By Cameron Moore (8th)

It’s crazy to believe that another World Cup is upon us. Not to mention, it’s right here on our home soil. With one of, if not the biggest events in sports right on our doorstep, I wanted to look into the details, the groups, and maybe even some predictions.

New for 2026

One of the biggest changes for this year’s addition is its expansion; the World Cup has grown from 32 to 48 teams! We’ll get into all of the teams in a minute.

Also, this World Cup is the first one in history to be jointly hosted by three countries, and the first one to be co-hosted at all since Japan and South Korea hosted the tournament in 2002.

Format

With the size of the tournament growing by 16, there is obviously a new format, as well as a modified qualifying into the tournament. Here’s who gets in (grouped by confederation)

• Asian Football Confederation (AFC): 8
• Confederation of African Football (CAF): 9
• Concacaf: US, Canada, and Mexico auto-qualify, plus 3 additional spots
• CONMEBOL: 6
• Oceania Football Confederation (OFC): 1
• Union of European Football Associations (UEFA): 16
• Inter-continental play-off, 6 teams competing for 2 spots
  • 2 Concacaf
  • 1 AFC
  • 1 CAF
  • 1 CONMEBOL
  • 1 OFC

Now, how does the tournament format work? With 16 more teams, it is a bit more complicated than in years past, but here are the basics:

• 12 groups of 4 teams each
• 1st and 2nd in each group advance to the knockout stage
• 8/16 3rd place teams also qualify for the knockout stage

Teams

Here are the teams, sorted by their groups:

• Group A
  • Mexico
  • South Africa
  • S. Korea 
  • Czechia
• Group B
  • Canada
  • Bosnia & Herzegovina
  • Qatar
  • Switzerland
• Group C
  • Brazil
  • Morocco
  • Haiti
  • Scotland
• Group D
  • USA
  • Paraguay
  • Australia
  • Türkiye
• Group E
  • Germany
  • Curaçao
  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Ecuador
• Group F
  • Netherlands
  • Japan
  • Sweden
  • Tunisia
• Group G
  • Belgium
  • Egypt
  • Iran (still questionable)
  • New Zealand
• Group H
  • Spain
  • Cabo Verde
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Uruguay
• Group I
  • France
  • Senegal
  • Iraq
  • Norway
• Group J
  • Argentina
  • Algeria
  • Austria
  • Jordan
• Group K
  • Portugal
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Uzbekistan
  • Colombia
• Group L
  • England
  • Croatia
  • Ghana
  • Panama

Out of all of these groups, the group of death, or hardest group, is probably group I. France were finalists last time around, Senegal is a very solid side, and Norway has 

been very hot lately. Personally, I think that the new format could cause some chaos. With a lot more teams in the group and knockout stages, there could be some surprising results.

Where to Watch

The World Cup is being broadcast in the United States, on these networks:

• English: FOX, FS1
• Español: Telemundo, NBC Universo
• Streaming: Peacock

When to Watch Team USA

Team USA is playing three group stage matches, all of them on the FOX network:

• Friday June 12, 9 PM vs Paraguay
• Friday June 19, 3 PM vs Australia
• Thursday June 25, 10 PM vs Türkiye

Matches in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is hosting six world cup matches, including a special match on July 4 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in our own city.

• Sunday June 14, 7 PM: Côte d’Ivoire vs Ecuador
• Friday June 19, 8:30 PM: Brazil vs Haiti
• Monday June 22, 5 PM: France vs Iraq
• Thursday June 25, 4 PM: Curaçao vs Côte d’Ivoire
• Saturday June 27, 5 PM: Croatia vs Ghana
• Saturday July 4, 5 PM: Round of 16: Matchup TBD
  • 2nd, Group A or 2nd, Group B vs 1st, Group F or 2nd, Group C

So, that does it for my grand preview of the biggest tournament of the beautiful game, being hosted on our own turf. Whether you are going to a match (lucky you!) or not, I hope you’re as excited as I am. So, here’s to another World Cup, let’s go, USA (or whatever country you’re from), and enjoy the tournament.