2026 World Cup: Groups C and D previews and predictions
Following on from our preview of Groups A and B at this summer's World Cup, it's time to turn attention to Groups C and D which is where you can find the most successful nation in the history of this competition, as well as the third and final co-host, the USA.
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Brazil will likely play a 4-2-3-1 that could switch to more of a 4-3-3 in their more challenging matches, with 4 attacking players likely to roam in front of a base made up of Casemiro and Bruno Guimaraes. Vinicius Jr should be the most threatening attacker, particularly given his relationship with Ancelotti from so many years working together at Real Madrid, but he's far from the only strong forward.
Raphinha has been excellent at Barcelona, Matheus Cunha can both create and score goals as he's shown at Wolves and Manchester United in the Premier League, and both Endrick and Rayan are members of a younger generation that could shine even without Estevao who has been ruled out with injury. There is of course also all-time top goalscorer Neymar Jr who Ancelotti may have only picked to keep everyone happy, but his presence and the noise it will generate from the considerable support Brazil will have in the US seems worth it.
On top of the typical flair and creativity Brazil will show in attack, keep in mind the less typical set-piece threat they look to have too. As I mentioned in the Brazil squad announcement piece, both Gabriel and Casemiro have been ridiculously strong aerial threats from corners and free-kicks all season in the Premier League.
Ouahbi has been promoted up having previously worked with Morocco's youth teams and will no doubt maintain an attacking approach in the 4-3-3 system we saw at AFCON. It's a strong Moroccan squad, boosted further by 18-year old Lille star Ayyoub Bouaddi who has committed to playing for them rather than France.
Captain Achraf Hakimi is the star in an excellent backline that will also include Noussair Mazraoui as the other full back and Nayef Aguerd as a lead centre back, while in midfield, Bilal El Khannouss provides excellent attacking creativity alongside more defensive options such as Neil El Aynaoui, Sofyan Amrabat and now Bouaddi.
In attack, Real Madrid's Brahim Diaz is the star name with a point to prove after missing a penalty which, at the time, cost Morocco the AFCON final, but on the other flank I really like Real Betis winger Abde Ezzalzouli. Abde has long been an excellent dribbler who can create chances through his willingness to consistently attack in 1v1 duels, but he now looks to have finally developed end product as well and had 10 goals and 8 assists in LaLiga this season.
The opening clash with Brazil will be fascinating and a chance to put a real marker down early on, but Morocco will expect to progress with 6 points from their other group games regardless.
If there's one advantage Haiti have in this group, it's perhaps being the most familiar with the likely weather conditions, but that's probably about all they have going for them in a very challenging group. Your predictions for their matches against Brazil and Morocco will likely be a question of how many goals Haiti will be beaten by, but their opener against Scotland in Boston could be intriguing.
Both nations will be playing their first World Cup match for decades, but since Scotland will carry the favourites tag, Haiti have nothing to lose and will likely attack the game knowing it's their only realistic chance of 3 points which could see them through to the Round of 32. The standout names in the Haitian squad are Premier League players Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Wolves) and Wilson Isidor (Sunderland) who have each committed to representing Haiti in the past year having played youth football for France.
Isidor scored in his second appearance for Haiti in a 1-1 draw with Iceland back in March and he'll be the main goal threat along with Duckens Nazon who has 40 goals in 73 caps including a hat-trick in the away qualifier match vs. Costa Rica that finished 3-3. As that match and their 3-0 defeat in Honduras showed, however, defence can be a problem and they're up against very strong opposition in Group C.
Clearly, this is a tough group for Scotland, and they'll need to be near perfect from the off by making the most of their fixture against Haiti. Given the format, 3 points may well be enough for a place in the Round of 32, but it could easily come down to goal difference between third-placed teams who have 3 points so every goal scored/prevented is crucial.
The squad that Steve Clarke has selected contains plenty of defenders so a 3-5-2 formation is perhaps likely, but Clarke is reasonably versatile tactically and we can expect Scotland to be fairly well organised regardless of shape.
Many of their best players thrive in wide areas, with left backs Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson often both selected so that Tierney can overlap and underlap Robertson from left centre back, but central midfielders John McGinn and Scott McTominay have each proven themselves as real big-game players in recent seasons which could also prove vital.
Scotland's main weakness has long been a reliable forward, so it will be interesting to see if Lawrence Shankland can step up having recently signed for Rangers after very nearly firing Hearts to a shock Scottish Premiership title. A 4-1 friendly win over Curacao on Saturday in which Shankland scored a brace is encouraging, but Scotland are arguably still lacking midfield players that can put their foot on the ball and control a game. That would be useful both against Haiti and also to try and provide some respite when facing Brazil and Morocco; an injury to Billy Gilmour in that Curacao friendly has deepened the issue.
My predicted Group C standings:
Hutch's predicted Group C standings:
Pochettino has received criticism from the American press for players finding out whether or not they were included in the USMNT roster via email rather than an in-person conversation. After dismissing claims of disrespect quite forcefully, Pochettino has since been linked heavily with the AC Milan job following this tournament, links that won't be well received in America, particularly if things start going pear-shaped.
However, just when you could be forgiven for thinking that things are already unravelling, the US put in a pretty encouraging display against Senegal in a friendly on Sunday. Winning 3-2, star man Christian Pulisic picked up a goal and an assist as he and fellow forwards Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun each shone. Pochettino looks to have settled on a 3-4-2-1 system, which should suit key players Antonee Robinson and Pulisic perfectly, though it will demand a lot of central midfielder Tyler Adams and his likely partner, Weston McKennie.
The USA's opener against Paraguay in LA feels massive. Win, and you'd expect them to go and beat Australia in Seattle too before a pressure-free game vs. Türkiye, but a defeat would have alarm bells sounding from the off.
These days, Paraguay are coached by Argentine Gustavo Alfaro. Alfaro managed Ecuador at the last World Cup and then coached Costa Rica briefly between 2023 and 2024, before taking this current role in August 2024 off the back of a very disappointing Copa America for Paraguay. Results have improved. In his 18 games in charge, Alfaro has won 8 and only lost 4.
So, we can expect Paraguay to be hard to beat at this World Cup, but there might not be too much entertainment outside of young forward Julio Enciso who has enjoyed a great season with Strasbourg after spells in England with Brighton and Ipswich. Defence is Alfaro's priority. Paraguay will look to keep themselves in games with Enciso then looked to for moments of brilliance to find a goal, likely after receiving the ball in transition from either Miguel Almiron (now at Atlanta Utd) or Diego Gomez (Brighton).
Paraguay won't be blowing teams away in Group D but they could well prove to be more defensively sound and streetwise then their opponents. They'll expect to progress.
Graham Arnold was in charge back then but he's now coaching Iraq at this World Cup as Australia replaced him with Tony Popovic in September 2024. At the time, Australia had suffered some worrying results in qualifying, but Popovic has turned things around and enjoyed a successful spell so far with his 10 wins in 17 games including a notable triumph over Japan.
Expect a 3-4-2-1 formation that often drops back into a 5-4-1 when defending for long periods, but the wing-backs are crucial to Australia being able to create so they'll need to be as positive as they can. Feyenoord's Jordan Bos is particularly key on the left flank - he scored in both of Australia's March friendly wins against Cameroon and Curacao.
The squad is captained by veteran goalkeeper Mathew Ryan who has just played a key role in Levante's miraculous season where they avoided relegation in LaLiga against the odds. Like Paraguay, Australia's record in qualifying shows them to be far better at defending than they are attacking, so Group D is likely to be decided by moments and who can take the opportunities that arise. On paper, the Socceroos lack star quality up front.
Surprisingly, this is Türkiye's first appearance at a World Cup since coming 3rd in 2002. Their qualifying performances were largely impressive - their one defeat was a shocker with a 0-6 loss at home to Spain but they made up for it somewhat with a 2-2 draw in Seville - while they then stayed composed in the play-offs, beating Romania 1-0 before winning away in Kosovo by the same scoreline.
There is technical quality throughout the Türkiye squad. Brighton full-back Ferdi Kadioglu offers plenty in attack and scored the crucial goal in that Romania play-off win, midfiedlers Orkun Kokcu and particularly Hakan Calhanoglu are excellent on the ball, and in attack, Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz are influential players at two of the biggest clubs in world football.
Real Madrid's Guler (21) is the standout player to watch. He's as likely to strike from range as he is to create a chance from nothing, while his set-piece delivery could also be decisive given the aerial threat posed through centre backs Ozan Kabak and Abdulkerim Bardakci.
