World Cup 2026 Preview (Groups J,K,L) (Opinion)

Group J

1. Argentina. Argentina will be seeking to repeat as World Cup champions since Brazil won consecutive World Cup finals in 1958 and 1962. Argentina will be playing with plenty of emotion because this World Cup could possibly be the last one for legend Lionel Messi. Argentina will have a chance to repeat due to their depth at each and every position along with the scoring ability of Messi, Julian Alvarez, and Lautaro Martinez.

2. Austria. Although Austria pressures high up the pitch with their attack at all times, their defense is pretty solid led by David Alaba. Most of their attackers play in the Bundesliga, so the team will have no issues staying on the attack while maintaining their stamina throughout the match.

3. Algeria. Although Algeria does not have as much depth as Argentina and Austria, they do have star power along the wings on both sides with defenders Rayan Ait Nouri and Ramy Bensebaini, midfielders Fares Chaibi and Houssem Aouar, and forwards Riyad Mahrez and Amine Gouiri. Algeria has been known in the past to look to win games 1-0, but Argentina and Austria will force Algeria to play way faster than they want to in this group.

4. Jordan. Congratulations to Jordan for qualifying for their first-ever World Cup! The team plays strong defense, but they will need all of their toughness in order to compete in these three Group Stage games.

Group K

1. Portugal. Portugal has Cristiano Ronaldo again for his sixth World Cup. This soccer legend became the first-ever player to score in five straight World Cup competitions back in 2022. Currently, he has scored the most goals in soccer history with 973 goals.

This team is absolutely stacked at every position. Portugal arguably has the best midfield in this tournament with Bruno Fernandes, who broke the single-season assist record in the Premier League this past season, along with Vitinha and Joao Neves, who were the backbone of repeat Champions League winners PSG. They also have forwards Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, and Rafael Leao to go along with CR7.

2. Colombia. The strength of Colombia is up front with forwards Luis Diaz (26 goals this season at Bayern Munich) and Luis Suarez (34 goals this season at Sporting CP). They have the scoring firepower to compete with any team in this World Cup.

3. Congo DR. Congratulations to Congo DR for making it to this tournament despite of the constant civil war, despite of the ebola outbreak, and despite of every nation in the world stealing their natural resources. Almost all of the players on this team live and play professionally in Europe. The team is led by defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka and forwards Cedric Bakambu and Yoane Wissa.

4. Uzbekistan. Congratulations to Uzbekistan for making it to their first-ever World Cup. Did you know that the country of Uzbekistan just ended a law that forced the people there to pick cotton? They were like the modern version of the US. Once they ended the law in 2021, the team from Uzbekistan has thrived. The team is led by midfielder Abbosek Fayzullaev and forward Eldor Shomurodov. The team is young, but the lack of experience will hurt them in this Group Stage.

Group L

1. England. People living in England always expect for their country's team to win every game 5-0. This overhyping always puts the team under extreme pressure in every major tournament. However, England continues to do well winning 1-0 or 2-1 with striker Harry Kane (60 total goals last season in all competitions) doing the majority of the scoring. The rest of the team is absolutely solid.

2. Croatia. Croatia will once again be led by midfielder Luka Modric, who willed Croatia to the World Cup final in 2018. Croatia has a strong defense along with solid scoring from Ivan Perisic, Andrej Kramaric, and Ante Budimir.

3. Ghana. Ghana's defense is atrocious, but they have forward Antoine Semenyo (18 goals this season). Get the ball to him and get out of the way.

4. Panama. Panama's strength is with their defense, which is led by defender Amir Murillo. Panama tries to win their games 1-0 with forward Cecilio Waterman coming through with a clutch goal. In other groups, this strategy would not work, but this type of strategy could work to pull off an upset.