FIFA World Cup '26: News & Analysis

as there were discussion, that FIFA might seed the pot 1 teams, I took my draw to elaborate the most suitable constellations.

At the moment, based on the FIFA rankings, the 9 other pot 1 teams would be:

Argentina, France, England, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Netherlands, Belgium and Croatia.

One factor might be the night games. I gave a best guessing, but I am sure, that FIFA will shuffle the matches of one day to please the TV broadcasters.

The other factor is Group L where the top seed will play 2 matches at Toronto in the smallest stadium. I cannot believe that FIFA let the luck decide, that Argentina, England or Brazil will play there. So I went for Belgium (could also be Netherlands or Croatia).

The latest kick off times will propably be in Groups F, G, J and K, so I expect Argentina and Brazil to feature one of these 4.

Here is my complete set of guessing, in case FIFA goes with a fixed assignment of the top seeds to the 12 groups:

(Time zones is local times and in brackets UTC+2 = CEST)

THE HOSTS
The hosts are pre-assigned to Groups A (Mexico), B (Canada) and D (USA).

Schedule for Mexico [cc] drawn at position (A1):
Match 1: 2026-06-11 - 13:00 (21:00) – Mexico [cc] vs A2 - Mexico City
Match 28: 2026-06-18 - 19:00 (03:00) – Mexico [cc] vs A3 - Guadalajara
Match 53: 2026-06-24 - 17:00 (01:00) – A4 vs Mexico [cc] - Mexico City

Schedule for Canada [cc] drawn at position (B1):
Match 3: 2026-06-12 - 15:00 (21:00) – Canada [cc] vs B2 - Toronto
Match 27: 2026-06-18 - 15:00 (00:00) – Canada [cc] vs B3 - Vancouver
Match 51: 2026-06-24 - 13:00 (22:00) – B4 vs Canada [cc] - Vancouver

Schedule for USA [cc] drawn at position (D1):
Match 4: 2026-06-12 - 15:00 (00:00) – USA [cc] vs D2 - Los Angeles
Match 32: 2026-06-19 - 18:00 (03:00) – USA [cc] vs D3 - Seattle
Match 59: 2026-06-25 - 16:00 (01:00) – D4 vs USA [cc] - Los Angeles

THE OTHER TOP SEEDS

The remaining top seeds are pre-assigned to Groups C (England), E (France), F (Croatia),
G (Argentina), H (Netherlands), I (Spain), J (Portugal), K (Brazil) and L (Belgium).

Schedule for England [eu] drawn at position (C1):
Match 5: 2026-06-13 - 12:00 (18:00) – England [eu] vs C2 - Boston
Match 30: 2026-06-19 - 15:00 (21:00) – England [eu] vs C3 - Boston
Match 49: 2026-06-24 - 13:00 (19:00) – C4 vs England [eu] - Miami

Schedule for France [eu] drawn at position (E1):
Match 9: 2026-06-14 - 12:00 (18:00) – France [eu] vs E2 - Philadelphia
Match 34: 2026-06-20 - 14:00 (21:00) – France [eu] vs E3 - Kansas City
Match 55: 2026-06-25 - 13:00 (19:00) – E4 vs France [eu] - Philadelphia

Schedule for Croatia [eu] drawn at position (F1):
Match 11: 2026-06-14 - 17:00 (00:00) – Croatia [eu] vs F2 - Dallas
Match 36: 2026-06-20 - 19:00 (03:00) – Croatia [eu] vs F3 - Monterrey
Match 57: 2026-06-25 - 15:00 (22:00) – F4 vs Croatia [eu] - Dallas

Schedule for Argentina [sa] drawn at position (G1):
Match 15: 2026-06-15 - 15:00 (00:00) – Argentina [sa] vs G2 - Los Angeles
Match 40: 2026-06-21 - 18:00 (03:00) – Argentina [sa] vs G3 - Vancouver
Match 65: 2026-06-26 - 18:00 (01:00) – G4 vs Argentina [sa] - Houston

Schedule for Netherlands [eu] drawn at position (H1):
Match 13: 2026-06-15 - 12:00 (18:00) – Netherlands [eu] vs H2 - Miami
Match 38: 2026-06-21 - 15:00 (21:00) – Netherlands [eu] vs H3 - Atlanta
Match 63: 2026-06-26 - 13:00 (22:00) – H4 vs Netherlands [eu] - Seattle

Schedule for Spain [eu] drawn at position (I1):
Match 17: 2026-06-16 - 12:00 (18:00) – Spain [eu] vs I2 - New York / New Jersey
Match 42: 2026-06-22 - 15:00 (21:00) – Spain [eu] vs I3 - Philadelphia
Match 61: 2026-06-26 - 13:00 (19:00) – I4 vs Spain [eu] - Boston

Schedule for Portugal [eu] drawn at position (J1):
Match 19: 2026-06-16 - 17:00 (00:00) – Portugal [eu] vs J2 - Kansas City
Match 44: 2026-06-22 - 18:00 (03:00) – Portugal [eu] vs J3 - San Francisco Bay Area
Match 69: 2026-06-27 - 15:00 (22:00) – J4 vs Portugal [eu] - Kansas City

Schedule for Brazil [sa] drawn at position (K1):
Match 23: 2026-06-17 - 17:00 (00:00) – Brazil [sa] vs K2 - Houston
Match 48: 2026-06-23 - 19:00 (03:00) – Brazil [sa] vs K3 - Guadalajara
Match 71: 2026-06-27 - 19:00 (01:00) – K4 vs Brazil [sa] - Miami

Schedule for Belgium [eu] drawn at position (L1):
Match 21: 2026-06-17 - 12:00 (18:00) – Belgium [eu] vs L2 - Toronto
Match 46: 2026-06-23 - 15:00 (21:00) – Belgium [eu] vs L3 - Toronto
Match 67: 2026-06-27 - 13:00 (19:00) – L4 vs Belgium [eu] - New York / New Jersey

 

Germany = Pos . 9 -1717
Croatia = Pos .10 - 1708
Italia = Pos 11 - 1703

 

Why would the top seed play 2 matches in Toronto? That doesn't make much sense.

