Biggest winners and losers from 2026 World Cup draw

It took a while, but FIFA eventually conducted the draw for the 2026 World Cup on Friday. With the groups and matchups set, it’s time to break down the biggest winners and losers from the glitzy event.

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Winners – The hosts

The United States got Australia and Paraguay. Canada will face Switzerland and Qatar. In front of fervent home support, those should be winnable matches for both nations, especially since the U.S. defeated Australia and Paraguay in recent friendlies. However, both groups have open spots that’ll be determined once the European playoffs are completed next March. The possible additions of Italy and Turkey, for example, could suddenly make each quartet look a lot tougher.

Potential extra team: Italy (ranked 12th), Wales (32nd), Northern Ireland (69th), or Bosnia and Herzegovina (71st)

Potential extra team: Turkey (ranked 25th), Slovakia (45th), Romania (47th), Kosovo (80th)

You could argue that Mexico is the biggest winner from the 2026 World Cup co-hosts. Securing first place in Group A offers a huge incentive, positioning Mexico in a favorable part of the knockout bracket with back-to-back games in Mexico City. The team enjoys its home comforts. Its best World Cup finishes (quarterfinals in 1970 and 1986) came when it hosted the tournament, and it can always call upon a mass of passionate fans when it plays in the United States.

Potential extra team: Denmark (ranked 21st), Czechia (44th), Republic of Ireland (59th), North Macedonia (65th)

Although Mexico was outplayed by South Korea in a 2-2 friendly draw in September, Taegeuk Warriors boss Hong Myung-bo has produced mixed results with his preferred 3-4-3 setup. El Tri can also take inspiration from its 2018 World Cup win over the East Asian nation. South Africa, meanwhile, shouldn’t intimidate Mexico.

Losers – Defenders in Group I

Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe have combined for 114 goals for club and country in 2025. Haaland-inspired Norway was irresistible in its World Cup qualification cycle, plundering a remarkable 37 goals while conceding just five in eight straight victories. France predictably eased through its group, with Mbappe scoring in each of his six appearances.

Senegal and a yet-to-be-determined qualifier from Bolivia, Iraq, and Suriname face the unenviable task of trying to hinder Haaland’s and Mbappe’s pursuits of the World Cup Golden Boot. Expect defenders to attempt to turn their duels with the free-scoring forwards into gritty, physical affairs. One notable center-back potentially tasked with marking Haaland and Mbappe is former Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly, who will turn 35 during the group stage and now plays for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal.

Winner – Argentina

Lionel Messi’s Argentina received a gift in Friday’s draw. Though the team should easily brush aside Austria, Algeria, and Jordan, head coach Lionel Scaloni will undoubtedly use La Albiceleste’s 2-1 reverse to Saudi Arabia in 2022 – one of the most surprising results in World Cup history – as a warning to his star-studded team.

Of course, Argentina followed that Saudi shock with a victorious run at the World Cup, beating France on penalties in the final after a 3-3 thriller.

Scaloni’s side impressively breezed through South America’s notoriously tricky World Cup qualifiers, outscoring all of its rivals as it finished with a nine-point cushion in first place. Argentina celebrated a resounding 4-1 win over its great rival, Brazil, on the same day it secured World Cup qualification in March.

Losers – England and Croatia

Panama and Ghana are ranked 30th and 72nd in FIFA’s rankings. Croatia and England must’ve had no issues being drawn alongside that pair in Group L – but facing one another is a different matter entirely.

England and Croatia locking horns on the first day of Group L means there’s no time to mull over last-minute selection decisions or tactical fine-tuning. Any lingering questions will need to be resolved before facing such high-quality opposition; otherwise, flaws will inevitably be exposed, and the pressure will skyrocket before the other group games. That means England boss Thomas Tuchel has only four friendlies to solve numerous conundrums, including determining who will start in his four-man defense and whether there’s room for either or both of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden in his lineup.

The Three Lions should enter this demanding group opener with the greatest trepidation. England has lost six of its last eight World Cup matches against fellow European nations, including its eliminations by Croatia in 2018 and France in 2022.

Winner – Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is on course to play at a record sixth World Cup, but he’s also got an opportunity to rid himself of some painful memories from the last tournament.

Manchester United released Ronaldo from his contract two days before Portugal’s opener at Qatar 2022 after his relationship with the club deteriorated. Ronaldo subsequently scored a penalty in a thrilling 3-2 win over Ghana, but his contributions to the team were soon questioned over the next two matches. He was quiet in a scrappy victory over Uruguay, and his underwhelming performance against South Korea was further marred when the ball deflected off his back, teeing up Kim Young-gwon for the equalizer in a disappointing 2-1 defeat for Portugal.

