World Cup 2026: The Stars Converge

The Iraqi team secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over Bolivia in the intercontinental play-off to earn a ticket to the World Cup 2026 finals. Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo also achieved a remarkable feat by defeating Jamaica 1-0 in extra time during the intercontinental play-off to qualify for the World Cup finals. This marks their return to the World Cup after more than half a century, since 1974 (under the name Zaire).

At World Cup 2026, the 48 teams are divided into 12 groups, each with 4 teams. This is a completely new format compared to the previous 32-team structure, opening up more opportunities for football nations worldwide and promising exciting surprises right from the group stage.

Groups with extremely high competitiveness have emerged.

Group F stands out with the participation of the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, and Tunisia, considered one of the tournament's "groups of death." Japan, which recently made headlines by defeating England in a friendly match, will face two very strong European representatives: the Netherlands and Sweden.

Meanwhile, Group B also attracts attention with Bosnia & Herzegovina, which just eliminated Italy in the play-offs, along with Canada, Qatar, and Switzerland. They are expected to continue creating surprises in their second World Cup appearance.

Italy was the highest-ranked team on the FIFA rankings participating in the play-offs, but ended up being the biggest disappointment. Italy is also the only major name missing. The absence of the Azzurri leaves much regret for football enthusiasts. Traditional giants such as Brazil, France, England, Argentina, and Germany are still fully present.

Under the new format, the top two teams from each group along with the eight best-performing third-place teams will advance to the 32-team knockout round. This makes the group stage race more unpredictable.

World Cup 2026 is the largest finals in history in terms of scale and promises to be explosive with surprises waiting to emerge.

The expansion of the tournament from 32 to 48 teams has turned the World Cup dream of many nations into reality. In Asia, Uzbekistan and Jordan are two teams marking their first-ever World Cup participation.

In Africa, alongside familiar names, Cape Verde also makes a historic mark with its first appearance.

The CONCACAF region witnessed the miraculous story of Curacao. They became the smallest nation to qualify for the World Cup, with a population of only 150,000.

World Cup 2026 will take place from June 12 to July 19 in three countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This is the first World Cup with the largest scale in history, featuring 48 participating teams.

The 12 groups at World Cup 2026
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czech Republic.
Group B: Canada, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland.
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland.
Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey.
Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador.
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia.
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand.
Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay.
Group I: France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway.
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan.
Group K: Portugal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia.
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama.