England’s best and worst-case groups ahead of 2026 World Cup draw | OneFootball

England will discover their opponents for the group stage of the 2026 World Cup on Friday.

The draw for next summer’s tournament takes place on December 5th, with the Three Lions awaiting their group-stage opposition.

Thomas Tuchel’s side are seeded for the draw and will head to the tournament as one of the favourites, after a perfect qualification campaign. Seeded fourth, England cannot face fellow favourites Spain, Argentina or France until the semi-finals.

Ahead of Friday’s draw, we’ve looked at the best and worst-case groups that England could draw.

Best-case scenario: Australia, Panama, New Caledonia

A dream draw for England would represent something like this. Australia represent arguably the weakest of the Pot Two teams and lack the top-tier quality of past tournaments. England have lost just once in eight previous meetings with the Socceroos.

Panama, despite climbing the FIFA rankings of late, remain minnows on this stage. The Central American nation have qualified for just one previous World Cup, in 2018, and exited the group stage after three straight defeats. That included a 6-1 thrashing by England, with Harry Kane scoring a hat-trick.

New Caledonia could still qualify via the inter-confederation play-offs. The Island nation’s population of around 270,000 is equivalent to English cities Brighton and Derby.

Worst-case scenario: Colombia, Ivory Coast, Italy

England’s worst-case scenario could see clashes against Colombia, Ivory Coast and Italy, pitting the Three Lions with big-name nations from CONEBOL, CAF and UEFA.

Only Argentina and Ecuador won more points in South America’s qualification phase than Colombia, who beat world champions Argentina and Brazil. La Tricolor also boast one of Europe’s most in-form players this season in Bayern Munich winger Luis Diaz.

Ivory Coast are Africa’s current continental champions and will look to defend their AFCON title later this month. A clutch of Premier League players, including Amad Diallo, Emmanuel Agbadou, Ibahim Sangare and Evann Guessand form their core.

Italy, meanwhile, could be the headline team in Pot Four. The Azzurri are in the UEFA play-offs, as they look to avoid missing a third consecutive World Cup. The Italians might not be the force of old but the four-time world champions would be the most dangerous team among the fourth seeds, by a distance.

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See more – A brilliant XI of top players who will miss the 2026 World Cup

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