Mexico will face South Africa in the opening game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after the full group-stage draw was conducted on December 5. USA, Canada and Mexico will host the 2026 World Cup. The game will be a repeat of the 2010 edition, the first and only time an African nation hosted the tournament, where Siphiwe Tshabalala scored the historic goal in a 1-1 draw. FIFA President Gianni Infantino was joined by world leaders like Donald Trump and the coaches of the national teams in the colourful ceremony at the Kennedy Centre. The host countries’ presidents pulled out their countries before the draw assistants took centre stage to complete the draw. Mexico went into Group A as earlier anticipated, as they will be playing the opening match, while Canada took Group B, and the United States went into Group D.
The only condition for the draw was that teams from the same confederation could not face each other, except those from Europe. Full World Cup 2026 draw Group A – Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, Denmark/North Macedonia/Czech Republic/Ireland Group B – Canada, Switzerland, Qatar, Italy/Wales/Bosnia/Northern Ireland Group C – Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti Group D – USA, Australia, Paraguay, Turkiye/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo Group E – Germany, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Curacao Group F – Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania Group G – Belgium, Iran, Egypt, New Zealand Group H – Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde Group I – France, Senegal, Norway, Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname Group J – Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Jordan Group K – Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Democratic Republic of Congo/Jamaica/New Caledonia Group L – England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana The 2026 World Cup will run from June 11 to July 19. Lionel Scaloni previews Argentina’s group Speaking after the draw, Argentina’s head coach Lionel Scaloni said it was not going to be easy to defend their title.
“There are no easy opponents, you have to play the matches. We have to give our best and try to advance. I was a bit nervous when the balls were coming out. There are no easy opponents; you have to play the matches. We don’t take anything for granted,” he said via Sofi Martinez. “Algeria is a strong team, they have a great youth system that feeds France and other countries. Austria had a great qualifying campaign and is a tough opponent. The most ‘unknown’ team is Jordan, but if they made it there, it must be for a reason.” USA announces priority visa interviews for World Cup fans World Cup ticket holders would have a FIFA pass to speed up their visa interviews. There had been concerns that visa application processes would take up to one year, but in the new system, the process would be brought forward by six to eight weeks. A ticket is however not a guarantee that the request would be accepted.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