If everything comes together, Türkiye are perhaps the team in Group D that could blow others away, but in the UEFA Nations League and recent European Championships that hasn't been the case and Paraguay and Australia in particuar are unlikely to give them much space to attack.
My predicted Group D standings:
Hutch's predicted Group D standings:
Leave your own thoughts and predicted standings for these groups in the comments!
The 2026 World Cup starts in 9 days. Join our Predictor game here.
If you're enjoying these previews, consider upgrading to Superbru Premium for the World Cup so that you have access to the unique match previews I'll be writing for each fixture in the tournament.
Group C
A fun looking group. Group C is headlined by 5-time champions Brazil. They'll be joined by 2022 semi-finalists and 2025 AFCON winners (sort of) Morocco, a Scotland side making their first World Cup appearance in the 21st century, and Haiti who are appearing for the first time since 1974.🇧🇷 Brazil
As the most successful nation in World Cup history, most will always have Brazil among their World Cup favourites. Their last triumph was a while back in 2022 however, and though this year's squad still isn't quite of the quality we saw back then, there's plenty of reason for excitement, particularly with legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti at the helm.Brazil will likely play a 4-2-3-1 that could switch to more of a 4-3-3 in their more challenging matches, with 4 attacking players likely to roam in front of a base made up of Casemiro and Bruno Guimaraes. Vinicius Jr should be the most threatening attacker, particularly given his relationship with Ancelotti from so many years working together at Real Madrid, but he's far from the only strong forward.
Raphinha has been excellent at Barcelona, Matheus Cunha can both create and score goals as he's shown at Wolves and Manchester United in the Premier League, and both Endrick and Rayan are members of a younger generation that could shine even without Estevao who has been ruled out with injury. There is of course also all-time top goalscorer Neymar Jr who Ancelotti may have only picked to keep everyone happy, but his presence and the noise it will generate from the considerable support Brazil will have in the US seems worth it.
On top of the typical flair and creativity Brazil will show in attack, keep in mind the less typical set-piece threat they look to have too. As I mentioned in the Brazil squad announcement piece, both Gabriel and Casemiro have been ridiculously strong aerial threats from corners and free-kicks all season in the Premier League.
🇲🇦 Morocco
Morocco are a very strong side who made history in 2022 by reaching the semi-finals, but it will be interesting to see how they go this summer following recent changes. There isn't space in this preview to go into a full breakdown of the chaotic AFCON final this year, but Walid Regragui, who coached Morocco from early 2022 through to said final, left shortly afterwards. Morocco have since been declared AFCON champions by default, and though the perceived loss in that final wasn't the only reason why Regragui left, it'll be interesting to see how his replacement, Mohamed Ouahbi, gets on here.Ouahbi has been promoted up having previously worked with Morocco's youth teams and will no doubt maintain an attacking approach in the 4-3-3 system we saw at AFCON. It's a strong Moroccan squad, boosted further by 18-year old Lille star Ayyoub Bouaddi who has committed to playing for them rather than France.
Captain Achraf Hakimi is the star in an excellent backline that will also include Noussair Mazraoui as the other full back and Nayef Aguerd as a lead centre back, while in midfield, Bilal El Khannouss provides excellent attacking creativity alongside more defensive options such as Neil El Aynaoui, Sofyan Amrabat and now Bouaddi.
In attack, Real Madrid's Brahim Diaz is the star name with a point to prove after missing a penalty which, at the time, cost Morocco the AFCON final, but on the other flank I really like Real Betis winger Abde Ezzalzouli. Abde has long been an excellent dribbler who can create chances through his willingness to consistently attack in 1v1 duels, but he now looks to have finally developed end product as well and had 10 goals and 8 assists in LaLiga this season.
The opening clash with Brazil will be fascinating and a chance to put a real marker down early on, but Morocco will expect to progress with 6 points from their other group games regardless.
🇭🇹 Haiti
Haiti reaching this World Cup is already a huge achievement as they're set for only the second finals in their history. Despite having to play their 'home' matches at a neutral venue in Curacao because of the country's security crisis, Haiti won their qualifier group with 11 points from 6 games against Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.If there's one advantage Haiti have in this group, it's perhaps being the most familiar with the likely weather conditions, but that's probably about all they have going for them in a very challenging group. Your predictions for their matches against Brazil and Morocco will likely be a question of how many goals Haiti will be beaten by, but their opener against Scotland in Boston could be intriguing.
Both nations will be playing their first World Cup match for decades, but since Scotland will carry the favourites tag, Haiti have nothing to lose and will likely attack the game knowing it's their only realistic chance of 3 points which could see them through to the Round of 32. The standout names in the Haitian squad are Premier League players Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Wolves) and Wilson Isidor (Sunderland) who have each committed to representing Haiti in the past year having played youth football for France.
Isidor scored in his second appearance for Haiti in a 1-1 draw with Iceland back in March and he'll be the main goal threat along with Duckens Nazon who has 40 goals in 73 caps including a hat-trick in the away qualifier match vs. Costa Rica that finished 3-3. As that match and their 3-0 defeat in Honduras showed, however, defence can be a problem and they're up against very strong opposition in Group C.
🏴 Scotland
This will be Scotland's first appearance at a World Cup since 1998, and just like that tournament in France, they'll face Brazil and Morocco in the group stage. After such a long wait, this is a huge tournament for the Scots and there were incredible scenes at Hampden when they secured their return with a 4-2 win over Denmark in qualifying.Clearly, this is a tough group for Scotland, and they'll need to be near perfect from the off by making the most of their fixture against Haiti. Given the format, 3 points may well be enough for a place in the Round of 32, but it could easily come down to goal difference between third-placed teams who have 3 points so every goal scored/prevented is crucial.
The squad that Steve Clarke has selected contains plenty of defenders so a 3-5-2 formation is perhaps likely, but Clarke is reasonably versatile tactically and we can expect Scotland to be fairly well organised regardless of shape.
Many of their best players thrive in wide areas, with left backs Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson often both selected so that Tierney can overlap and underlap Robertson from left centre back, but central midfielders John McGinn and Scott McTominay have each proven themselves as real big-game players in recent seasons which could also prove vital.
Scotland's main weakness has long been a reliable forward, so it will be interesting to see if Lawrence Shankland can step up having recently signed for Rangers after very nearly firing Hearts to a shock Scottish Premiership title. A 4-1 friendly win over Curacao on Saturday in which Shankland scored a brace is encouraging, but Scotland are arguably still lacking midfield players that can put their foot on the ball and control a game. That would be useful both against Haiti and also to try and provide some respite when facing Brazil and Morocco; an injury to Billy Gilmour in that Curacao friendly has deepened the issue.
My predicted Group C standings:
- Brazil
- Morocco
- Scotland
- Haiti
Hutch's predicted Group C standings:
- Brazil
- Morocco
- Scotland
- Haiti
Group D
Co-hosts the USA are in Group D as they look to make this tournament a memorable one and grow soccer across the nation. They find themselves with some interesting matchups. There aren't any teams to hugely fear, but equally, there aren't any easy matches against Paraguay, Australia and Türkiye.🇺🇸 USA
The USA have made the Round of 16 in 3 of the last 4 World Cups (they failed to qualify for 2018), but expectations are set even higher this year and there's huge pressure on Mauricio Pochettino and the players to perform in a home tournament. Will they thrive in such circumstances? Or will it all turn into a bit of a mess? It's very hard to tell, and this past week has already been a bit of a rollercoaster.Pochettino has received criticism from the American press for players finding out whether or not they were included in the USMNT roster via email rather than an in-person conversation. After dismissing claims of disrespect quite forcefully, Pochettino has since been linked heavily with the AC Milan job following this tournament, links that won't be well received in America, particularly if things start going pear-shaped.
However, just when you could be forgiven for thinking that things are already unravelling, the US put in a pretty encouraging display against Senegal in a friendly on Sunday. Winning 3-2, star man Christian Pulisic picked up a goal and an assist as he and fellow forwards Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun each shone. Pochettino looks to have settled on a 3-4-2-1 system, which should suit key players Antonee Robinson and Pulisic perfectly, though it will demand a lot of central midfielder Tyler Adams and his likely partner, Weston McKennie.
The USA's opener against Paraguay in LA feels massive. Win, and you'd expect them to go and beat Australia in Seattle too before a pressure-free game vs. Türkiye, but a defeat would have alarm bells sounding from the off.
🇵🇾 Paraguay
As just mentioned, Paraguay will be out to spoil the USA's party in their opening match of the tournament but that clash in LA will be a huge occasion for the South American side too as they play their first World Cup match since a quarter-final in 2010.These days, Paraguay are coached by Argentine Gustavo Alfaro. Alfaro managed Ecuador at the last World Cup and then coached Costa Rica briefly between 2023 and 2024, before taking this current role in August 2024 off the back of a very disappointing Copa America for Paraguay. Results have improved. In his 18 games in charge, Alfaro has won 8 and only lost 4.
So, we can expect Paraguay to be hard to beat at this World Cup, but there might not be too much entertainment outside of young forward Julio Enciso who has enjoyed a great season with Strasbourg after spells in England with Brighton and Ipswich. Defence is Alfaro's priority. Paraguay will look to keep themselves in games with Enciso then looked to for moments of brilliance to find a goal, likely after receiving the ball in transition from either Miguel Almiron (now at Atlanta Utd) or Diego Gomez (Brighton).
Paraguay won't be blowing teams away in Group D but they could well prove to be more defensively sound and streetwise then their opponents. They'll expect to progress.
🇦🇺 Australia
This is Australia's sixth consecutive appearance at a World Cup and they made the Round of 16 for the first time since 2006 in the last edition in Qatar, so they, like everyone else in Group D, can't be ruled out from progressing here. After a 4-1 defeat to France in their 2022 opener, the Socceroos defeated both Tunisia and Denmark to progress alongside the French, only losing 2-1 to eventual winners Argentina in the knockouts.Graham Arnold was in charge back then but he's now coaching Iraq at this World Cup as Australia replaced him with Tony Popovic in September 2024. At the time, Australia had suffered some worrying results in qualifying, but Popovic has turned things around and enjoyed a successful spell so far with his 10 wins in 17 games including a notable triumph over Japan.
Expect a 3-4-2-1 formation that often drops back into a 5-4-1 when defending for long periods, but the wing-backs are crucial to Australia being able to create so they'll need to be as positive as they can. Feyenoord's Jordan Bos is particularly key on the left flank - he scored in both of Australia's March friendly wins against Cameroon and Curacao.
The squad is captained by veteran goalkeeper Mathew Ryan who has just played a key role in Levante's miraculous season where they avoided relegation in LaLiga against the odds. Like Paraguay, Australia's record in qualifying shows them to be far better at defending than they are attacking, so Group D is likely to be decided by moments and who can take the opportunities that arise. On paper, the Socceroos lack star quality up front.
🇹🇷 Türkiye
Türkiye probably have the most talented squad in Group D, but will they be able to show that on the pitch after recent European Championships where they've failed to live up to a 'dark horses' tag?Surprisingly, this is Türkiye's first appearance at a World Cup since coming 3rd in 2002. Their qualifying performances were largely impressive - their one defeat was a shocker with a 0-6 loss at home to Spain but they made up for it somewhat with a 2-2 draw in Seville - while they then stayed composed in the play-offs, beating Romania 1-0 before winning away in Kosovo by the same scoreline.
There is technical quality throughout the Türkiye squad. Brighton full-back Ferdi Kadioglu offers plenty in attack and scored the crucial goal in that Romania play-off win, midfiedlers Orkun Kokcu and particularly Hakan Calhanoglu are excellent on the ball, and in attack, Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz are influential players at two of the biggest clubs in world football.
Real Madrid's Guler (21) is the standout player to watch. He's as likely to strike from range as he is to create a chance from nothing, while his set-piece delivery could also be decisive given the aerial threat posed through centre backs Ozan Kabak and Abdulkerim Bardakci.
If everything comes together, Türkiye are perhaps the team in Group D that could blow others away, but in the UEFA Nations League and recent European Championships that hasn't been the case and Paraguay and Australia in particuar are unlikely to give them much space to attack.
My predicted Group D standings:
- USA
- Türkiye
- Paraguay
- Australia
Hutch's predicted Group D standings:
- Türkiye
- USA
- Paraguay
- Australia
Leave your own thoughts and predicted standings for these groups in the comments!
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Group D: USA, Paraguay, Turkey, Australia