👀 Who goes through? Group A and B previews for World Cup 2026
Article excerpt
The 2026 World Cup will feature 48 nations across 12 groups, the largest field in tournament history. Yahoo Sports, citing OneFootball's analysis, previews Group A and Group B to help readers understand which teams are positioned to advance from each bracket. The expanded format fundamentally changes traditional World Cup dynamics, creating new competitive scenarios and opening possibilities for surprise contenders. As the tournament approaches, understanding each group's composition becomes essential for predicting outcomes.
👀 Who goes through? Group A and B previews for World Cup 2026
It’s almost time for the ball to start rolling at the 2026 World Cup.
And OneFootball is starting to highlight the details of each of the 12 groups in the biggest World Cup in history, with 48 national teams.
The top two teams in each group will advance to the pre-round of 16, along with the eight best third-placed teams.
See below how the representatives of Groups A and B are shaping up and have your say: who should qualify?
🏆 Group A
🇲🇽 Mexico
🇿🇦 South Africa
🇰🇷 South Korea
🇨🇿 Czechia
Match Schedule:
June 11 - 4pm - Mexico vs South Africa
June 11 - 11pm - South Korea vs Czechia
June 18 - 2pm - Czechia vs South Africa
June 19 - 12am - Mexico vs South Korea
June 24 - TBC: Mexico vs Czechia / South Africa vs South Korea
Mexico is set for its 18th World Cup appearance. It has played in every tournament since 1994.
It reached the quarter-finals in 1970 and again in 1986. Exactly in the editions it hosted. That is its great "trump card."
The squad called up by Javier Aguirre features ten players who have already made more than 50 appearances for El Tri.
Ochoa is heading to his sixth World Cup - he will share the record with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The attack also features another veteran: Raúl Jiménez, the national team’s third-highest scorer with 44 goals.
📸 Daniel Bartel - 2026 Getty Images
South Africa will be Mexico’s opponent in the opening match - repeating what happened in 2010, when it hosted the World Cup.
It will play in only its fourth World Cup after 1994, 1998 and the aforementioned tournament won by Spain.
The spot came thanks to winning its tightly contested qualifying group - finishing ahead of Nigeria.
The big mission is to reach the knockout stage for the first time.
Ten of the 26 called-up players play for clubs in the country. The rebuild has been significant, as only three have more than 50 caps.
That is the case for Mokoena, Ronwen Williams and Themba Zwane.
📸 KHALED DESOUKI - AFP or licensors
South Korea will play in its 11th consecutive World Cup - all since 1986. Its debut came in 1954.
Qualification came comfortably with an unbeaten campaign in the qualifiers.
Its greatest moment came in 2002, when it co-hosted with Japan and reached the semi-finals.
📸 Christian Bruna - 2026 Getty Images
It is banking on the strength of a squad full of experienced players and led by Son Heung-min, formerly of Tottenham and now at Los Angeles FC, Kim Min-jae (Bayern), Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves).
Czechia, meanwhile, will play in only its second World Cup as an independent nation after making its debut in 2006.
Including its record as Czechoslovakia (eight appearances), its best campaigns were the runners-up finishes in 1934 and 1962 to Italy and Brazil, respectively.
After seeing Croatia dominate the group, it had to get past Ireland and Denmark in the European playoffs.
Domestic football contributed 17 players. Including veteran Darida, 35, who plays for Hradec Králové after a long spell in Germany.
The main standouts play abroad: Coufal and Hložek (Hoffenheim), Soucek (West Ham) and Schick (Leverkusen).
📸 MICHAL CIZEK - AFP or licensors
🏆 Group B
🇨🇦 Canada
🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇶🇦 Qatar
🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Match Schedule:
June 12 - 4pm - Canada vs Bosnia
June 13 - 4pm - Qatar vs Switzerland
June 18 - 4pm - Switzerland vs Bosnia
June 18 - 7pm - Canada vs Qatar
June 24 - TBC: Switzerland vs Canada and Bosnia vs Qatar
Canada is heading to only the third World Cup in its history after the 1986 and 2022 editions.
And it has at least one mission as a host nation: win a match, as it has six defeats in six games played.
📸 Vaughn Ridley - 2026 Getty Images
Two of its key figures did not have the season they expected and arrive under pressure. That is the case for Alphonso Davies, who struggled with injuries at Bayern, and Jonathan David, who scored only nine goals for Juventus in 25/26.
Switzerland is heading to its 13th World Cup after topping its qualifying group.
Its goal is at least to improve on its most recent campaigns, which ended in the round of 16.
Its best performances came in the 1934, 1938 and 1954 editions, when it went out in the quarter-finals under a different competition format.
There is no shortage of experience in the called-up squad. Xhaka and Ricardo Rodriguez are the all-time appearance leaders for the national team - 145 and 137, respectively.
📸 Sona Maleterova - 2026 Getty Images
After hosting the last World Cup, Qatar secured its first qualification for a World Cup, with plenty of drama.
It finished fourth in its group and then advanced by getting the better of the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Only defender Homam Ahmed does not play in the country, as he turns out for Spain’s Cultural Leonesa.
Akram Afif (photo) is Qatar’s great hope alongside No. 10 Hassan Al-Haydos and striker Almoez Ali.
📸 KARIM JAAFAR - AFP or licensors
Bosnia and Herzegovina was Italy’s great villain in the playoffs, leaving the Azzurra out of its third straight World Cup.
It will be its second World Cup (it played in 2014) after no longer being part of Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia played in eight World Cup editions before 1992. It was a semi-finalist in 1930 and finished fourth in 1962.
It also gave rise to five other countries: Serbia, Montenegro (which were even a single nation between 2003 and 2006), Croatia, Macedonia (now North Macedonia) and Slovenia. Later, Kosovo became independent from Serbia in 2008.
Bosnia’s great reference point is Edin Dzeko. He is its all-time leader in appearances (148) and goals (73).
📸 2026 Getty Images
Kolasinac, Dedic and Demirović are other standouts.
Only third-choice goalkeeper Mladen Jurkas, 18, plays in the country.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.