By Neel Shelat
🇲🇽 Mexico
Mexico is set to become the first country to host the FIFA Men’s World Cup three times. A festive atmosphere is expected at the Estadio Azteca before the opening of the tournament between Sorting and South Africa, but it could quickly be replaced by tensions in the air.
The team’s run of seven consecutive World Cup knockout matches ended in 2022 as they were beaten by Poland in Group C. They went on to win a few more CONCACAF titles, but disappointed again on the big stage with another group stage exit at the 2024 Copa América.
Experienced head coach Javier Aguirre was subsequently recruited, taking charge of the national team for the third time in his storied career. He set about transforming the team into a solid unit, making it more compact defensively and harder to break down. This has come at the expense of some entertainment value since they don’t take many risks going forward, but it seems to be a style of play suited to tournament football – as evidenced by their triumph at the 2025 Gold Cup.
Captain Edson Álvarez will have a key role to play with his leadership both off and on the pitch, as he sets the pace and can pass into the backline from midfield to further dictate proceedings. An attack that relies on creativity could use the spark of Alexis Vega or even Gilberto Mora – who last year became the youngest player in the Mexico men’s national team and is still only 17 – while the likes of Raúl Jiménez and Saudi Pro League top scorer Julián Quiñones will be keen to shut down the chances that present themselves.
Mexico is the top-ranked team in a group that includes South Africa, South Korea and Czechia. They should therefore be supported to qualify for the round of 16. Their path becomes a little murkier.
On paper, finishing second could produce the most favorable draw for the round of 16, as it would pit them against the runners-up in a relatively weak Group B, while the former could come up against tricky opponents like Ivory Coast, Ecuador or Scotland, and progression from third would likely set up a meeting with Germany.
🇨🇦Canada
Canada should be very happy with the group stage draw since they are in the aforementioned Group B, which appears to be the weakest of the tournament in many ways.
Double qualifiers Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Qatar, who qualified for the first time as non-hosts, are teams against whom Jesse Marsch’s side will be considered favorites, so they can aim for much more than their first Men’s World Cup point in their third appearance at the competition. Their schedule also looks good, since these are the two teams they will face first.
Canada has a good chance of avoiding the big hitters early in the knockout stage as long as they finish in the top two, so their campaign has a good chance of continuing into July. They won’t be afraid to take on one of the tournament favorites either, having become a very well-trained and cohesive unit in recent years.
Their American head coach Marsch deserves credit for this, as he came in and instilled his pressing-based style of play into the team very well. He took the team to the semi-finals of the 2024 Copa América in his first ever competitive matches in charge.
The team has remained virtually unchanged over the past two years, as have the tactics and key players. Canada has plenty of quality on the wings and up front, including Alphonso Davies (who is dependent on his recovery from injury) and Jonathan David, but a lot can depend on the strength of their defense. And how good they are replacing Moïse Bombito, who was not deemed fit to continue after being tested in a training match at the weekend.
🇺🇸 United States
The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) has advanced to the Round of 16 in each of the last three World Cups for which it has qualified. Their goal for this home World Cup will be to at least continue this momentum, but they will have to overcome some tricky obstacles along the way.
On the one hand, their group poses a quiet challenge. Turkey have a talented team with outstanding attackers capable of winning a match on their own, Australia are tough and will be keen to reach back-to-back Men’s World Cup Round of 16 for the first time, and Paraguay are no pushovers either. In fact, Group D is the only one in the tournament in which all teams are in the top 40 of the FIFA world rankings, making it arguably the hardest to name.
Topping the group will be important to ensure a smoother Round of 16 run, as the runner-up will likely face Egypt or Iran, both of whom are well experienced and can be very difficult to break down. So, the USMNT will need to bring its A game from the start.
However, it’s not entirely clear what shape the team will take. Mauricio Pochettino has experimented with both the back three and four in recent matches, although some fundamentals such as the progression of full-backs and attackers operating on the pitch have remained consistent.
Chris Richards’ injury problems would be a major blow to the defensive unit, but Pochettino hopes midfielders like Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie can provide enough support. Moving forward, a lot could rest on Christian Pulisic, who had a great first half of the season with Milan but fell off considerably after the start of the year, recording just two assists and no goals. He will need to find his best form if the USMNT is to have a satisfactory run at home.
(Images from IMAGO)
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