Fernando Santos bravely dropped Ronaldo for the knockout rounds, preferring greater mobility from Goncalo Ramos up front. The move paid off immediately, with Ramos scoring a hat-trick in a 6-1 thumping over Switzerland in the last 16. Portugal brought Ronaldo on as a substitute in the 50th minute in the quarterfinal, but he could muster only a single shot and 11 touches of the ball as Morocco eliminated the team in a 1-0 loss.

Unlike his predecessor, Roberto Martinez doesn’t seem inclined to drop Ronaldo, giving the legendary forward a chance at redemption in North America. Turning 41 at the tournament, Ronaldo could add to his tally of eight World Cup goals and secure Portugal’s passage into the knockout rounds through Group K clashes with Colombia, Uzbekistan, and one playoff team from DR Congo, Jamaica, or New Caledonia.

Loser – Gianni Infantino

Gianni Infantino clearly believes he’s a showman. If you can somehow cloud out the shadier elements of his FIFA reign, there can be some cheap entertainment found in his antics at high-profile events.

The FIFA president’s stilted attempt at a comedy routine with Rio Ferdinand, who struggled greatly in a presenter role at the Kennedy Center, inadvertently provided a level of cringe-humor befitting of the British version of “The Office.” Infantino seemed to appear onstage every few minutes to produce another grandiose yet ultimately empty speech, all while wearing a wide, self-satisfied grin. When he engineered a selfie with Donald Trump, Claudia Sheinbaum, and Mark Carney – the respective leaders of the United States, Mexico, and Canada – during the overblown ceremony, the voiceover of the BBC’s coverage, Jonathan Pearce, almost sounded impressed as he remarked on the extent of Infantino’s shamelessness.

Winners – Nostalgia lovers

Any writers fond of producing retrospective features won’t be short of stories to explore ahead of the World Cup.

France’s opening fixture is against Senegal, a matchup that likely evokes painful memories for many French fans of the 2002 World Cup – a campaign plagued by infighting and wretched performances. That tournament opened with the reigning 1998 champions losing to Senegal and ultimately finishing at the bottom of its group.

The 2026 World Cup opener will see Mexico take on South Africa, a repeat of the first match of the 2010 edition. In Group C, Scotland will face Brazil and Morocco – two of the three teams it faced during its last World Cup appearance in 1998.

Loser – Scotland

Speaking of which, Group C is underwhelming and problematic for Scotland. Many fans would’ve wanted some variety to celebrate their country’s overdue return to sports’ greatest stage, but they got Brazil and Morocco again. Not only does the pair remind Scottish supporters of the team’s failings in 1998, it sets up games against the most successful squad in World Cup history – managed by Carlo Ancelotti, the most successful coach in Champions League history – and an emerging force in Morocco, which reached the 2022 World Cup semifinals and remains unbeaten in its last 20 outings, with 19 wins and one draw.

At least Haiti, ranked 84th in the world and making its first appearance at the tournament since 1974, offers Scotland a chance to win its first World Cup match in 36 years.

Winner – Variety in Groups E and H

One of the most unique selling points of World Cups is the unfamiliar culture clashes, and Germany and Spain will enjoy some variety when they compete in North America.

In Group E, Germany will face Curacao for the first time, the Ivory Coast for the second time following a 2009 friendly in Gelsenkirchen, and Ecuador for the third time after their meetings at the 2006 World Cup and in a 2013 friendly.

Spain and Uruguay will share some familiarity due to the La Liga-based players in the South American nation’s squad, but the pair’s Group H scuffle will be just their third World Cup meeting. Spain will also have its second World Cup match against Saudi Arabia and its first against Cape Verde.

Bonus winner – Andrea Bocelli

It’s hard to imagine an instance where Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli wouldn’t upstage any performer that followed him – but this event was especially easy in that regard. Opening the draw coverage by singing the iconic “Nessun Dorma,” Bocelli sang a bona fide soccer anthem – evoking memories of the 1990 World Cup and Leicester City’s Premier League title win. At 67, Bocelli left no doubt that he’s still one of the finest performers on the globe.

And after the Michelin star dish of Bocelli, FIFA ladled out some sugary, sloppy servings. Robbie Williams, showbiz’s equivalent of lumpy custard, teamed up with Nicole Scherzinger – remember her? – to sing the forgettable official World Cup song. Lauryn Hill plated up tinny, tatty versions of some of her old tunes. Once the draw was over, the Village People performed “Y.M.C.A.” President Donald Trump adopted the sickly-sweet 1978 pop song for his re-election campaign rallies.

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