👀 Who goes through? What to expect from World Cup Groups I and J | OneFootball

Our World Cup group preview this Sunday (7) includes the two national teams that reached the final in 2022.

France, the runner-up four years ago, will face tough matchups in its group.

Argentina wants to show it can go far again with largely the same core that won the title in Qatar.

Each of them has a major star who ranks among the top scorers in World Cup history.

Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi are just a few goals away from matching the current record holder, Miroslav Klose, and could have their own personal battle for that mark throughout the tournament.

Groups A and B Preview

Groups C and D Preview

Groups E and F Preview

Groups G and H Preview

Will France and Argentina make it to the final again? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Check out the details of Groups J and I below:

Group J

🇫🇷 France

🇸🇳 Senegal

🇮🇶 Iraq

🇳🇴 Norway

Match schedule

June 16, Tuesday, 4pm - France vs Senegal

June 16, Tuesday, 7pm - Iraq vs Norway

June 22, Monday, 6pm - France vs Iraq

June 22, Monday, 9pm - Norway vs Senegal

June 26, Friday, 4pm - Norway vs France

June 26, Friday, 4pm - Senegal vs Iraq

🇫🇷 France

Coming off two straight finals and with attacking options any country would envy, France arrives as one of the favorites for the title.

Kylian Mbappé is the biggest star, but he is joined by other players who can be decisive in attack, including current Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé.

The win over Brazil in March, even while playing with one man down for much of the match, was an important show of strength.

🇸🇳 Senegal

The team is coming off a strong result at the continental level. On the pitch, it won the Africa Cup of Nations final, played against Morocco in January.

The title was later taken away in court, but that ruling does not change Senegal’s status as a team capable of competing at a high level even against favored sides, even with Sadio Mané no longer at his peak.

Senegal’s first World Cup match in history came in 2002, and the country shocked the football world by beating then-champion France. Fourteen years later, the two teams will meet again at a World Cup.

🇮🇶 Iraq

Iraq qualified through the intercontinental playoffs and will take part in a World Cup for the first time since 1986.

The achievement was widely celebrated, but the team heads into the tournament as an underdog, especially because of its opponents in this group stage.

The 1-1 draw against Spain in the second-to-last friendly before the World Cup could give the team a boost, even if the opponent played with many absences.

🇳🇴 Norway

Norway showed its strength in the European playoffs, beating Italy convincingly twice and sending the four-time world champions down the path that kept them out of yet another World Cup.

The team is led by a generation of excellent players who are key figures at top clubs in Europe.

Martin Ødegaard and especially Erling Haaland are responsible for much of Norway’s hopes for a strong showing.

Group I

🇦🇷 Argentina

🇩🇿 Algeria

🇦🇹 Austria

🇯🇴 Jordan

Match schedule

June 16, Tuesday, 10pm - Argentina vs Algeria

June 17, Wednesday, 1am - Austria vs Jordan (overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday)

June 22, Monday, 2pm - Argentina vs Austria

June 23, Tuesday, 12am - Jordan vs Algeria (overnight from Monday to Tuesday)

June 27, Saturday, 11pm - Algeria vs Austria

June 27, Saturday, 11pm - Jordan vs Argentina

🇦🇷 Argentina

Lionel Messi was already a veteran when he won the World Cup in Qatar and, at 38 years old, remains a central piece of the Argentine team in 2026.

Other teams have not lasted long in recent World Cup history when defending the title with the same core that won it four years earlier. Italy in 2010, Spain in 2014, and Germany in 2018 all went out in the group stage, for example. 

After winning the 2024 Copa América and dominating the South American World Cup qualifiers, Argentina wants to show it is the exception to that "rule."

🇩🇿 Algeria

The African side has several players with experience in Europe’s top leagues. The biggest name among them is Riyad Mahrez, now 35 years old.

He did not get the chance to represent Algeria at a World Cup during his best years at Leicester and Manchester City. After all, the country has not played in the tournament since 2014.

Now in the final stretch of his career and playing in Saudi Arabia, he hopes to help the team reach the knockout stage, as it did 12 years ago in Brazil.

🇦🇹 Austria

The Austrian team drew attention at the last Euros by topping a group that also included France and the Netherlands.

The side was eliminated by Turkey in the round of 16, but hopes the collective strength shown in its best moments under Ralf Rangnick will appear again.

But the coach will have to deal with the absence of one of his main players, midfielder Christoph Baumgartner, who was injured and left out of the squad.

🇯🇴 Jordan

It will be the country’s first appearance at a World Cup.

In 2024, Jordan reached the Asian Cup final, knocking out South Korea in the knockout stage before losing to Qatar in the final.

The team hopes to surprise at this year’s World Cup as well and, who knows, make it past the group stage

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

📸 Alex Pantling - 2022 Getty Images