Dragons

2026 FIFA World Cup – Group B Focus

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Never in my lifetime did I think Canada would host a men’s World Cup. We hosted an impressive Women’s World Cup but I figured we really needed to improve our national team big time if we wanted to host a men’s World Cup.

This paragraph is my personal opinion. I am happy that Canada is one of the three host nations but I’m unhappy that only two Canadian cities will stage matches. Toronto and Vancouver are good picks but we could have also added in Edmonton and Montreal. Those two cities have the two biggest stadiums in Canada. Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium and Montreal’s Olympic Stadium can seat just over 56,000. Why weren’t they included?

I’m also unhappy Mexico is only having three cities stage matches. Mexico hosted two previous World Cups and they have good enough venues. The three staging matches are Mexico City’s 87,500-seat Azteca Stadium which was part of Mexico’s two previous World Cups and even hosted matches during the 1968 Summer Olympics. Second is Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA. It’s a modern 53,500-seat stadium that opened to the public in 2015. Third is Guadalajara’s Estadio Akron. This stadium opened in 2010, seats almost 50,000 and was the host venue for the 2011 Pan Amercian Games.

Those wondering about the two Canadian stadiums, Vancouver’s BC Place was opened in 1983 and can seat 54,000. Toronto’s BMO Field was opened in 2007 and can seat 45,000.

Anyways, that’s enough for stadium talk until I focus on the U.S. Now it’s time to focus on the teams of World Cup’s Group B:

-Canada(30): To most of the world, Canada is seen as a joke in football. Sure, our women are very good at delivering in major tournaments, but our men are very lackluster. The Canucks have only qualified for two previous World Cups and have lost all their matches. Back in 1986, they didn’t score a single goal. In 2022, they finally scored but still lost all their matches. Much to Canada’s relief, they only finished second-last with hosts Qatar behind them. More on them later. The Canadian men have delivered some noteworthy feats in the past. Fourth at the 2024 Copa America and winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1985 and 2000. Most recently, they beat the United States for third-place at the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada has worked hard to build a national team the host nation can be proud of. American Jesse Marsch is the head coach with a mix of other coaches from North America and Europe. The top players of the team are goalkeeper Maxine Crepeau who plays for Orlando City, defender and captain Alphonso Davies who plays for Bayern Munich, midfielder Jonathan Osorio who plays for Toronto FC, and striker Cyle Larin who plays for Southampton. For their play in the last 12 months, their most notable wins are Ukraine, Wales and Romania. They’ve had notable draws to Colombia and Ecuador and their only loss has been to Australia. Chances are Canada can rise to the occasion and deliver a great showing as a host nation!

-Bosnia-Hercegovina (65): If there’s one thing to learn from the qualifying matches, it’s that you should never underestimate Zmajevi or The Dragons. Their road to the World Cup led them to the longer path after they finished second to Austria in their qualifying group. They would have to face Wales and Italy in the playoff berths. In both cases, they drew 1-1 during the game and won on penalty kicks. Never underestimate the power of teams you dismiss as ‘minnows.’ Interesting they’ve never qualified for a Euro but this will be their second World Cup!

Leading the coaching for the team is Bosnia’s Sergej Barbarez. Only two members of Bosnia’s coaching staff are not from Bosnia. Top players for the team include defender Sead Kolasinac who plays for Italy Serie A team Atalanta, midfielder Amir Hadziametovic who plays for Hull City and legendary striker Edin Dzeko. Their play has been notable these past twelve months for resulting in a lot of draws. Their wins may have been to Malta, San Marino and Romania but they’ve achieved draws against more lauded teams like Austria, Wales and Italy. The latter two, they had the winning edge in penalty kicks. Chances are it’s here in United 2026 where Bosnia can surprise the world on a big scale!

-Qatar (55): It’s tempting to either feel sorry for The Maroons or laugh at them after the 2022 World Cup. Back in 2022, they achieved three ignominious firsts for a World Cup host nation: first-ever host nation to lose their opening match, first-ever host nation to lose all their Group Stage games, and first-ever host nation to finish dead last! But Qatar showed they can rebound from humiliation.  Back in 2023, they successfully defended their AFC Asian Cup on home soil. For World Cup qualifying, this marks the first time they’ve achieved qualification outside of hosting the last Cup with Almoez Ali being the second-biggest scorer of the qualifiers. No kidding they will be coming here with something to prove.

The current team’s head coach is Spain’s Julen Lopetegui and the majority of its coaching staff is Spanish. All but one of the players play in teams with Qatar’s Stars League. Top players include goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham, defender Boualem Khoukhi, midfielder Abdulaziz Hatem and strikers Hassan al-Haydos and Almoez Ali. The last twelve months have included wins against Iran and the UAE, draws against Bahrain, Oman and Syria, and loses against Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe and Tunisia. North America can be the stage for Qatar to prove their redemption in the football world.

