2026 World Cup: Groups I and J previews and predictions

It's officially World Cup week, everyone!

That means it's time to get excited for what should be an excellent tournament and it's fantastic to see so many Predictor leagues being created on Superbru.

In our preview series, we're now on to Groups I and J which should both be a lot of fun.

Previous preview articles can be found here:

> Groups A and B preview

> Groups C and D preview

> Groups E and F preview

> Groups G and H preview

As I keep saying, if you're enjoying these previews, why not upgrade to Premium for the next couple of months? Premium users receive an individual match preview for every fixture in the tournament as well as an ad-free experience.

Group I

Group I has been labelled by many as the 'Group of Death', which it would be if we were still in the old format, but since three teams are likely to progress, it's more just a fun group that should have some entertaining matches.

🇫🇷 France

Even in such a strong group, France are reasonably clear favourites. Didier Deschamps has led them to the last two World Cup finals, winning in 2018 before losing on penalties in 2022, and you'd be brave to bet against them reaching another this summer.

Since Qatar, France have remained strong and sit top of the FIFA rankings, though Euro 2024 was a slight disappointment considering their recent World Cups. Les Bleus reached the semi-finals at the Euros, though they didn't get there in the most convincing fashion, before losing 2-1 to Spain. A year later, France also lost 5-4 to Spain in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals, so their concern heading into this tournament might be that they'll be on the same side of the draw as Spain should they both win their groups as expected.



However, the last couple of World Cups have shown France to thrive on the big stage and it's hard to pick a weakness in the above squad. Main man Kylian Mbappe will be joined in attack by a frankly ridiculous list of options including Ousmane Dembele (PSG), Michael Olise (Bayern) and Rayan Cherki (Manchester City), while the midfielders selected to occupy the engine room are very experienced in doing so.

France face a strong early test against Senegal which could well decide the Group I winner, before heading to Philadelphia where they'll look to boost their goal difference against Iraq. There are still some predicting a French implosion, likely triggered by off-field drama or the like based on the precedent we've seen in tournaments such as 2002 and 2010, but Deschamps has an excellent track record with this squad and in my opinion, there's little reason to doubt France challenging for the trophy once again this year.

🇮🇶 Iraq

You have to feel a bit sorry for Iraq being drawn in this group, but they'll ultimately just be delighted to have broken their 40-year wait for a place at a World Cup finals. They qualified in dramatic circumstances, winning an Inter-confederation play-off final agianst Bolivia in Mexico back in April, with strikers Ali Al Hamadi (Luton Town) and Ayman Hussein (Al-Karma) scoring the goals to get them here.

Iraq's only previous World Cup appearance was in 1986 when the tournament was hosted by Mexico. Though it was therefore poetic that they sealed their spot in this year's finals in the same country, they won't be playing any actual World Cup matches in Mexico as they'll face Norway and France in the US before travelling to Toronto to take on Senegal.

As you might expect when up against three ridiculously strong attacks, Iran will be dropping into a low defensive block for the bulk of this group stage and then aiming to hit with direct attacks where possible. They'll play for set-pieces, which brought them good success in qualifying, but realistically it's going to be a struggle for Iraq in Group I.

In the initial AFC group stage round of qualifying, they were well behind South Korea and a point beneath Jordan, which doesn't bode well ahead of facing far tougher opposition here.

🇳🇴 Norway

This tournament is a huge deal for Norway as they've finally qualified for a finals again for the first time since 1998. They were disappointed to miss out in 2022 given the quality of some of their players, and their squad has only strengthened since then, with their attack in particular likely to cause opposition problems this summer. Norway were devastating in qualifying, winning all 8 of their matches while scoring 37 goals and conceding just 5.

Those qualifying wins came against Israel, Moldova, Estonia and most notably Italy who they hammered 1-4 at San Siro. That night, each of their standout attackers was directly involved in a goal as Erling Haaland grabbed a brace, Jørgen Strand Larsen and Antonio Nusa scored the other goals and Alexander Sørloth provided an assist. With Oscar Bobb also an option on the flanks and Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard set to be pulling the strings behind them all, Norway are likely to score goals even in as difficult a group as this.



