World Cup 2026, Groups A, B, C and D Matches Quiz

Mexico (ranked 15 in the world at the start of the tournament), as one of the co-host nations, played South Africa (ranked 61) in the opening match (This was a repeat of the 2010 opening game when South Africa hosted and played Mexico in the opening game). Despite three red cards being issued (one to Mexico, two to South Africa), it was an entertaining match where Mexico scored a goal in each half to win 2-0.

Mexico defeated South Korea (#25) 1-0 in their second game and Czechia (#40) 3-0 in their third game. They qualified first in Group A with the maximum nine points and did not concede a goal in their three pool games.

South Africa (6#1), the lowest-ranked team in this group, improved its standing in Group A with each of its three pool matches, qualifying for the knockout stages for the first time in the nation's history. South Africa lost its first match, 2-0 to Mexico, drew with Czechia, 1-1, in its second match, and defeated South Korea, 1-0, to finish an unexpected second in its group.

In 1954, South Korea became only the second* Asian team to qualify for a World Cup tournament. In 2002, they reached the semifinals, their highest place.In their first match in 2026, they came from behind to beat Czechia 2-1. They lost their other two matches 1-0 to Mexico and 1-0 to South Africa. They qualified third in Group A with three points.

* the first was the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1938.

The Czechs (ranked 44), by their own admission, had a disappointing 2026 campaign: World Cup runners-up in 1934 (as Czechoslovakia) and again in 1962, they could only manage a single point with a 1-1 draw in their second round game against South Africa.

They lost their opening game 2-1 to South Korea and were comprehensively beaten by Mexico, 3-0, in their third. They were then eliminated from the tournament.

Switzerland, ranked 17th in the world, could only manage a 1-1 against Qatar, playing only in their second World Cup campaign. These two points were the only ones they dropped as they thrashed Bosnia and Herzegovina in their second 4-1 and upset ladder leaders co-hosts Canada in their final pool match, 2-1. They finished as the leader of Group B.

This was Canada's third appearance in a World Cup tournament. As co-hosts, they automatically qualified. They had a world ranking of 27 at the time. They drew their first pool match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1-1, but thrashed Qatar 6-0, almost guaranteeing them a berth in the Round of 32.

They lost to Switzerland, 2-1, in their final group match but qualified second in Group B, meaning automatic inclusion into the round of 32.

Bosnia and Herzegovina had a world ranking of 64 coming into the 2026 World Cup. This was their second appearance in this competition; their first was in 2014. They drew their first match, 1-1, against Canada, were defeated soundly by Switzerland, 4-1, in their second, but their 3-1 win against Qatar gave them four points, the same as Canada, and they qualified in third place in Group B due to goal difference.

Eight third places from all 12 pools qualified for the round of 32. Their four points were enough to ensure they would qualify.

This was Qatar's second World Cup tournament. In their first in 2022, they qualified automatically as they were hosts. This time, they had to qualify by playing other international teams. They were ranked 50th at the start of this campaign. They improved a little on their 2022 competition.

They lost all three of their pool matches in 2022, but in 2026, they drew their first match against the much higher-ranked Switzerland but lost their other two against Canada (6-0) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (3-1). Placing fourth in Group B, they were eliminated from the tournament after these three pool matches.

This was Brazil's 23rd appearance in a World Cup tournament. Before this competition, they had won five times, the last having been in 2002. Brazil was ranked sixth in 2026 and was expected to win Group C easily, but they were held to a 1-1 draw with Morocco.

However, they had decisive 3-0 wins over both their other group rivals, Scotland and Haiti, in their remaining matches to earn first place in Group C.

Morocco first played in the World Cup in 1970. This was their seventh appearance. They were expected to do well as they came fourth in 2022. They qualified for the next round in two matches: Their first against Brazil was drawn 1-1, then they had a 1-0 win over Scotland. In their third game, they had a scare when Haiti went 1-0 up, but they overcame the deficit and eventually won 4-2. They finished on seven points, the same as Brazil, but were placed second due to an inferior goal difference.

Scotland had qualified for the World Cup on nine occasions, the first time in 1954, but they had never advanced past the group stage. In this tournament, they won their first match against Haiti, 1-0, but lost games two and three: 1-0 and 3-0, respectively, to Morocco and Brazil.

Their three points were enough to secure third place in Group C, but not enough to qualify for the next phase.

This was Haiti's second World Cup appearance. Their only other appearance was in 1974 when they lost all three games, finishing fourth. Alas, they could not improve on that outcome in this tournament, losing in order, 1-0 to Scotland, 3-0 to Brazil and 4-2 to Morocco. Haiti was eliminated at this point as the team had finished fourth in their group.

USA (ranked 15) was the favourite to win their group, and while they did, everything did not go as expected. In their first match, they had a 4-1 comfortable win over Paraguay. In their second, they caught the Australian team off guard in the first half of their match and scored twice.

However, they did no further damage in the second half, and the score remained at 2-0. With the win, Team USA had qualified for the next round with six points from two games. In the third match, they were beaten by Turkey 3-2, a team that had already been eliminated from advancing in the competition. Team USA earned first place in Group D.

Australia's participation in the 2026 World Cup was its seventh campaign since it first qualified in 1974. Ranked 26, they were the underdogs playing Turkey in their first match, yet they triumphed 2-0 over their more fancied rivals. The team came back to earth with a 2-0 loss to the USA in Game 2.

In their third game, they only needed a draw to qualify for the next round, and indeed they played a nil-all draw with Paraguay. This gave them second place in Group D - an automatic qualification into the knockout rounds.

Ranked 41, Paraguay was considered a mid-level team: Commentators were mixed about their chances of advancing to the knockout round. In the end, they had 'middling' results, winning one, drawing one and losing one. They lost their opening match to the US 4-1, upset Turkey in their second, 1-0 and drew nil-all with Australia in their final match, giving them 4 points, the same as Australia.

They placed third in the group as the heavy loss to the USA gave them an inferior goal differential to Australia.

Their four points were enough to be one of the eight highest third-placed teams to qualify for the next round.

Turkey were ranked 20th to win the World Cup out of the competing 48 teams, but their odds of winning the group were good. (In 2002, they came third overall in only their second World Cup appearance). So Turkey were somewhat shell-shocked when they were beaten 2-0 by Australia in their first match, a game they were expected to win.

They were even more shocked when Paraguay beat them 1-0 in their second match. They had been eliminated after only two matches with no goals scored. However, they salvaged some pride when they defeated the Americans 3-2 in their final match, with the winning goal coming well into stoppage time of the second half.