-Switzerland (19): Right now the A-Team or the Nati are hard to describe. Their common World Cup frustration of bombing out in the Round of 16 keeps on happening, like the three previous World Cups. The past two Euros showed some improvement as in those two, the Swiss team won their first knockout match and made it as far as the quarterfinals. It’s a case that the talent is there but it’s a matter of consistent delivering.

The Swiss coaching staff is completely Swiss and the Head Coach Murat Yakin is the same coach from World Cup 2022. Top players include goalkeeper Gregor Kobel who plays for Borussia, defender Ricardo Rodriguez who plays for Spain’s Betiz, legendary midfielder Granit Xhaka who plays for Sunderland and striker Breel Embolo who plays for France’s Rennes. Their play in the last 12 months have been mostly consistent. Their most notable wins include the United States, Mexico and Sweden. They’ve had draws to Slovenia and Norway and their only loss was to Germany back in March. Chances are here in World Cup 2026, Switzerland can deliver their best finish ever.

My Qualifier Predictions: This is a very different mix of teams. It’s easy for me to make my first pick: Switzerland. My second pick is tough but I will go with Bosnia. I predict Canada to be the wildcard qualifier.

And there is my look at World Cup Group B. Interesting three of the nations are either former or present host nations. More unique group mix-ups to come.

WORK CITED:
“2026 FIFA World Cup.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2026. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup>

World Cup 2022 Preview: Group B

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

Interesting to note that the draw for the nations in each group took place just as three nations were yet to be decided! On April 1st, the draw for the groups had just as a European berth and two intercontinental berths were not yet decided! They all eventually be decided by the end of June. I state this here because the team of that undecided European berth is in this very group.

Group B is widely considered to be this Cup’s “Group Of Death.” All four are jam-packed with talent and are currently ranked in FIFA’s Top 20. In addition, some anticipate this group will have the most politically heated matches as Iran has strained relationships with the UK and the United States. It will all be determined in Qatar. So here’s the rundown:

GROUP B

-England (5): This is quite the time for the English national team. Ever since Gareth Southgate was made coach of the England national team after Euro 2016, the team has been playing like a team unit not seen for decades. At the last World Cup, they made it to the semifinals. At Euro 2020, they made it to the final for the first time ever! However the final exposed a common weakness England still has: penalty kicks!

The Three Lions lineup for the World Cup has the return of veterans Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling. It includes young rising talents too like Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham. All but three players are Premier League players. Since Euro 2020, they’ve had a mixed bag of results. They’ve won against Albania, Switzerland and the Ivory Coast. They’ve drawn in both their games against Germany. They’ve also had a draw and a loss to Italy. They’ve also lost to Hungary twice. Qatar will put England again to the challenge.

-Iran (20): This is Iran’s sixth World Cup and they’re still seeking their first trip to the knockout round! Iran almost had the chance at the last World Cup (where they were also in Group B) but their results of a win, a draw and a loss couldn’t stack up against Spain and Portugal. Here in Qatar, you can bet Team Melli will do what they can to break new ground.

The team is coached by Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz. He has coached the team to both the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. After the 2019 Asian Cup where Iran made the semifinals, the team went through two more European coaches before returning to Queiroz this September. Most of the team plays for clubs in the Persian Gulf Pro League. In the last year and a half, their wins have come against United Arab Emirates and Uruguay, they drew to Senegal and they’ve lost to South Korea and Algeria. Qatar just might be their best World Cup showing ever. They just have to make it happen.

-United States of America (16): The 20th Century had the US team looking like a joke in football. Then in the 21st Century, the US were showing how far they progressed by advancing to three knockout stages out of four World Cups. Then disaster struck before 2018 as they failed to qualify. Things changed for the US as they named Gregg Berhalter as their head coach and acquired former US team members Earnie Stewart as Sporting Director and Brian McBride as General Manager.

The squad for the World Cup has not officially been determined as of press time. The US team has a mix of players from the MLS and from various European Leagues. It’s highly likely the team will consist of their big names like DeAndre Yedlin, Kelly Acosta and Christian Pulisic. They’ve had recent notable wins against Mexico and Morocco, notable draws against Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, and losses to Costa Rica and Japan. 2022 looks to be the arena for redemption and a new chapter for the American team.

