The 2026 FIFA World Cup is kicking off in North America this June. The historic tournament will include 48 teams, the most ever.
We’re going to get to know them, and all of the rich storylines for each country leading up to the World’s tournament. If you don’t have a team to root for yet, after learning about all of them, hopefully you will be a fan for a country whether it is an underdog, or a tournament favorite.
There is no better way to start than with who I call the “Hometown Heroes,” or in other words, the three host countries; Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Canada
As of today, Canada is ranked 29 in the world and has been slotted into the Group B alongside Switzerland, Qatar and the winner of the B qualifiers tournament is between Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This will be the third time Canada has ever qualified for a World Cup, with the first being the 1986 Mexico World Cup and the second being the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Unfortunately for Canada, they have never made it past the group stage, and as a matter of fact, they have never recorded a win in the major tournament, sporting an all time record of 0-6.
Canada will be led by head coach Jesse Marsch who has been at the helm since May 2024, moving on from his one year stint at Leeds United in the 2022-2023 season. The team ended bottom of the table getting relegated to the EFL Championship.
The only goal scorer for Canada, left back Alphonso Davies will be healthy following an ACL tear and is widely considered the star for the team. Alongside Davies is center forward Jonathan David, and right winger Tajon Buchanan. Maxime Crépeau will be the starting goalkeeper for the team, and this will be his first time at a World Cup as he missed 2022 with a broken leg.
Team Canada faithfuls are more confident than ever before this tournament, and I would predict that they will get their first win and have good odds to make it out of Group B, although it is hard to see Canada truly make their mark on the World Cup, I would like to think this is the beginning of elite soccer play for the Country.
Mexico
Mexico is ranked 16 and the favorite to win Group A which consists of South Africa, South Korea and the winner of the A qualifiers tournament between Denmark, Ireland, Denmark and North Macedonia. The team has appeared in every World Cup since 1994, and in 18 out of 22 all-time, demonstrating Mexico’s long, rich history with the tournament.
Unfortunately the El Tricolor’s story with the World Cup is one of hardship even though they are consistently considered one of the stronger teams. The team has never won the golden trophy, and the furthest they’ve made it was the quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986.
The team has now developed a reputation for their “Round of 16” curse: they have advanced to the knockout stage consecutively from 1994-2018, but were eliminated in the first round each time. The curse was technically broken in the 2022 World Cup; however, it was not because Mexico finally made it past the first round, but because they were knocked out in the group stage for the first time since 1978.
Despite this, Mexico is entering the 2026 tournament making history; they are the first country to host/co-host the World Cup three times.
The squad has undergone significant changes under the leadership of new head coach Javier Aguirre. The team’s aim has been to get younger. In 2022 the roster’s average age was ~32, but the current roster? 25.
This squad also features a mixture of experience in Edson Álvarez and Raúl Jiménez, and youth with standout players being Armando González (22), Marcel Ruiz (25), and the young midfielder Gilberto Mora (17).
Fans, however, have mixed feelings about the goalkeeper position. With Aguirre’s quest to make the team younger, the biggest question mark of all is around one of the faces of Mexican soccer, Guillermo Ochoa. He has indicated that he wants to play, but the goalie locker room is competitive with Ángel Malagón and Raúl Rangel.
Ochoa has been the go to player for the last five world cups, and if he starts for 2026, he will make history for most appearances in World Cups by a goalkeeper. This storyline will be interesting to monitor as we draw closer to June 11 where Mexico will take on South Africa in the opening match for the 2026 World Cup at 12 p.m. PST.
Mexico fans around the world will be hoping to break the Round of 16 curse once and for all and make a deep run with their younger roster, and I believe that although it will be tough for them,they should have no trouble making it to the knockout stages as a high seed, giving them the best odds to make that goal happen.
United States
The U.S. squad is ranked 15 in the world and in group D alongside Paraguay, Australia and the winner of the D qualifiers between Turkey, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo. Fans would like to believe that this is the year they make it past the round of 16 for the first time since the 2002 World Cup, when captain Claudio Reyna led the team to the Quarter-Finals.
This will be the country’s 11th visit to the World Cup. Their best finish was third place losing to Argentina in the Semi-finals in the inaugural 1930 World Cup in Uruguay. The US has been working hard on becoming relevant in the world of soccer again and have qualified every world cup since 1990 with the exception of 2018.
The roster is on the younger side and considered the “golden generation” of talent with many players considered to be entering their prime. The current poster child for team USA is the highly touted forward/winger Christian Pulisic, and he is backed up by 2024 U.S. Soccer’s Male Player of the Year left-back Antonee Robinson, center-back Chris Richards and offensive minded right back Sergiño Dest, who are much needed additions to bolster the teams defence. Midfielders Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah, Malik Tillman and Tyler Adams are expected to strengthen the offense.
Even the new head coach Mauricio Pochettino is an upgrade for the team, as he has plenty of high-level experience from coaching Chelsea, PSG, and Tottenham, also known as an offensive minded coach who prioritizes player development.
It seems as though everything has been going the right way for Team USA, and there is no time like the present to root for the team with confidence than this year. The team is going into it understanding that the rest of the world views them as a non-threat, and this is their chance to prove the world wrong. I for one will be hoping for the US to leave their mark, and I think they will certainly make it to the knockout stages and the question will be if the pressure turns them into diamonds, or breaks them to where they have a disappointing result early in the knockout stage.
All three teams will be fun to watch, each with their own storylines — it’ll be exciting to see which host country will go the furthest, and potentially defy expectations.