World Championship Groups (Part II): Mbappe vs Haaland, questions about Ronaldo and English revenge

2026-06-10 21:00 © Imago-images

The Eurofootball.lt page continues the presentation of the group stage for the 2026 World Cup with the second and final part.

Group G – political context

Belgium, Iran, Egypt, New Zealand

About a year ago, it might have been hard to believe that the Iranian national team would be one of the most talked-about teams ahead of the World Cup, but in this global life, it is understandable. With very little time left before the start of the tournament, the hosts, the USA, are still in an active conflict with Iran. Nevertheless, the footballers from this country have arrived in North America. They will play all their matches in the USA, but will have to spend only one day there; the rest of the time will be spent in Mexico. In the States, they will face Egypt led by Mo Salah, New Zealand, and Belgium, which has a renewed defensive line and reliable veterans.

An additional twist – Kevin De Bruyne is healthy and ready to play football.

Brightest stars: Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Mohamed Salah, Chris Wood

Group H – the biggest gap between favorites and outsiders

Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Green Cape

At first glance, this seems like a group where only one match could be very interesting – Uruguay against Spain, a clash between nominal group favorites. However, Saudi Arabia, qualifying for the tournament for the third consecutive time, and Green Cape are ready to surprise. Among them, a significant number of players play or have played in the Portuguese league, and the brightest star is former Sporting forward Jovane Cabral. Saudi Arabia boasts the impressive Salem Al-Dawsari and Saudi Abdulhamid, who has moved to Lens.

An additional twist – Spain enters the tournament as nominal bookmakers' favorites.

Brightest stars: Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Rodri, Salem Al-Dawsari, Federico Valverde

Group I – Mbappé against Haaland

France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway

On June 26 at 22:00, one of the central battles of the group stage will take place, where two world-class stars will meet – Erling Haaland against Kylian Mbappé, Norway against France. It will be Midsummer's Friday, a day when TV ratings should be the best of the entire group stage. Haaland and Norway haven't been in the World Cup for 28 years, yet they are in ninth place in the bookmakers' predictions, which is a significant fact. Norway has nurtured a very talented generation that can demonstrate an amazing result. However, the African champions (?) Senegal are also a strong team. There’s a good chance that this will be the group where all three teams advance to the next stage, but it will require favorable results elsewhere.

An additional twist – if France takes second place, there could be a scenario where they would have to face Germany in the Round of 16.

Brightest stars: Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembélé, William Saliba, Sadio Mané, Ismaïla Sarr, Erling Haaland, Martin Ødegaard

Group J – defending the champion title

Argentina will begin its title defense in a group with three countries whose names start with the letter A. It’s a true continental diversity with representatives from four different continents. France broke the champion curse that had lasted three championships in the last tournament when the champions never advanced from the group stage in the following tournament, so at least we can't talk about that. However, this Argentina team seems aging; Scaloni appears to rely too much on his trusted warriors who have not been as good in club football. There are bad signs, one might say, but they are champions and they have Lionel Messi.

Argentina, Jordan, Austria, Algeria

An additional twist –

Brightest stars: Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez, Emiliano Martínez, Marko Arnautović, Riyad Mahrez

Group K – when will the questions about Ronaldo start?

Get ready, Ronaldo fans and non-fans alike; we will see questions about Ronaldo even in the group stage on social media – should he start, is he too old, is he still good? Naturally, this depends on whether the Portuguese legend struggles to score right from the start. It seems that in Roberto Martínez's plans, the Portuguese is a starting eleven player, so we will see him from the very beginning in the first match against Congo. Every one of his moments will be observed and discussed, because it’s Ronaldo. However, a year ago, the 41-year-old striker proved that he still has it when he scored two goals in the Nations League semifinal, helping Portugal triumph. One year at that age is a lot, and he will never be the same as before. Nevertheless, he should prove his worth since this is his last tournament, and his ego won't allow anything else.

Portugal, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia

An additional twist – Portugal and Colombia have never played against each other.

Brightest stars: Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, João Neves, Nuno Mendes, Yoane Wissa, Abdukodir Khusanov, Luis Díaz

Group L – unsettled scores

Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane, Jordan Pickford, and Marcus Rashford remember well the blow dealt eight years ago at the World Cup when ‘the Three Lions’ were only separated from the final by Croatia, which at the time had an incredible run. The fact that they have a plan for retribution in their minds is clear. "In the chess ranks,” Mateo Kovačić, Andrej Kramarić, Ivan Perišić, Dominik Livaković, Luka Modrić, and Zlatko Dalić vividly remember that semifinal. Especially the last two led Croatia forward in the last two incredible championships. Already before the last campaign in Qatar, there was speculation: could they do it again? It turns out they can, so we should not underestimate them this time.

England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama

An additional twist – the 'Manchester City' club has 7 of its representatives in these national teams.

Brightest stars: Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Luka Modrić, Antoine Semenyo