I would be the top seed gets Dallas-Boston-New York route.

 

the next rankings that will be published in July will have Croatia at 9 due to June results.

so you are right, it is not the current rankings but the to-be rankings.

 

Correct according to a real-time rankings calculator

https://football-ranking.com/fifa-world-rankings

 

That live ranking shows Germany losing points in the recent window, where it shouldn't have.

After MD1 at the Gold Cup, 🇨🇷 Costa Rica climb four positions in the FIFA Ranking, which is important for a spot in pot 3 of the World Cup.

🇬🇹 Guatemala gain massive points and are back in the Top 100.

🇵🇦 Panama get no points because Guadaloupe are not a FIFA member. pic.twitter.com/ICa0uTaqcB

— Cambio de Juego (@_cambiodejuego) June 18, 2025

 

As far as I understand, Germany's two defeats in the Final Four did not result in any points being lost. One should only believe the official FIFA media

https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/f99da4f73212220/original/edbm045h0udbwkqew35a-pdf.pdf

 

croatia and germany are very likely to win all their games in the qualifying, or at least all but one. italy is in serious problems, anything is possible there. they just appointed gattuso as their national coach in a total desperation move, looks like noone else was brave/stupid enough.

all in all, it is definitely too early to predict the outcome with high probability, there are more than enough games to be played.

that is wrong, german guy and larry are right, germany didn‘t lose the points in the nations league final four

 

SURPRISE

Hosts of AFC Asian Qualifiers™ – Road to 26 Playoffs confirmed

 

why no neutral ground? quite unfair giving Qatar and Saudi-Arabia home tournaments.

 

was it like that also in earlier cycles of UNL?

 

I would not bet on Germany winning all matches or 5 out of 6. Slovakia and Northern Ireland are not their style to play. defensively well organized and typical british. Not what Germany likes.

But back to the FIFA Formula:

Competitive matches in championship tournaments are now distinguished between group stage matches and late-stage knock-out matches in order to reward the most successful teams in the most difficult competitions. Furthermore, to mitigate the negative consequences of losing matches in championship tournaments, losses in the knock-out rounds of final competitions will not result in point deductions for the losing team.

But it counted for the QF stage? How ridiculous is that?

And if a team losses a finals tournament match on penalties this is not weighted as a loss, but a draw, so these cases are not affected and teams losing on PSO will get point deduction in the rankings? I bet that is not the case, but their rule statement is very confusing.

 

BBC’s former Head of Values Ian Fletcher appointed to new role as Director of Integrity for upcoming global football tournament.

This should be fun. The BBC are reviving their 2012 mockumentary for the 2026 World Cup.

They went on to make a self-mockumentary about the same incompetent team becoming the "Values" department at the BBC.

Now they're moving to Americah.

 

Lets hope not. However it seems to be the trend to use it these days.

 

2026 WC tie breakers

The ranking of teams in the group stage is determined by applying the following criteria in order:

Greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;

Superior goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;

Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned;

If two or more teams remain equal, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the remaining tied teams;

If still equal, apply the following criteria to all group matches for the teams still tied:

Superior goal difference in all group matches;
Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches;

Highest team conduct score relating to yellow and red cards received by players and team officials (only one deduction applies per player or official per match):
Yellow card: −1 point
Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points
Direct red card: −4 points
Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points
If teams are still equal, ranking is determined by the most recent published FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking;

If still tied, previous editions of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking are used chronologically backward until a decision is reached.

 

Is this official because its not what has been used in qualifiers.

 

FIFA regulations page 26.

https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/636f5c9c6f29771f/original/FWC2026_regulations_EN.pdf

 

This type of article drive me insane. “FIFA” isn’t considering doing anything (at least not publicly). There isn’t a single FIFA comment or action mentioned in the article! Just raw speculation from the author, leveraging current events to make a political point and drive clicks to a hysterical headline.

Since (as of now) any travel ban or “war” wouldn’t directly impact the Iranian team, officials, staff, or immediate families’ ability to enter the US, it wouldn’t make sense for FIFA to take any drastic action. Except perhaps in a case where Iran threatens to withdraw from the tournament if they’re assigned to play in the US, which would be for political (not logistical) reasons.

Since there’s exactly one team other than Mexico who plays their full group stage in Mexico (Mexico’s second opponent), the only option would be to manually place Iran in that position pre-draw. Or to substantially rearrange the distribution of matches between groups to allow more “Mexico-only” paths, which is a significant undertaking for the cities affected and grows more difficult with each passing day.

 

yepp ...as well as over 90% of articles about the world cup

clickbaits work well unfortunately

 

I really do not know that

I would bet on at least 5 and I think they're going to win all six

 

"FIFA considering hosting Iran's 2026 World Cup games in Saudi Arabia".



I made that up but you never know.