👀 Who goes through? Group A and B previews for Copa 2026

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·4 Juni 2026

👀 Who goes through? Group A and B previews for Copa 2026

It’s almost time for the ball to start rolling at the 2026 World Cup.

And OneFootball is starting to highlight the details of each of the 12 groups in the biggest World Cup in history, featuring 48 national teams.

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The top two teams from each group will advance to the preliminary round of 32, along with the eight best third-placed teams.

See below how the representatives of Groups A and B are shaping up and have your say: who should qualify?

🏆 Group A

🇲🇽 Mexico

🇿🇦 South Africa

🇰🇷 South Korea

🇨🇿 Czechia

Match Schedule:

June 11 - 4pm - Mexico vs South Africa

June 11 - 11pm - South Korea vs Czechia

June 18 - 2pm - Czechia vs South Africa

June 19 - 12am - Mexico vs South Korea

June 24 - TBD: Mexico vs Czechia / South Africa vs South Korea

Mexico will make its 18th World Cup appearance. It has played in every World Cup since 1994.

It reached the quarter-finals in 1970 and then again in 1986. Exactly the two editions it hosted. That is its great "trump card."

The squad called up by Javier Aguirre features ten players who have already passed 50 appearances for El Tri.

Ochoa is heading to his sixth World Cup - tying the record with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The attack features another veteran: Raúl Jiménez, the national team’s third-highest scorer with 44 goals.

📸 Daniel Bartel - 2026 Getty Images

South Africa will be Mexico’s opponent in the opening match - repeating what happened in 2010, when it hosted the World Cup.

It will play in only its fourth World Cup after 1998, 2002 and the aforementioned edition won by Spain.

The place came thanks to winning its tightly contested qualifying group - finishing ahead of Nigeria.

The big mission is to reach the knockout stage for the first time.

Ten of the 26 called-up players play for clubs in the country. The rebuild has been significant, as only three have more than 50 caps.

Those are Mokoena, Ronwen Williams and Themba Zwane.

📸 KHALED DESOUKI - AFP or licensors

South Korea will play in its 11th straight World Cup - all since 1986. Its debut came in 1954.

Qualification came comfortably with an unbeaten campaign in the qualifiers.

Its greatest moment came in 2002, when it co-hosted with Japan and reached the semi-finals.

📸 Christian Bruna - 2026 Getty Images

It is banking on the strength of a squad full of experienced players and led by Son Heung-min, formerly of Tottenham and now at Los Angeles FC, Kim Min-jae (Bayern), Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves).

Czechia, meanwhile, will play in only its second World Cup as an independent nation after making its debut in 2006.

Including its record as Czechoslovakia (eight appearances), its best campaigns were the runners-up finishes in 1934 and 1962 to Italy and Brazil, respectively.

After seeing Croatia dominate the group, it had to get past Ireland and Denmark in the European playoffs.

Domestic football contributed 17 players. Including veteran Darida, 35, who plays for Hradec Králové after a long spell in Germany.

The main standouts play abroad: Coufal and Hložek (Hoffenheim), Soucek (West Ham) and Schick (Leverkusen).

📸 MICHAL CIZEK - AFP or licensors

🏆 Group B

🇨🇦 Canada

🇨🇭 Switzerland

🇶🇦 Qatar

🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina

Match Schedule:

June 12 - 4pm - Canada vs Bosnia

June 13 - 4pm - Qatar vs Switzerland

June 18 - 4pm - Switzerland vs Bosnia

June 18 - 7pm - Canada vs Qatar

June 24 - TBD: Switzerland vs Canada and Bosnia vs Qatar

Canada is heading to only the third World Cup in its history after the 1986 and 2022 editions.

And it has at least one mission as a host nation: to win a match, since it has six defeats from six games played.

📸 Vaughn Ridley - 2026 Getty Images

Two of its main stars did not have the season they expected and arrive under pressure. Such is the case with Alphonso Davies, who struggled with injuries at Bayern, and Jonathan David, who scored only nine goals for Juventus in 25/26.

Switzerland is heading to its 13th World Cup after topping its qualifying group.

Its goal is at least to improve on its most recent campaigns, which ended in the round of 16.

Its best performances came in the 1934, 1938 and 1954 editions, when it went out in the quarter-finals under a different competition format.

There is no shortage of experience in the called-up squad. Xhaka and Ricardo Rodriguez hold the appearance records in the history of the national team - 145 and 137, respectively.

📸 Sona Maleterova - 2026 Getty Images

After hosting the last World Cup, Qatar earned its first qualification for a World Cup with plenty of drama.

It finished fourth in its group and then advanced by beating the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Only defender Homam Ahmed does not play in the country, as he turns out for Spain’s Cultural Leonesa.

Akram Afif (pictured) is Qatar’s great hope alongside No. 10 Hassan Al-Haydos and goalscorer Almoez Ali.

📸 KARIM JAAFAR - AFP or licensors

Bosnia and Herzegovina was Italy’s great villain in the playoffs, leaving the Azzurra out of its third straight World Cup.

It will be its second World Cup (it played in 2014) after ceasing to be part of Yugoslavia.

Yugoslavia played in eight World Cups before 1992. It reached the semi-finals in 1930 and finished fourth in 1962.

It also gave rise to five other countries: Serbia, Montenegro (which were a single nation between 2003 and 2006), Croatia, Macedonia (now North Macedonia) and Slovenia. The sequence then saw Kosovo become independent from Serbia in 2008.

Bosnia’s main reference point is Edin Dzeko. He is its all-time leader in appearances (148) and goals (73).