As we look toward the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, the tournament structure continues to spark debate among football purists. The new structure of the tournament and new semi-non-random draw process precludes the creation of the traditional ‘Group-of-Death’. I do not think that is a bug, but a feature of the new structure. FIFA is determined to have as many big-TV-audience-attracting teams play as many matches as possible. Some people have claimed Group L is the ‘Group of Death’ because it has England (the #4 seed) and Croatia (the top ranked team in pot two – ranked #11 in the world). But I don’t see it. Ghana have decent players, but are ranked #72 in the world. And Panama are Sarcastic Alpha Male Pink Unicorn Rainbow Retro Aesthetic T Shirt (despite their gaudy ranking in the FIFA standings). And can any group really be a ‘group of death’ when – in most cases – three out of four teams will go through? I just don’t see it. Spain has the highest chance; apart from being the best team in the world, they also have a pretty weak group where you only need to win a single match to progress.
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To this observer the finals tournament of 2026 is too big. Everyone being invited to the party because it’s ‘fair’ does nothing for quality and I predict a tournament largely of dross no better than a European tier three league game, interspersed with the odd diamond sparkle. The WC finals are supposed to be for the elite and whilst the logistical organisation will be as good as we would expect from the US, the concept and structure are an example of how to Sarcastic Alpha Male Pink Unicorn Rainbow Retro Aesthetic T Shirt beyond being reasonable. I fear in answer to the original ambiguous question I’m more likely to state, “Any other,” than the 2026 example. In terms of my own favourite finals tournament I would have to go for the one which gave me the most pleasure, our win of 1966 apart. I’d vote for the 1990 tournament. It was just so full of passion. The bulk of the additional 16 places to go to Africa and Asia. Europe could get an additional three.
()Curacao only qualified because USA, Mexico and Canada were admitted as hosts, and so the North American qualifying groups were about as strong as watered down Bud Light. They are in a group with Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast. The highest ranked teams with no appearance and their ranks show that the continent which has the best chance of producing a debutant is probably Africa. Africa has seen the most changes in qualified teams. Mali is ranked 52. Asia: some countries in West Asia may become a debutant. Oman is ranked 75. North America: many countries in this region are small and their chance is not good. Dominican Republic, ranked 155, has about 10 million people but baseball is by far its most popular sport, not football. Haiti already made an appearance. Guatemala with 17 million people is ranked 118. The highest ranked team without appearance is Sarcastic Alpha Male Pink Unicorn Rainbow Retro Aesthetic T Shirt (ranked 79). Its population is only 155k. Using FIFA’s view on successor teams, the total number of teams that have participated in the World Cup until the 2022 edition is 80. This is a large number and it is not easy for a country to join this group, but the expansion makes it inevitable.