Team dossiers

The 48 teams

A full guide for every nation — how they play, who to watch, what the local press is saying, the squad, and how far they could go. We go as deep on the teams the giants ignore as on the favourites.

Group A

Mexico Host of a third World Cup and the only nation that must open it, Mexico arrive at the rebuilt… South Korea An elite Son-Kim-Lee spine carried a cycle further on, a back-three shell rehearsed only in the… Czechia Back at a World Cup for the first time in twenty years, hardened in two penalty shootouts and… South Africa Back at a World Cup after sixteen years away, a Bafana Bafana built not on émigré stars but on…

Group B

Switzerland A trusted, Xhaka-led Nati trying at last to make competence historic Canada Co-hosts arriving with the deepest squad the country has ever produced and an injury list to… Bosnia and Herzegovina Forged in two penalty shootouts and carried by a forty-year-old captain on his last adventure… Qatar No longer the invited host but the earned qualifier, Qatar arrive as a compact, anxious…

Group C

Brazil Five stars on the shirt and a sixth World Cup that the country treats as overdue restitution… Morocco The romantic semi-finalists of Doha turned into something more demanding of themselves Scotland Back at a World Cup for the first time since 1998, Steve Clarke's Scotland are a compact… Haiti Back at the World Cup after fifty-two years and a country in pieces, Haiti arrive not as a…

Group D

United States A co-host carrying the most gifted prime-age spine it has ever assembled, Pochettino's United… Türkiye Back at a World Cup after a quarter-century in the wilderness, a young and emotional Türkiye… Paraguay Back at a World Cup after sixteen years in the wilderness, Gustavo Alfaro has rebuilt the old… Australia A Popovic side in the strictest sense

Group E

Germany Four-time champions carrying two fresh group-stage scars Ecuador Sebastián Beccacece's hard, young, unusually well-travelled La Tri Ivory Coast African champions returning after twelve years away, no longer leaning on the Drogba-and-Haller… Curaçao The smallest nation ever to reach a World Cup, a whole side built from the Dutch diaspora and…

Group F

Netherlands Euro 2024 semi-finalists and qualifying group winners, carrying the oldest wound in the Dutch… Japan No longer the tournament's likeable underdog but a flexible, battle-hardened Samurai Blue… Sweden A rescued team rather than a built one Tunisia The proudest defensive record of any side that qualified

Group G

Belgium A last-dance team trying not to play like one Egypt A compact, history-burdened Egypt under one of its own great No Iran A veteran, bruised, stubborn Team Melli at a seventh World Cup and a fourth in a row, still… New Zealand Back at a World Cup after sixteen years and the only side in their pool ranked outside the…

Group H

Spain The reigning European champions, playing the youngest and most vertical Spain in a generation Uruguay A two-time world champion's old defiance rebuilt in Bielsa's image Cape Verde A scattered archipelago of half a million people arriving at its first World Cup not as a… Saudi Arabia The team that beat Argentina, returned for a seventh World Cup and a third in a row

Group I

Norway Back at a World Cup after twenty-eight years away, Norway arrive with the two most coveted… France The world's top-ranked side, chasing a third title in Didier Deschamps' farewell tournament Senegal Africa's most established World Cup side rather than its romantic outsider Iraq Back at a World Cup for the first time in forty years, Iraq arrive carrying a country's emotion…

Group J

Argentina The reigning champions, three World Cups behind them and Messi still the axis at thirty-eight… Austria Back at a World Cup after twenty-eight years, with Ralf Rangnick's pressing finally giving… Algeria Back at a World Cup after twelve years away, a Petkovic restoration built on Mahrez's left… Jordan A first World Cup for the Chivalrous Ones, reached the hard way and built to be hard to beat

Group K

Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo's sixth and final World Cup, Roberto Martinez's almost embarrassingly deep… Colombia Back from the cold of a missed World Cup with the bones of a Copa America finalist intact DR Congo Back at a World Cup for the first time since they were Zaire, the Leopards return not as… Uzbekistan The first Central Asian nation ever to reach a World Cup, arriving after thirty years of…

Group L

England Sixty years on from their only World Cup, and turning at last to a German to win a second Croatia Serial overachievers running on a fading golden generation Ghana A proud four-time African champion arriving gutted and unglamorous Panama Back at a World Cup for only the second time, and arriving not to be feted for turning up but…