Three days and counting and the World Cup 2026 excitement is reaching fever pitch. Over here in the UK we’ve been watching the full colour, the entire 120 minutes of England’s World Cup victory of 1966, dreaming of a return to those halcyon days this year.
Our relationship with Germany has always been intense, 30 years after that 4-2 win over the old enemy at Wembley, the Three Lions lost an agonising penalty shootout to Germany in the 1996 European Championships semi-final, and that just six years after suffering the same fate at the 1990 World Cup finals. So, over here in England I do admit there has been a certain amount of Schadenfreude in recent World Cups.
The 2014 champions were dumped out of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups at the group stage, losing to Mexico and South Korea in 2018, and a shock defeat to Japan saw Germany make a rapid exit from the Qatar World Cup.
This time around Julian Nagelsmann’s men are drawn in Group E alongside Ecuador, Cote d’Ivoire and Curacao and, while it is not the easiest of groups, Ecuador finished second in the CONMEBOL qualifiers, ahead of Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil, I do see Germany avoiding another early exit. Ecuador will provide a test, as will the Cote d’Ivoire who have some useful strikers in their ranks, Manchester United’s Amad Diallo and RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande among them. Germany will need to slip up twice and when they meet the minnows of Curacao on 14th June they will be on a nine-match winning run.
In my SBOTOP review of some managers to watch at the World Cup I picked out Nagelsmann’s Germany as a team which can reach the semi-finals, so there will be no fun for mischievous England fans this time around.
So, which of the biggest nations are in danger of a giant killing?
Stars and Stripes might feel the pressure
Hosts USA are drawn in Group D, along with Paraguay, Australia and Turkey, and the nation expects the Stars and Stripes to have a successful competition on home soil. Managed by Mauricio Pochettino and captained by Christian Pulisic, the USA will have fans cheering them on everywhere they go and it will be a huge disappointment if they fail to make the Round of 32. But the hosts don’t have an easy game in this group.
Ranked 17th in the world the USA are five places above Turkey, a team with real menace, captained by Inter Milan star Hakan Calhanoglu and with Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz in their attacking group. Australia, ranked 27th, have drawn their final warm up game against a tough Switzerland side and then there is Paraguay. Los Guaranies are the lowest ranked team in the group at 40th but they finished level with Brazil in the South American qualifiers, and this will not be a comfortable opener for Mauricio Pochettino’s men. If the USA fails to beat Paraguay, then the pressure will be huge.
Elsewhere Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands are in a highly competitive Group F, alongside Japan, Sweden and Tunisia. According to the latest World Cup 2026 betting odds the Oranje are one of the teams likely to go deep into the competition, but there is some peril in this group. Japan carry the hopes of Asia and have some superb players in their ranks, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Ritsu Doan among them, while Sweden have an attack featuring Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres alongside Liverpool’s Alexander Isak; and Tunisia is no pushover.
But how about a shock which would prompt hysteria in the World Cup 2026 news columns?
Bear with me here, but I have a sneaky feeling France won’t have it all their own way in Group I. Champions in 2018 and beaten finalists in 2022, Les Bleus are the second favourites to win the 2026 World Cup. Didier Deschamps’ men are many pundits’ tips for glory, and I too have them as potential winners, but in a group alongside Senegal, Norway and Iraq I can see some jitters.
Who wouldn’t be worried when they are due to face Norway’s Erling Haaland? France have some of the best defenders in world football but Arsenal’s William Saliba knows just how devastating a striker Haaland can be. And with former Liverpool star Sadio Mane spearheading the Senegal attack there is danger there too.
Les Bleus lost a warm-up against Cote d’Ivoire last week with a team containing Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise, Rayan Cherki, Mike Maignan, Jules Kounde and Adrien Rabiot. The France camp have played down the defeat, but it wasn’t ideal and now they need to hit the ground running when they meet Senegal on the 16th.
After two final appearances, do I think France will fall early in 2026? No…but it is not entirely out of the question and imagine the shockwaves if Les Bleus became the new Germany!
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
