featured in the Euro Cup just two years ago.
• Turkey will also battle Romania with the winner facing the winner of Slovakia/Kosovo.
• And to finish off the European qualifiers, Denmark, somewhat shockingly finds itself pinned against the wall. It will face North Macedonia .. with the winner of that match going up against the winner of Ireland/Czechia.

• In the IC Playoff Qualifiers, both DR Congo & Iraq recovered byes, directly into the finals of the playoffs.
• New Caledonia, a French territory, will face Jamaica in one of the Semis. The winner gets DR Congo.
• And in the second Semi-Final, Suriname/Bolivia go H2H for a right to play against Iraq and a chance at a WC bid. 

Obviously, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that a team in "pot 4" is likely to come out and emerge as the team to beat in the World Cup and there's so much time from now and next summer that my opinion might change. However, as an early prediction I'm going to have to go with the European Champions of the world at the moment in Spain. The midfield is out of this world when it comes to quality and the joy/expression that the country plays with is simply amazing to watch.

A dark horse out of "pot 2" I'd say would be Japan right now. Given that it's not going to blow you away with strength and height, the skill must be there. Japan seems to cause problems all the time to different opponents and this could be the year that it makes a deep run. In "pot 3" I'd have to go with Norway. Simply put, Erling Haaland is the best pure striker in the world and his ability to score the ball in the back of the net is pure excellence. Norway completely annihilated every opponent in qualifying including Italy twice leading to an 8-0-0 record. 

Having said that, these are subject to change. I'm getting very excited for next year's version of the World Cup and will definitely make an updated article once we get closer to action and once the groups are finally announced. I'll go more in depth then.