The 2026 FIFA World Cup is just around the corner, and this time the tournament is in our backyard.
The Big Teams To Watch:
This year there are a lot of big teams in the world cup. There are teams with very important and famous players, teams with star players, teams with unformidable players, teams with “wonderkids” young stars and young talents.
France: France was the second team to qualify, besides the host nations, for the World Cup from Europe with their victory over Ukraine on a match that ended 4-0 where Mbappé scored 2 of those goals. France is known for their world-class players, which include experienced players and young talents. They have players like Ousmane Dembele of Paris Saint Germain, Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid, Ngolo Kante of Fenerbahce, Ibrahima Konate of Liverpool, Michael Olise of Bayern Munich and their “wonderkid,” Desire Doue of Paris Saint Germain.
Spain: Spain was the World Cup winner in 2010 and the current reigning European Champions. They have many star players. They are known as the wonderkid generators of Europe and their roster supports that claim to the end with player like Lamine Yamal of Barcelona, Pedri of Barcelona, Marc Cucurella of Chelsea, Rodri of Manchester City, Pau Cubarsí of Barcelona, and Ferran Torres of Barcelona the reigning champions of Europe is coming to FIFA World Cup 2026.
England: England had an easy time at the qualifiers and managed to get into their 8th successive World Cup. The team, nicknamed the Three Lions, are looking forward to continuing their success in a world class tournament after a dramatic loss over Spain in the Euro 2024.
Argentina: The reigning world champions were the first team to qualify from the Copa Libertadores de América. They secured their spot on March 25th when Bolivia drew 0-0 with Uruguay. That result meant Argentina were guaranteed to finish in one of South America’s six automatic World Cup qualification spots. Argentina won the last World Cup in 2022 by defeating France on penalties at the final after a breathtaking 3-3 tied game. They will be wanting to keep their reign going in the world scale and will be a tough opponent for every other team that qualifies.
Brazil: The legends who have qualified for every single World Cup are back at it again with their new coach, Carlo Ancelotti, who led Brazil to a 1-0 win over Paraguay on 10 June. That will maintain the nation’s remarkable record of having featured at every edition of the World Cup.
The Groups
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czech Republic
Group B: Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Türkiye
Group E: Germany, Curaçao, 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, DR Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
The “Wonderkids” of the World Cup
Lamine Yamal: Undoubtedly one of the best youngsters of the World cup, the star kid of Barcelona and Spain has been involved in a few controversies in the last 2 years but his off the field performance doesn’t seem to affect his on the field performance too much. The Spaniard played in 45 matches this year scoring 24 goals and 18 assists showing his quality at a world level in the Champions League, the Spaniards are expecting a lot from him, lets see if he can handle the pressure.
Arda Guler: Arda nicknamed the Turkish Diamond in Real Madrid had a great season that ended with an injury on April 21st, Arda ended the season early with that injury but is expected to return right before the World Cup matches. The wonderkid, Arda Guler played in 50 matches this season for Real Madrid and scored 6 goals and 14 assists, but Arda is more of a team player and a new generation of midfielders instead of a goal scorer or a direct assist maker. He is expected to play as a winger in the World Cup instead of his usual midfielder spot due to the team already having a very good mid fielder, Hakan Calhanoglu. Arda will be out of his comfort zone for the tournament lets see how he handles that.
Kenan Yildiz: The starboy of Juventus and Turkey has been on the rise for the last couple of years, claiming the legendary number 10 jersey that has been worn by legends like Alessandro Del Piero, and Paulo Dybala is now being sweated by the young starboy. Yildiz is the key starter of Juventus this season and he has been the player that started the most matches in Juventus line up this season, the left winger is seen as a top 3 winger in the world right now with other wonderkids, Lamine and Desire.
Pau Cubarsí:The young prodigy of Barcelona and Spain has quickly emerged as one of the most promising center-backs of his generation, showing maturity far beyond his years. Cubarsí has been a crucial part of Barcelona’s backline this season, earning consistent starts despite his age and proving himself against top-level opposition in both domestic competitions and the UEFA Champions League. Known for his composure on the ball, precise passing, and intelligent positioning, the Spaniard represents the modern ball-playing defender.
Nico O’Reilly: One of the more under-the-radar youngsters heading into the tournament, O’Reilly has quietly built a reputation as a technically gifted and versatile midfielder. The rising talent has been a consistent performer for his club this season, showcasing his ability to control tempo, break lines with his passing, and contribute defensively when needed. While not always in the spotlight like some of the bigger names, O’Reilly’s intelligence on the ball and work rate make him a valuable asset in any team.
Desire Doue: The electrifying youngster from Paris Saint Germain has rapidly established himself as one of the most exciting attacking prospects in Europe. Doué, known for his dribbling, and creativity, has been a standout performer this season, consistently embarrassing defenders with his direct style and confidence on the ball. Whether he plays as an attacking midfielder or winger, he brings unpredictability that makes him a nightmare to defend against.
The Controversies
Almost all World Cups had some sort of controversies and this year is a weird one. It is more about the prices of the tickets and the transportation prices into some of the games, this is the most expensive World Cup ever and for some of the games even the transportation prices has been increased by 10 times the cost it has been forever. Fans are also outraged over FIFA misleading them with bad seat mapping during the process of buying tickets. Some of the fans were given seats that were either out of their category during the time of purchase or just seats that would be considered other categories during other matches. There has been quite an outrage after the New Jersey mayor announced that the ticket prices for the train into the Metlife stadium would be $150 per person instead of the usual $13 right after FIFA announced they will not be paying New Jersey any money to help them with the transportation costs. Fans are blaming FIFA for “killing the soul of the game and the matches.” Most true fans will not be able to go to the games due to ticket prices that are thousands of dollars or transportation prices that cost 10 times more than the usual, making the fans question if it was a mistake making the US host the world cup.
