The World Cup groups are drawn. Who's playing in Atlanta?
Everything you need to know as we get ready for the biggest event in soccer coming to North America.
After musical performances, multiple terrible skits and other pomp and circumstance for something that could’ve been an email, the groups are drawn and the stage for the 2026 World Cup is mostly set.
In Group D, the United States drew a very manageable set of opponents in Miguel Almiron’s Paraguay and Australia. The last opponent is yet to be determined, but Turkey is favored to win the final spot over Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo who compete in a four-team playoff.
But enough about that,
Who’s coming to Atlanta?
Venues are set to be drawn Saturday, Dec. 6 at noon ET (supposedly), but we now have an idea of what teams have the potential to be playing in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The possibilities in the group stage are as follows:
Group A
June 18: South Africa vs. (Czech Rep., Ireland, Denmark, N. Macedonia)
GROUP C
June 24: Scotland vs. Brazil OR Morrocco vs. Haiti
Group H
June 15: Spain vs. Cape Verde OR Saudi Arabia vs. Uruguay
June 21: Spain vs. Saudi Arabia OR Uruguay vs. Cape VerdeGroup K
June 27: Colombia vs. Portugal OR Uzbekistan vs. Congo/New Caledonia/Jamaica
All of the above venues will be split between Atlanta and Miami.
Of course, Atlanta is fortunate enough to have three games left to host in the knockout rounds, including a semifinal.
In the first knockout round (Round of 32), Atlanta will host the winner of Group L (England favorite) against a 3rd place team that is impossible to predict at this point.
In the Round of 16, Atlanta will host the J1/H2 winner (favored as an Argentina vs. Urguay matchup with Argentina advancing) vs. the winner of D2/G2 (USA/Paraguay vs. Egypt/Iran/New Zealand). Here we see the path of the United States playing in Atlanta: coming runner up in its group and then beating the Group G runner up. Five Stripe Final is assuming Belgium wins Group G, leaving the three teams listed as potential opponents. In this scenario, Argentina would be a likely opponent. USA vs. Messi in Atlanta in the World Cup knockouts? I suppose I’ll be rooting for the US to win Group D, but DAMN.
That leaves the semifinal. And since we’re having fun here projecting things that almost certainly won’t happen in reality, lets talk about who will be here. Atlanta’s half of the bracket contains the following nations who are current betting favorites to win their group:
Mexico, Italy (assuming they get in. yes, a team that is not even guaranteed to be in the tournament is the current favorite in Group B, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, and England. Of these teams in this half-bracket leading to Atlanta, Italy, Portugal and Argentina are on one side with Mexico, Brazil and England on the other.
Betting favorites as runners up in the Atlanta half-bracket are:
Turkey (who is yet to qualify. Not Paraguay!), Ecuador, Japan, Egypt, Uruguay, and Norway.
That’s a lot of information and possibilities to think about, but it’s exciting!