Ghana will clash with their colonial masters, England, in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup, while 2022 semifinalists, Morocco, has been pitted against record title holders, Brazil, by the draw held in Washington, U.S., yesterday.
Ghana will begin their campaign at next year’s World Cup with a game against first timers, Panama, in Group L, while England were presented a rematch of their 2018 semifinal defeat against Croatia in the same group.
Morocco, in Group C, also have Scotland and another first timer, Haiti, to contend with. Morocco’s first game is against Brazil, with Scotland facing Haiti in the group’s other opening game.
South Africa will face Mexico and South Korea, as well as any of Denmark/North Macedonia/ Czechia /Republic of Ireland in Group A. Next summer’s tournament, hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico, will be the first to feature 48 teams, with a round of 32 also introduced for the first time.
The draw was held at a glitzy, two-hour show in Washington DC, hosted by Fifa president Gianni Infantino and featuring special guests Donald Trump, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney.
With former England defender Rio Ferdinand overseeing proceedings, North American sporting legends Wayne Gretzky, Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal and Aaron Judge placed the teams into their 12 groups.
None of those teams will know until today the order they will face their opponents in, or the location or kick-off time for any match. FIFA will instead reveal the match schedule at 6.
Group B has Canada, any of Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/ Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as Qatar and Switzerland.
In Group D are U.S., Paraguay, Australia and one of Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo, while Group E comprises Cote d’Ivoire, Germany, Curacao and Ecuador.
In Group F are Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia and the playoff winner among Ukraine/Sweden /Poland/Albania, while Group G has Belgium, Egypt, Iran and one of the teams from the inter-confederation playoff featuring DR Congo/Jamaica/New Caledonia. This means that of DR Congo win the playoff, two African teams would be in the group.
In Group H are Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay; Group I has France, Senegal, Norway and any qualifier from among Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname.
The teams in Group J are defending champions, Argentina, Algeria, Austria and Jordan, with Group K comprising Portugal, New Zealand, Uzbekistan and Colombia.
England already knew before a single ball was drawn that they would benefit from a new Wimbledon-style seeding system introduced by FIFA, which will keep them apart from Spain and Argentina until the semis and from France until the final if all four countries win their respective groups.
Croatia are among the toughest opponents Ghana could have expected. They beat England to reach the final in 2018 before getting to the semifinals at the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
