Published on 6/7/2026
A few days before the start of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Opta, a website specialized in sports statistics, revealed its classification of the strength of the tournament groups, based on its strength index, which evaluates national teams on a scale of 100 points.
The next edition of the World Cup includes 48 teams divided into 12 groups, of which 32 teams will qualify for the knockout rounds, while 16 teams will leave the competition in the first round.
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Although assessing the strength of the groups remains a relative matter subject to different points of view, the Opta classification provides a numerical indicator based on the levels of the participating teams and their recent results, which allows for a more accurate comparison between the tournament groups.
Ranking of World Cup groups from strongest to weakest
According to the Opta classification, Group I is the strongest in the 2026 World Cup, as it includes France, Senegal, Norway, and Iraq, with an average strength of 81.8 points, which is the highest among all groups.
France enters the tournament as the second strongest team in the world according to the Opta classification, behind leaders Spain, while the group also includes two teams among the top 25 global teams, namely Senegal in 21st place and Norway in 25th place.
Iraq, ranked 62nd, remains a party capable of causing a surprise, especially after its 1-1 draw with Spain in a friendly match held days before the start of the tournament.
Group Eleven (K) came in second place in terms of strength, as it includes Colombia and Portugal, which are the only two teams in the tournament that meet in one group and are ranked among the top ten teams in the “Opta” classification.
Although the average strength of this group reached 81 points, slightly less than Group Nine, the average global ranking of its teams makes it among the most competitive groups in the tournament.
The most balanced group
Although it is ranked lower in terms of overall strength, Group 4 (D) stands out as the most balanced of all the World Cup groups.
The group includes the United States, one of the host countries, along with Turkey, Australia and Paraguay, all of which are among the top 36 teams in the Opta classification.
Only 6.5 points separate the highest team from the lowest team in the group in the strength index, which is the smallest difference among all groups of the tournament, which makes the chances of the four teams very similar.
A simulation conducted by Opta across 25,000 different models also showed that the expected differences in the number of points between the group’s teams are very limited, despite the United States’ nomination to finish the first round in the lead.
What are the weakest groups in the tournament?
On the other hand, Opta classified the second group (B) as the weakest in the 2026 World Cup, both in terms of average strength or the average ranking of the teams participating in it.
The group includes Canada, one of the host countries, along with Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Qatar.
Its late classification is partly due to Canada’s presence in the first tier as a host country, even though it occupies 37th place in the Opta power rankings, making it the lowest-ranked team among all the group heads.
The group also does not contain any team ranked among the best 16 teams in the world, as Switzerland is the highest ranked in it, occupying 17th place.
Mexico is among the least powerful groups
The study also indicates that Group One (A) is among the least strong groups in the tournament, as it is the only one that does not include any team among the top 20 global teams according to the Opta classification.
The group includes Mexico, the owner of the land, along with South Korea, the Czech Republic and South Africa.
Mexico leads the group in the world rankings, occupying 24th place, followed by South Korea in 32nd place, then the Czech Republic in 40th place, while South Africa occupies 64th place.
Significant differences in some groups
The Opta classification also observed wide differences in the level of some groups, especially the third group, which includes Brazil and Haiti, and the fifth group, which includes Germany and Curacao.
In the third group, the difference between Brazil, which has the highest classification in the group, and Haiti, which has the lowest classification, is more than 35 points in the strength index.
As for the fifth group, it records the largest difference between two teams in the same group, as the German team is ahead of Curacao by more than 40 points in the power classification.
However, Opta confirms that theoretical differences do not guarantee anything on the field, as the World Cup has always witnessed surprises that upset all expectations, which makes the final judgment on the strength of the groups dependent on the results of the matches inside the green rectangle.
Opta’s ranking of World Cup groups from strongest to weakest
- Group 9, 81.8%.
- Group 11, 81.0%.
- Group 10, 80.5%.
- Group 6, 79.0%.
- Group 4, 78.2%.
- Group 8, 78.2%.
- Group 12, 78.1%.
- Group 3, 76.9%.
- Group 7, 75.3%.
- Group 5, 74.2%.
- Group 1, 74.1%.
- Group 2, 70.9%.