-Wales (19): Of all teams that are returning to the World Cup here in Qatar, none have had a longer wait than Wales. They only played in one previous World Cup back in 1958, where they made the quarterfinals. Since then, Wales have failed to qualify. It almost appeared Gareth Bale would be one of the best players ever never to compete in a World Cup. Then The Dragons qualified in the European playoffs of qualifying, won their semifinal against Austria and then won their final against Ukraine!

Wales is not a one-man team. Besides Bale, Wales also has star defender Chris Gunter and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey. The squad mostly play in clubs with the Premier League and have been coached by Welshman Rob Page for two years. Their recent results put their status in question. Before qualifying, they’ve had wins against Belarus and Austria, and draws against Belgium and Czechia. Since qualifying, they had a draw and a loss against Belgium and additional losses to the Netherlands and Poland. It may sound tough, but all that will matter will be their play in Qatar.

My Prediction: It is a bit crazy having to make a prediction in what people call the “Group Of Death.” Nevertheless, I have a feeling that the qualifiers from this group will be England and the United States. Frankly any combination of teams would make sense at this point.

And there you go! My thoughts and predictions for Group B. Whatever the outcome is, I anticipate this will have the closest football of the whole tournament.

UEFA Euro 2016: Group B Focus

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

UEFA-Euro-2016-Live

Here I am with my second review of the Euro 2016 Groups. One thing I won’t do for this tournament is review the stadiums like I did for the World Cups of 2014 and 2015. I prefer to restrict it to World Cups. Group reviewing is something I won’t stray away from. So without further ado, here’s my review of Group B:

WalesWales (24): This is Wales’ first ever Euro. They may have played in a single World Cup back in 1958 but this will be their first Euro. Some will say this is thanks to star player Gareth Bale but you could say it’s more thanks to coach Chris Coleman. Besides there are four other players on the team with more career caps than Bale.

The Dragons may not have the biggest combined talent but they can prove to be a surprise such as winning against Belgium and tying against Bosnia and Northern Ireland. However they will face a tough Group B. They’ve played Slovakia twice ever winning once and losing the other time. They’ve never won against Russia in the four times they’ve played them and they’ve lost to England more often than they’ve won against them. It will have to take the right play and right team unity if they want to get far.

SlovakiaSlovakia (32): This is Slovakia’s first ever Euro. They’ve competed at the 2010 World Cup before but never a Euro. Slovakia doesn’t have too many players on its national team playing for too many major leagues but they play very well as a team. In the past two years, they’ve had wins over Spain, Ukraine, Switzerland, Czech Republic and most recently Germany. They’ve also lost to Spain and Belarus. Leading to Euro 2016, their chances in Group play are iffy. The Falcons have always lost to England, have a win and a loss against Wales and have mixed results against Russia. France will be the grounds where they will take another step in defining themselves.

England fixedEngland (10): What do you do after your team has possibly their most humiliating result in World Cup play ever? Surprisingly England still kept coach Roy Hodgson after World Cup 2014. The Three Lions has since delivered excellent play since winning all but four of their games and losing only twice, to Spain and the Netherlands. Notable wins since include Germany and France. Hey, humiliation can be one helluva motivator.

The big question is can they continue their success streak into Euro 2016 all the way to the win. England has always had the reputation of bringing the most talented players to a major tournament but lacking the necessary team unity to win. They’ve shown since World Cup 2014 that England can play as a united team, and play very good. They will come to France with a lot of young talented players as well some of the young players of World Cup 2014 that have become well-seasoned over time and some older experienced veterans like Wayne Rooney. Euro 2016 will write another chapter for the team.

Russia FixedRussia (27): If there’s one team that’s struggling to make a name for itself, it’s Russia. Ever since the fall of the USSR in 1991, Russian football has struggled to get a reputation. It’s fallen out during the Group Stage in each of the three World Cups they’ve played. They’ve had better success at the Euro with a semifinals placement in 2008 but they’ve been Group Stage each of the three other times including the last Euro.

They want to deliver an excellent performance at this Euro especially with the fact they will host the 2018 World Cup. They want to send a message to the world they’re a force to be reckoned with. One thing Russia has returned to is hiring their own as head coach. In the past they hired foreign coaches like Guus Huddink and Fabio Capello to get their team in action. Now they have Leonid Slutsky who also coaches CSKA Moscow. All but one of the players are part of the Russian Premier League. They have a mixed record in the past two years. They have notable wins against Sweden and Portugal. They’ve only had three losses but to Austria, Croatia and France. Euro 2016 will not only be the arena for them to prove themselves once more but also to prepare en route to the big one in 2018.

Prediction: England has the most consistency. I think they will come out on top. Russia will come in second and Slovakia will come in third.

And there are my thoughts on Group B. Review of Group C up next.

UPDATE:

Here are my reviews of the other groups: