Catastrophic Italy, historic Iraq: The 12 groups for the 2026 FIFA World Cup

With the play-offs completed, the 48 national teams that will take part in the next edition of soccer's greatest tournament are now known.

Rebin Sulaka (Iraq) and Sandro Tonali (Italy), the heads and tails of the 2026 FIFA World Cup playoffsVOZ/Cordon Press.

Published by

Alejandro Baños

1 de abril, 2026

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The playoff held in recent days determined the last six spots for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be played between June and July in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Sweden, Turkey, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the latest to join the list of 48 national teams that will compete in the upcoming edition of the world's greatest tournament.

Thus, the group stage, whose draw was held in December last year, is configured as follows:

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

Catastrophe in Italy, historic Iraq

The playoffs left several news highlights. The first is the elimination of Italy, a national team that is a four-time FIFA World Cup champion and, for the third consecutive time, will not be in the tournament. On this occasion, their executioner was Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Another was Iraq's qualification. Four decades later, their national team, which eliminated Bolivia in the playoffs, will compete in a FIFA World Cup.