El Tri

2026 FIFA World Cup – Group A Focus

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

It’s 2026. For football fans around the world, this is their favorite year of the quadrennial because that mean the contesting of the FIFA World Cup! This year is the first year in which 48 teams will compete! This should make for a lot of excitement.

This World Cup also marks the first ever World Cup consisting of three host nations. True, we had a case where two Asian nations — Japan and South Korea — shared hosting duties but this is the first in which three nations agree to host together. Billed as the ‘United’ hosting, the nations are the North American nations of Canada, Mexico and the United States.

For those wondering of the venues hosting this World Cup, I’ll give a brief mention. The opening match will take place at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Friday, June 11th. The Final for the Cup will take place on Sunday, July 19th at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  Here’s a brief guide to the sixteen stadiums staging the matches:

  • MEXICO: Mexico City – EstadioAzteca
  • Guadalajara – Estadio Akron
  • Monterrey – Estadio BBVA
  • CANADA: Toronto – BMO Field
  • Vancouver – BC Place Stadium
  • U.S.A.: Dallas – AT & T Stadium
  • New York/New Jersey – MetLife Stadium
  • Atlanta – Mercedes Benz Stadium
  • Kansas City – GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
  • Houston – NRG Stadium
  • San Francisco Bay Area – Levi’s Stadium
  • Los Angeles – SoFi Stadium
  • Philadelphia – Lincoln Financial Field
  • Seattle – Lumen Field
  • Boston – Gilette Stadium
  • Miami – Hard Rock Stadium

The two nations hosting together have alerted of some possible complications. For those of you who paid attention to North American news in the past ten years, the political news has been a circus. The biggest news being the havoc Donald Trump provokes. In his first term, it was all about him building a wall against Mexico because of illegal immigration. Since returning to the presidency in January 2025, it’s been about threatening tariffs on Canada, claiming we shortchanged the nation. Even after he withdraws the tariffs, that hasn’t stopped him from talking smack about Canada. Further controversy erupted as it’s possible some nations like Iran are on Trump’s ‘no entry’ list. Is FIFA sure he deserved that Peace Prize?

Whatever the situation, the World Cup will go on and 48 teams will contest over a 39-day period to decide the best football nation in the world!

To start things off, here’s my look at Group A. The number in brackets is the team’s FIFA World Ranking as of May 2026:

–Mexico (15): Of all nations in North America, Mexico seems most rightful to host. This makes it the eighteenth World Cup Mexico will compete in and the third time they will host, having been the sole host of 1970 and 1986. Unfortunately Mexico has had some World Cup difficulties. They’re often the CONCACAF qualifiers but they are the team with the most World Cup defeats. Their best finishes are the quarterfinals but only when they’ve hosted. The 1986 is the only World Cup where they won a knockout match. At last year’s World Cup, it became the first since 1978 where they failed to qualify out of group play.

There is a ray of hope for Mexico. They won last year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. Their intercontinental play is still in question. The team has been coached by Javier Aguirre since 2024 and the team features stars like goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, defender Jesus Gallardo, midfielder Edson Alvarez and striker Raul Jimenez who plays in England for Fulham. They’ve recently had key wins against Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iceland and Ghana. They’ve also had some notable draws to Portugal, Belgium and South Korea and they’ve had notable losses to Colombia and Switzerland. The home stage is set for Mexico to prove they can be among the best.

-South Africa (60): No kidding Bafana Bafana are glad to be back at the World Cup for the first time since they hosted in 2010. When they were first reintroduced to FIFA in the late-90’s, there was a lot of hope for the team. Unfortunately things have not gone as well as they hoped. Three World Cup participations and out in the Group Stage. Even as host, they became the first host nation to fail to make it to the second round. Lately there have been signs of hope. South Africa finished third at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Also qualifying after being socked three game points for fielding an ineligible player during a qualifier game against Lesotho should tell the team is back.

The team is coached by Belgian Hugo Broos. Most of the players play for South Africa’s Premiership league but there are some who play for European teams. They’ve showed their ability to win against some of Africa’s biggest teams but they’ve also had losses to Cameroon, Egypt and Lesotho. They also haven’t had much experience playing teams outside of Africa over this year’s time. Nevertheless, United 2026 is the ideal arena for South Africa to possibly pull a shocker and delight the nation in the process.

-South Korea (25): I’m sure South Korea must be annoyed with being referred to as ‘Korea Republic.’ It’s easy to label them Asia’s best football team, especially since they have been at every World Cup since 1986 and are the only Asian team to make it to the semifinals. Only thing is the last time they won an Asian Cup was in 1960. Also despite having more success at the World Cup than the other Asian teams, I’m sure they would like to move past the Round Of 16 which is where they finished last World Cup. At the last Asian Cup, they only made it to the semifinals.

Since 2024, South Korea has made a return to having coaches from the home nation. Current head coach is Hong Myung-bo who lead South Korea to their fourth place finish in 2002 as World Cup co-hosts. The coaching staff is a mix of Koreans and Portuguese. The team features great players like goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu, defender Kim Min-jae who plays for Bayern Munich, midfielder Lee Jae-sung who plays for Mainz and striker Son Heung-min who plays for Los Angeles FC and is South Korea’s most capped player ever. Recent play has given them some key wins against the United States, Bolivia and Ghana. They endured a 2-2 draw against Mexico in September, and had losses to Brazil, Austria and the Ivory Coast. This World Cup is another change for South Korea to prove themselves and what they’re able to achieve.

-Czechia (41): It’s tempting to feel for Czechia. Back when Czechoslovakia existed, the team qualified for eight World Cups and made the finals twice. After Czechoslovakia split up, the Narodak have qualified for every Euro and even finished in the Top 3 twice, but this is only their second World Cup! The only other World Cup appearance was back in 2006. Hard to believe a nation with that much football talent has only qualified for two World Cups.

The current team has an all-Czech coaching staff with 75 year-old Miroslav Koubek being the head coach. Top stars of the national team include defender Valdimir Coufal who plays for TSG Hoffenheim, midfielder Tomas Soucek who plays for West Ham United and striker Patrik Schick who plays for Bayer Leverkusen. Over the past twelve months, they’ve achieved many wins over major European teams, a draw to Saudi Arabia and losses to Croatia and the Faroe Islands. Chances are Czechia could achieve its best success in decades at this World Cup.

My Qualifier Predictions: Not only do I review the teams but I also predict which teams will qualify for the knockout rounds. For this tournament, it’s the Top 2 of each group and the eight best third-place teams that qualify. Very much like the World Cups from 1986 to 1994 where it was the four best third-place teams! I will go with Korea Republic and Mexico with Czechia being the wildcard qualifier.

Also since we’re on the topic of the knockout rounds, I have to bring up something unique about this year’s World Cup. It’s the first World Cup to have the Knockout Round start with a Round Of 32! That’s how it is with 48 teams! Going from starting with a Round of 16 to starting with a Round Of 32! Possibly the craziest thing is how this new format is expanding the World Cup from 64 games to 104! No wonder three nations are needed to host this format of tournament for the first time!

On the topic of the third-place ‘wildcard’ qualifiers, we’ve had three World Cups in the past with a 24-team tournament that lead to four wildcard qualifiers. Now it’s eight wildcard qualifiers! FIFA has a list of which group’s wildcard team will play who once the eight qualifiers are decides. When you see it on Wikipedia or at the FIFA website, you can see how it will only make sense to FIFA!

And there you have it! There’s my look at the teams from Group A of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Hard to believe I have eleven more blogs to go! For past World Cup blogs, I would have seven after my first. Now it’s eleven!

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

2024 Copa America: Group B Focus

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

With all this confusion, it’s unclear whether the Copa America will continue to be a sixteen-team tournament or go back to being a twelve-team tournament in 2028. The only times it’s ever been a twelve-team tournament is when the US hosts. In the meantime, let’s enjoy the excitement. Moving along, here’s my review of the Group B teams. Interesting is that none of the teams in this group have ever won the Copa:

-Mexico (14): El Tri or El Tricolor have historically been seen as the top team of the CONCACAF. Over time, people have often seen Mexico as a team that is capable of achieving more than they have. They’ve been runner-up twice at the Copa America and their best World Cup finish is the quarterfinals. At Qatar 2022, they failed to make it to the knockout round for the first time since 1978. They’ve been wanting to recover from that disappointment since.

For less than a year, Mexico has been managed by Jaime Lozano. Most of the players play for teams in Mexico’s Liga MX with some playing in teams from European leagues. Many are under 25 years of age. Top players include midfielders Edson Alvarez and Orbelin Pineda. Since World Cup 2022, They’ve achieved wins against Panama, Costa Rica and Bolivia. They’ve had a win and a draw against Jamaica as well as draws against Australia, Germany and Cameroon. They also had a draw and a loss to the US and losses to Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil and Qatar. Here at the Copa America, Mexico has another chance to prove themselves and they could do magic.

-Ecuador (31): La Tri or La Tricolor have had their biggest success in the 21st Century. They qualified for their first World Cup in 2002 and have qualified for three more since. At the Copa America, Ecuador have never finished in the Top 3 and the best they’ve done in this century is finishes in the quarterfinals. No doubt that they want this to be their best Copa ever.

Ecuador is managed by Spain’s Felix Sanchez who coached Qatar’s team for the 2022 World Cup. The irony being Ecuador played Qatar in the opening game of that World Cup! The players play for a mix of teams in European and South American leagues and half are under 25 years old. Top players include midfielders Angel Mena and Carlos Gruezo and forward Enner Valencia who is Ecuador’s greatest goal scorer ever and scored both goals in the opening game of the World Cup! Since that World Cup, they’ve had wins to Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay, draws to Colombia and Venezuela, and losses to Argentina, Australia and Italy. The stage is set in the US and Ecuador could have what it takes to deliver their best-ever performance in a Copa America.

-Venezuela (54): You may think every South American nation has been to at least one World Cup. Wrong! Venezuela is the one team from the CONMEBOL that has never qualified for a World Cup. Like Ecuador, they’ve never had a Top 3 finish at the Copa America either. Despite that, La Vinotinto has qualified for the Copa’s quarterfinals more often than the 20th Century.

Since last year, Venezuela has been coached by Argentinian Fernando Bautista. Some of the players play for European teams but most play for teams in South American leagues or Mexico’s Liga MX. Top players include defender Alexander Gonzalez, midfielder Tomas Rincon and forward Salomon Rondon. The team has achieved wins against Chile, Paraguay and Saudi Arabia. They’ve had draws to Brazil, Peru and Ecuador and endured losses to Colombia and Italy. Anything can happen in football and Venezuela could just blow past many people’s low expectations.

-Jamaica (55): One thing you should not do is you should not underestimate the Reggae Boyz. They’ve been to one World Cup, back in 1998. For the CONCACAF Gold Cup, they’ve been runners-up twice in 2015 and 2017 and have been in two previous Copas. They also finished 3rd in this year’s CONCACAF Nation’s League. With the World Cup expanding to 48 teams in an attempt to get more teams from Asia, Central America and the Caribbean into the tournament, you can bet Jamaica wants to seize that chance!

Jamaica is one of few teams at this Copa managed by a European coach. The coach is Iceland’s Heimir Hallgrimson who helped coach Iceland to the Euro.2016 quarterfinals and their first World Cup qualification. Top players include defender Damion Lowe, forward Shamar Nicholson and goalkeeper Andre Blake. In the past year and a half, they’ve had wins against Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras and Canada. They’ve had a win and a loss against Canada and endured a draw and a loss to both Mexico and the United States and a loss to Qatar. This Copa America is another chance for Jamaica to show how good they are and even go further than most anticipated.

My Prediction: It’s a bit hard to side with the statistics, but they do tell a lot. I will predict Mexico and Ecuador to be the teams that advance.

And there you have it. That’s my look at Group B of Copa America 2024. There are the two heavy favorites but the two teams not favored are capable of delivering upsets.

World Cup 2022 Preview: Group C

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

It’s crazy that this World Cup will be taking place in November. This is the first World Cup ever to take place in the months of November and December. Why so late in the year? Well, the COVID pandemic delaying a lot of athletic events could have a lot to do with it. But I feel it has more to do about the weather. With the average maximum temperatures in June, July and August being above 40 Celsius, it’s no wonder this desert climate would have the World Cup put on hold until November with an average maximum just being under 30 Celsius and a December maximum average just under 25. Which makes pure sense.

Now my next group of focus is Group C. With two of the teams being in FIFA’s Top 15, many think the two qualifiers to the knockout stage are the most obvious, but anything is possible in football. Favorites can be surprised in the end and team you thought we long shots actually get in. So here’s my run-down:

-Argentina (3): Even though Argentina has a lot of top calibre players over the years, all the attention seems to be focused on Lionel Messi. It’s always been about how a major championship has always stood in his way. He missed the World Cup by that much. He missed the Copa America by that much. When will he win one? He and his Argentinean teammates finally won a Copa America last year! As well as a CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions back in June.

Joining Messi in his fifth pursuit of a World Cup is star midfielder Angel Di Maria and defender Nicolas Otamendi who also rank in Argentina’s ten most capped players ever. The Albiceleste has a lot of seasoned veterans and has included some new young blood as part of their lineup for Qatar. Argentina has a history of firing coaches after the World Cup. Since World Cup 2018, the team has been coached by Lionel Scaloni who actually played on the very first World Cup team for Argentina that Messi played for: 2006! Since the Copa America, Argentina have not had a loss. They’ve had notable wins against Brazil, Chile and Italy, and draws against Ecuador and Paraguay. They come to Qatar as the team most expected to win and Messi’s last chance for a World Cup. Their moment is theirs to prove.

-Saudi Arabia (51): This is Saudi Arabia’s sixth World Cup appearance. Their best-ever result is a Round-of-Sixteen finish in the 1994 World Cup. Most recently in 2019, they were runners-up in the Arabian Gulf Cup. Expectations are not high for Saudi Arabia, but one advantage they have over most other teams is that they’re best conditioned in playing in desert climates. That’s an advantage that could pay off unexpectedly.

The Green Falcons are an interesting lineup. The Saudi team will often be coached by a foreign coach while the players won’t be allowed to play for foreign teams. The coach is currently Frenchman Herve Renard. The team has racked up recent wins against North Macedonia and Iceland, draws against United States, Ecuador and Australia, and losses against Colombia and Japan. Qatar is another chance to prove that they have what it takes.

-Mexico (13): Mexico is commonly seen as a sleeping giant. They’re a team capable of going far, but waiting for their World Cup moment. Only once did they ever win a knockout round game at the World Cup and that was back in 1986 when they hosted! They’ve all lost out in the Round-of-Sixteen these past seven World Cups. Since Russia 2018, they’ve won the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup and were runners-up to the US in 2021. They look forward to being co-hosts with the United hosting in 2026. However they come looking for glory here in Qatar.

The current Mexican team play in a mix of clubs in Mexico, Europe and the United States. Their coach is an Argentinean: Gerardo Martino. This should be interesting when El Tri play Argentina. Recently they acquired wins against Peru, Nigeria and Jamaica. They’ve also drawn against Ecuador, Costa Rica and the United States. They’ve also endured losses this year to Uruguay and Colombia. 2022 could be the year Mexico takes their team in a new direction.

-Poland (26): This century, Poland has been known as a team to blow a lot of their chances. At the 2002 World Cup, they were expected to go far, but lost out in the group stage. They made it to the quarterfinals of Euro 2016 and expectations were big for them at World Cup 2018, but again they were ousted in the group stage. Bad luck continued as they wer out in the group stage of Euro 2020.

Robert Lewandowski is the captain of the team. Already he holds the team records for most caps and most goals. Joining him will be star defender Kamil Glik and top midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak. Since their Euro 2020 disappointment, they’ve been coached by Czeslaw Michniewicz. Since Euro 2020, they’ve had notable wins against Wales and Sweden, draws against the Netherlands and Scotland, and notable losses against Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary. 2022 is a chance to go beyond expectations.

MY PREDICTION: And now that moment where I will have to do the eventual. And that’s make two predictions for the teams that will advance to the knockout stage. I believe it to be Argentina and Mexico.

And there you have it. My review and predictions for Group C. Hard to believe it will all start in 12 days. The excitement never dies, does it?