Not all of those forwards can play at once, as Norway will play either a 4-4-2 or, more likely, a 4-3-3 with Sørloth playing as a 'right winger' who spends most of his time drifting inside to act as a second striker anyway. Having been in charge for 56 matches and counting, Ståle Solbakken clearly knows how to play to his forwards' strengths and we can expect to see plenty of crosses to Haaland and Sørloth or direct balls in transition given the pace and power of Haaland on the counter.

The reason Group I should be fascinating is because Norway, like France and Senegal, carry such threat in attack but will likely also concede chances down the flanks. Full backs Julian Ryerson and David Møller Wolfe are both fairly attacking defenders, and Norway lack the big tournament experience of those other two group favourites.

🇸🇳 Senegal

That big tournament experience is what I believe gives Senegal a slight edge over Norway in this group that could quite easily play out in several different ways. Senegal have played in 3 of the last 4 AFCON finals, winning 2 (depending on whether or not you're not counting this year's chaotic affair), and have appeared at the last two World Cups, albeit with less success.

They have a very experinced spine to their team through goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, centre back Kalidou Koulibaly, midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye and iconic forward Sadio Mane, while other key squad members are just approaching their prime in the likes of Nicolas Jackson, Iliman Ndiaye and Ismaila Sarr. To me, Senegal look balanced enough to compete with almost anyone at the tournament, and this may well be the last chance to go far at a World Cup for those players who make up the 'spine'.



After naming the initial 28-man squad shown above, coach Pape Thiaw cut Moustapha Mbow and midfielder Ilay Camara to fit inside FIFA's 26-player limit. Thiaw has been using recent friendlies to experiment slightly with some different shapes, but I'm expecting a team that's very similar to the formation and personnel we saw in the AFCON final against Morocco.

With matches against France and Norway to start, Senegal need to be at it right from the off in this World Cup as they won't want to be under too much pressure in Round 3 vs. Iraq. A heavy defeat to France in their opener could spell danger, particularly if Norway hammer Iraq, but I expect the African side to compete reasonably well and to therefore enter that crucial second match against Norway with confidence intact.

My predicted Group I standings:

• France
• Senegal
• Norway
• Iraq

Hutch's predicted Group I standings:

• France
• Norway
• Senegal
• Iraq

Group J

Group J might not have the firepower of Group I, but it's an intriguing group nonetheless as two competent sides and an underdog look to challenge the defending champions.

🇩🇿 Algeria

This is Algeria's first appearance at World Cup since their respectable showing in Brazil in 2014 where they were eliminated by Germany in the Round of 16 after extra time. A few members of that squad are still around for this year's tournament, including centre back Aissa Mandi, midfielder Nabil Bentaleb and star man Riyad Mahrez, but there are naturally plenty of players representing a fresh generation for Algeria and we can expect them to be competitive in Group J.

Algeria's opening match against defending champions Argentina will obviously be tough - though Argentina were of course caught cold in their 2022 opener - but Vladimir Petkovic's team then face a Jordan team that they'll expect to beat ahead of what looks like a very even Round 3 clash vs. Austria. In preparation for that game, Algeria travelled to Rotterdam last week to face the Netherlands and managed an impressive 0-1 win. Goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of legendary Zinedine, was a standout performer.

Head coach Petkovic has been in charge since February 2024 and has lost just 4 of his 34 games in charge. Petkovic replaced Djamel Belmadi who after winning AFCON with Algeria in 2019 left after back-to-back group stage exits in 2021 and 2023, and the team now seem to be back on the up based on recent results and reaching the quarter-finals in this year's AFCON.

They'll likely play 4-3-3 this summer, though it could look more like a 4-5-1 if wide men Mahrez and Mohamed Amoura (Wolfsburg) are asked to help out more defensively in Round 1, but they'll primarily attack through those wingers providing crosses. Amoura really stood out in qualifying, with 5 goals across Algeria's final four fixtures.

🇦🇷 Argentina

After their triumph in 2022 and celebrations ever since, Argentina's focus now turns to defending their crown. For national hero Lionel Messi, it's hard to imagine this summer ever being able to come close to the euphoria he must have felt in 2022 as he followed Daniel Passarella and Diego Maradona in becoming a World Cup winning captain for his country, but Messi will again be in action at a record-breaking sixth World Cup and Argentina won't be giving up their title easily.

In qualifying, Argentina were miles ahead of everyone else in CONMEBOL, winning 12 of their 18 matches to finish 9 points above 2nd-placed Ecuador. Head coach Lionel Scaloni has been in charge since August 2018 and has lost just 9 of his 95 matches, 4 of which have come since the 2022 final. They enter Group J as clear favourites, though they'll want to ensure their group stage is far smoother than it was in 2022 where they were genuinely fortunate to scrape through after losing their opening match to Saudi Arabia.



Everything was built around Messi in Qatar, and while that will probably still be true this summer when he's on the pitch, his minutes could be slightly more limited after a few recent fitness concerns at the age of 38. In Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez, Messi has world-class strike partners and there's little reason for Scaloni to deviate from the gameplan of looking to get the ball into those difference makers as fast as possible.

As you can see on the squad graphic, plenty of the players have teammates they play their club football with and there's a particularly large Atletico Madrid contingent who have been relentlessly coached into the traditional tenacious and resilient Argentine approach by Diego Simeone. In terms of the newer generation players who could add something different for Argentina this summer, keep an eye on Nico Paz (21) who has been excellent for Como since signing for Real Madrid, while versatile Strasbourg midfielder Valentin Barco (also 21) has a similarly great left foot from set-pieces and can fill in at left back if required.

🇦🇹 Austria

Back at a World Cup for the first time since 1998, there's considerable excitement around Austria for this tournament. Manager Ralf Rangnick is immensely popular after shifting the team into his famous gegenpressing style of play, and it will be fascinating to see how the approach plays out on the world's biggest stage.

For those of you not familiar with gegenpressing, the approach is essentially incredibly intense pressing of the opposition high up the pitch, which means very fast transitions and a lot of running. Will that be a problem in likely very warm conditions in the USA this summer? Possibly, but there's no chance of Rangnick changing things and you can argue that's completely fair enough given the success he has had while in charge in order to bring Austria back to a World Cup.

Midfielder Christoph Bamgartner, who still plays for Leipzig within the Red Bull framework that Rangnick has had so much influence over in the past, is the player that typifies the Austrian approach. He's likely to lead the pressing from an attacking midfield position, alongside Marcel Sabitzer. The midfield base is likely to also be RB Leipzig with Nicolas Seiwald partnering Xaver Schlager, while up front, Marko Arnautovic remains the main man even at the age of 37.

At Euro 2024, Austria were impressive under Rangnick, winning their group ahead of France, the Netherlands and Poland. A narrow defeat to Türkiye followed in the knockouts, but we can expect Austria to be similarly competitive in this World Cup. The opening game against Jordan should be a win and Austria will then expect at least a point from their other two group matches.

🇯🇴 Jordan

Jordan will make an historic debut appearance at a World Cup this summer. With that in mind, Jordan are firmly in the 'we've already won' camp at this tournament so we'll see a team playing with freedom and no real fear of losing.

I'm not going to pretend to be too familiar with much of the Jordan squad, but their man to watch is Mousa Tamari who's a talented winger playing for Rennes in Ligue 1. Tamari had 6 goals and 6 assists in the French top flight this season, and he'll be joined in attack by Ali Olwan who top scored for Jordan in qualifying including a hat-trick in the all-important win over Oman to seal their World Cup spot.

On Superbru, almost everyone will be picking against Jordan in each of the group stage rounds, so the question is how competitive they can be in terms of scorelines against three strong teams. In recent friendlies they've been beaten 4-1 by Switzerland and 2-0 by Colombia.

My predicted Group J standings:

• Argentina
• Austria
• Algeria
• Jordan

Hutch's predicted Group J standings:

• Argentina
• Austria
• Algeria
• Jordan

What are your predictions for these groups?