World Cup 2026: Group I Preview

Kylian Mbappé has been plenty brilliant at the club level, but it's when the World Cup rolls around that he's at his most brilliant. The scariest part for French opponents? He may not even be their best forward any more. Is there anyone that will be able to stop this multi-pronged France attack?

France 🇫🇷

FIFA Rank: 3rd

Qualified as: UEFA Group D winners

The Skinny

France is synonymous with the game of football now, but if you told someone that had been in a coma since before 2016 just how much Les Bleus had started to dominate the sport, they probably wouldn’t believe you. After all, apart from reaching a penalty shootout in the the 2006 World Cup Final in the Zidane/Henry/Thuram era’s “last dance,” the French hadn't exactly set the world on fire in the new century after their inaugural World Cup title in '98. Embarrassing group stage crashouts in the 2002 and 2010 World Cup plus the 2008 Euros were interspersed with quarterfinal exits at the '04 and '12 Euros, plus the '14 World Cup, but they never really looked like they were going to win those. The 2016 Euros on home soil marked a turning point; yes, Les Bleus came up just short of glory, losing the Final in extra time. However, that tournament broke in a new generation of French talent and showed them what it takes to win at the highest level. Two years after that, France won their second World Cup, dominating the competition in Russia, and proceeded to take over the sport with their talent pool. The 2021 Nations League has been France's only trophy since that World Cup triumph, but they've come achingly close, losing to eventual champions Spain in the semis of the last Euro Cup, and of course, coming within a penalty shootout with Argentina (or really, within an outstretched leg of Emiliano Martínez) of repeating as World Cup champions in 2022. They won't hurt for motivation, in other words. And for a team without the “aging squad” concerns of Argentina, lack of track record concerns of Spain, or the history of coming up short of England, France are not a bad pick at all to win again.

The Best XI

If there's a concern for this France side, it's in the midfield, where the cupboard is suddenly bare after years of that being a strength. N'Golo Kante is in the team still, but is in the closing days of his career, shortly, so I expect the onus in the middle of the park will be on breakthrough PSG player Warren Zaïre-Emery and Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouaméni. Everywhere else besides the midfield, though, France have an abundance of options. In defense, Ibrahima Konaté had a difficult season with Liverpool and Premier League winner William Saliba (Arsenal) is recovering from injury, but one or both of them should still form fearsome CB tandem with Bayern Munich's Upamecano. And regardless of the center-backs' health, any defense flanked by Lucas Hernández (Paris Saint-Germain) and Jules Kounde (Barcelona) is in good hands.

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Senegal 🇸🇳

FIFA Rank: 15th

Qualified as: CAF Group B winners

The Skinny

Nearly 20 years separated Senegal’s first World Cup appearance, wherein they shocked the world by opening the tournament with a win over defending champs France and ultimately reaching the quarterfinals, and their next appearance. Yet, this summer will mark their now third consecutive World Cup appearance. Senegal are a tournament mainstay at this point, and more than that, they've wholly carved out a spot as the premier team in Africa over the last decade. The Lions of Teranga have played in 3 African Cup of Nations finals in that time, winning 2 of them (or 1 of them, depending on who you ask), earned 10 points and a Round of 16 berth from their last two World Cup showings, and enter this one ranked in the Top 15 in the world. Their biggest stars are aging, yes. They have been been dealt a tough draw, yes. The recent tune-up friendly loss to the US showed some possible shortcomings, yes. But this is a squad used to winning, with depth and quality at every position. That's all you can ask for.

The Best XI

They may be putzing around in the Saudi League now rather than starring at Liverpool, Napoli and Chelsea, but Sadio Mané, Kaidou Koulibaly and Eduoard Mendy are still the key names in this squad. Mané's brace in that recent friendly vs. the US shows the presence he can still be at the top of the pitch, but Senegal have plenty of attacking pieces to link up with him: Bayern loanee Nicholas Jackson, Crystal Palace star man Ismaila Sarr, and Everton man Illiman Ndiaye are all likely to start as well. Ndiaye's Everton teammate Idrissa Gueye will likely start in midfield alongside his twin (no relation, actually) Pape, of Villarreal. And Koulibaly's the old vet in the back line now, but in Galatasaray's Ismail Jakobs, Chelsea's Mamadou Sarr, and Monaco's Krépin Diatta, he'll have plenty of high-quality help.

