Canada’s Group B full of exciting storylines

Apologies to Wales, Northern Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but how cool would it be to have the Canadian men’s national team open a home World Cup against Italy in Toronto? (It wasn’t really a question. The only answer is “super cool.”)

Toronto’s Little Italy, and those throughout the country, would lend the occasion a dynamism both authentic and histrionic. Recall, if you can, the scenes in many Canadian cities when the four-time champs played World Cup finals in 1994 and 2006. Now, add in the home team and you’ve got something pretty special.

They’d never admit it, but Canada head coach Jesse Marsch and his players could well be wanting the matchup, too. Aside from what would be a magnificent occasion, they’d fancy their chances against an Italian outfit on its third manager in 27 months and coming off a 4-1 loss to Norway.

In any event, even if Canada could take a point off Italy or another of their possible opponents for June 12 at BMO Field, they’d be set up nicely for their follow-up game against Qatar in Vancouver. Assuming they win that one (and they’ve no business being in the knockout rounds if they don’t), they’d already have progression sealed by the time they face Switzerland on June 24.

The Swiss are far and away the best team to be drawn into Group B of the 2026 World Cup. They went the whole of 2025 unbeaten, finished atop their qualifying section and beat Mexico 4-2 and the United States 4-0 in a four-day span last spring.

Unfortunately, Canada won’t know their full schedule until March 31, when either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina will face one of Northern Ireland and Italy in a winner-goes-to-Toronto showdown.

Other unknowns

An increase in size from 32 to 48 teams has forced the World Cup’s qualification phase to extend by several months. As a result, only half of the competition’s 12 groups were filled out during Friday’s draw in Washington, D.C. The rest will be finalized in early spring.

In addition to Italy, regular World Cup and European Championship participants Sweden, Turkey and Denmark will have to contest play-in tournaments in March.

The two other TBD spots will be filled by either Jamaica, New Caledonia and DR Congo — with the winner entering Portugal’s group — and Bolivia, Suriname and Iraq, one of which will go into Group I with France.

Group of Death

Given the larger and subsequently watered-down field, the “Group of Death,” if it ever was a thing, is surely a thing no more. That said, if there’s a foursome fiercer than the rest, it’s likely in Group I — which, because of the expanded format, is still just a threesome.

France, World Cup winners in 1998 and 2018, and runners-up in 2022, remain a serious contender and will expect to advance at least as far as the semifinals. Their first match will be against Senegal, who famously beat Les Bleus in 2002. They were undefeated in qualifying and beat England 3-1 in a friendly last June.

But it’s Norway that make Group I interesting. Powered by Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, they blazed through qualifying and won nine of their 10 matches in 2025. The other was a draw. They’ll be a popular dark horse pick next summer.

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Rounding out the section will be one of Bolivia, Suriname and Iraq. Bolivia have triumphed over both Chile and Brazil in recent months and should probably be tipped to complete the group.

Fascinating matchups

France, as already pointed out, will play two of the most-anticipated matches of the Group Stage — against European rivals Norway and former colony Senegal. They’ll be fascinating matchups for very different reasons.

Over in Group H, European champions Spain will get their toughest test on June 26 against Uruguay. Barcelona phenom Lamine Yamal will be looking to elevate himself into generational status at this tournament, but he’ll be met with a tough Uruguay midfield that includes Manuel Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur and Giorgian de Arrascaeta.

Group L will showcase a 2018 semifinal rematch when England and Croatia go head to head on June 17. The Three Lions went a perfect 8-0-0 in qualifying, scoring 22 goals and conceding none. Croatia, meanwhile, are aging out but retain the core that took them to the 2018 final and 2022 bronze medal.

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