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Iraq 🇮🇶

FIFA Rank: 56th

Qualified as: 3rd place in AFC Group B, 5th round runners-up,

def. United Arab Emirates and Bolivia in playoff

The Skinny

Iraq was the very last of the 48 teams to qualify for this historically large tournament, and unsurprisingly, they took a very mazy journey to get there. They missed out on the automatic qualification from group play by 1 point, and thus were forced to play a second mini-group stage with Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. They were able to hold group hosts Saudi Arabia to a draw, but finished behind them in goal differential, so the journey went on, as they had to defeat United Arab Emirates 3-2 on aggregate over two legs to claim Asia's final representation. But the work still wasn't done, as from there Iraq entered the "inter-confederation playoff," facing Bolivia in a one-off back in March for what, at time of kickoff was, the final open slot of the 48. Winning that one 2-1 in Monterrey, the Lions of Mesopotamia were finally in the World Cup. It was a wild journey that higlights some of the inconsistencies in difficulty level qualifying for these games, but I'm sure it was all worth it for Iraq to qualify for their first World Cup in 40 years, and just their second ever. This is a nation with a richer football history than you might expect: their youth team frequently qualifies for the Summer Olympics, and they finished 3rd place at the 2015 U-20 World Cup. Furthermore, they've found lots lots of Asian Cup success, having reached the knockout stages in each of the last 5 tournaments, and winning the whole damn thing back in 2007. They will be the longest of long shots in this group, in part because of their own perceived quality, but more so because they have perhaps the hardest three-match draw of anyone at this tournament. But Iraq simply being part of this World Cup is already a huge testament to their resilience, resilience that will come in handy if they are to pull off a shock qualification

The Best XI

The majority of this squad is based at home in Iraq or at least spread out across nearby Middle Eastern countries, but the few European-based players in the team will likely be called upon to shoulder more of the pressure. Foremost among them is Ipswich Town's Ali Al-Hamadi, who will likely be joined by Youssef Amyn (AEK Larnaca) and Marko Farji (Venezia) in attack. Former Manchester United player Zidane Iqbal and Vikotria Plzen defender Merchas Doski provide some additional European-based expertise in the backfield.

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Norway 🇳🇴

FIFA Rank: 31st

Qualified as: UEFA Group I winner

The Skinny

Norway is marking their first appearance in the World Cup in the 21st century, and just their fourth major tournament appearance ever, with two World Cups prior and just a solitary Euros appearance in 2000.

For a nation more known for their women’s soccer success, and their Winter Olympics prowess, they are commanding a remarkable amount of buzz coming into this tournament, one of the most popular “dark horse” contender bets outside the group of traditional favorites. Is it all smoke and mirrors? A ploy by Vegas to get people on juicy betting lines? Not at all. The Røde, Hvite, Blå ("red, white, and blue") are reaping the benefits of a golden generation that first put the world on notice at the 2019 U-20 World Cup. The Scandinavians boast some of the best players in football, playing at some of the best teams in the world, and unlike some “paper tiger” national teams, they have the results to match: Norway absolutely obliterated their qualifying group with 8 wins out of 8, including a sweep of favorites Italy. A 2-1 loss in Amsterdam to the Netherlands in a March friendly is their sole defeat in the last two years. They may be unheralded and unproven, but they have the profile of a “red-hot 3-seed no team wants to see in their bracket in March Madness”

The Best XI

The fact that at least one of Atlético Madrid's Alexander Sørloth or Crystal Palace's Jørgen Strand Larsen probably won't start is a luxury not many teams in the world have. I suppose it's possible manager Ståle Solbakken plays 3 traditional strikers, but I think it's far more likely just one of them will play in tandem with Erling Haaland, probably the best striker in the world. Haaland's former Manchester City teammate Oscar Bobb will be a boon in attack, and could spearhead a midfield that includes his current Fulham teammate Sander Berge, Benfica's Frederik Aursnes, and captain and Arsenal standout Martin Ødegaard. It's widely accepted that Norway's weakness is in defense, but I think many teams would kill to have a "weakness" that still includes starters at Genoa, Brentford and Borussia Dortmund, as Norway's does.

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Group Schedule (all times ET)

6/16, 3 PM: France v Senegal (New York City)

6/16, 6 PM: Iraq v Norway (Boston)

6/22, 5 PM: France v Iraq (Philadelphia)

6/22, 8 PM: Norway v Senegal (New York City)

6/26, 3 PM: Norway v France (Boston) / Senegal v Iran (Toronto)

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Group Prediction

Iraq are clearly the odd men out in this group, but the fight for positions 1-3 will be fascinating to watch. Both Norway and Senegal are capable of beating France on their day, but I don't think either will; no, instead I think France might follow a similar route in almost all of their World Cups of late: have the group essentially wrapped up after the first two games, and then play out a draw against the toughest opponent in the group (this time Norway) in the final match of the group. That result, plus Norway's high-scoring ability (a boon for goal differential!) make me think they'll pip Senegal for 2nd place, even if the two of them draw against each other.