Group B preview, prediction, players to watch, Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland fixtures, schedule and squads

Group B Preview

The second group to get underway, with co-hosts Canada opening their tournament against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto. Switzerland and Qatar complete the quartet in what shapes up as one of the more fascinating groups this summer.

A winnable group on paper for any side, but Switzerland will start as favourites alongside Canada. However, don’t count out Bosnia and Herzegovina after they knocked out Italy in the play-off final to quality.

Group B Fixtures and Where to Watch

Now you know the schedule, let’s take a look at every Group B team in detail.

CANADA: 2026 World Cup preview, star player, prediction

Coach: Jesse Marsch
Qualification: Co-hosts
Best World Cup: Group stage (1986, 2022)

Canada host a World Cup on home soil for the first time, and the weight of that occasion is both the greatest gift and the greatest burden Jesse Marsch’s side carries into Group B.

When they reached Qatar 2022 as fully-fledged qualifiers, it felt like a breakthrough moment, but now the expectation is something more.

Marsch, who took charge in 2024 and steered Canada to the Copa America semi-finals before bowing out to Argentina, has assembled a squad capable of causing some surprises.

The concern, as the tournament approaches, is fitness. Alphonso Davies suffered a hamstring strain in the Champions League semi-finals and arrives into camp doubtful for the opener, while other key names around the squad have carried knocks into the final weeks of the club season.

Nonetheless, no team in Group B will relish playing Canada in front of a passionate home crowd.

Star Player: Jonathan David’s time to shine

Canada’s all-time record goalscorer with 39 goals in 75 appearances, Jonathan David heads into the tournament as the focal point of everything Marsch wants to do going forward.

His time at Juventus has been less productive than his Lille years, seven goals in 38 appearances across all competitions, but no one doubts the quality of a player who scored 87 goals in 178 games during his time in Ligue 1.

At 26 and at a home World Cup, this is the moment the striker was built for. If Canada are going to make history, they will likely do it through him.

Prediction: Canada to find way to knockout stages

Canada should qualify from this group. Their co-host status helps enormously, as does a draw that has spared them from the tournament’s most dangerous sides.

But nothing is guaranteed, and the opening game against Bosnia, a team that just knocked out Italy, could be the match that decides their tournament.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Coach: Sergej Barbarez
Qualification: UEFA Playoff Path A winners
Best World Cup: Group stage (2014)

They did it the hard way. Sergej Barbarez’s side navigated the UEFA playoffs with nerves of steel, beating Wales on penalties in Cardiff before a stunning 4-1 shootout win over Italy in Zenica that sent the country into dream-like scenes of celebration.

Bosnia and Herzegovina are back at the World Cup for only the second time in their history, 12 years on from Brazil, and they arrive on the back of what their nation will consider a miracle result.

Barbarez, himself a Bosnian football legend, has built his side on high energy and an aggressive physical setup. Benjamin Tahirovic and Armin Gigovic provide the engine in central midfield. Stuttgart’s Ermedin Demirovic does the dirty work and links play. And at the front of it all, at 40 years old and gearing up for the last great act of an extraordinary career, is Edin Dzeko.

The squad is largely a diaspora project, eight players come from German clubs spread across the top three divisions, the rest scattered across Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and Eastern Europe.

There is no Miralem Pjanic anymore; the former Juventus and Barcelona midfielder retired in December 2025, leaving Dzeko as the sole survivor from the golden generation that reached Brazil.

Star Player: Dzeko still naughty in his forties

Perhaps the most compelling story of the entire tournament. Dzeko turned 40 in March and is currently plying his trade in the 2.Bundesliga with Schalke, where he became the oldest goalscorer in the league’s history earlier this season.

He scored six goals in the qualifying campaign, including a crucial late equaliser against Italy that forced the shootout. He is no longer the player who tore up the Premier League at Manchester City or terrorised defences at Roma, but what remains is his experience.

Prediction: Beat Qatar and trust your luck

Bosnia are dangerous in the way that all teams built around a single transcendent figure can be. They will not make life easy for anyone in this group. But the gap in quality and experience between them and Switzerland is significant, and even Canada will fancy their chances. Third place is a realistic ceiling.

QATAR

Coach: Julen Lopetegui
Qualification: AFC Fourth Round Group winners
Best World Cup: Group stage (2022)

Qatar’s path to North America was anything but serene. Back-to-back Asian Cup champions in 2019 and 2023, they nonetheless stumbled through World Cup qualifying, finishing fourth in their third-round group, suffering a 3-0 defeat to Uzbekistan along the way before ultimately grinding through a final mini-group to secure their place.

That inconsistency, and the circumstances of their appointment of Julen Lopetegui in May 2025, speaks to a team still searching for its identity on the world stage.

Lopetegui is a name Premier League fans will know well, two spells in England with Wolves and West Ham, both brief, both underwhelming.

His record with Qatar so far reads just two wins, one of which came in his very first game.

Almost the entire squad is drawn from the Qatar Stars League, which gives the team a level of club chemistry that international sides rarely enjoy, but simultaneously limits their exposure to the elite nature of World Cup football.

Star Player: Afif has chance to star on global stage

Twice named Asian Player of the Year, Akram Afif is the most technically gifted player Qatar possess and the creative engine around which Lopetegui must build.

Notably, he contributed 11 assists in World Cup qualifying, the most of any player across the entire AFC confederation. He is quick, direct and capable of producing moments of genuine quality.

The question that has followed him throughout his career is whether he can translate performances built on the relative comfort of the Qatar Stars League onto the biggest stages.

Prediction: Qatar facing early exit

Qatar are the group’s weakest side and realistically face an uphill task to reach the round of 32. The three teams with them in the group are all superior on paper.

However, they cannot be entirely dismissed. Afif and Almoez Ali are legitimate threats, and Lopetegui’s tactical nous gives them a marginal edge over sides that have underestimated their structure before.

A third-place finish with a potential route to the knockout rounds as one of the top eight third-placed teams is the best outcome.

SWITZERLAND

Coach: Murat Yakin
Qualification: UEFA Group B winners
Best World Cup: Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954)

Switzerland are, on paper, the best team in Group B. Ranked 17th in the world, with a squad built on proven European talent, Yakin’s side arrive in North America with genuine belief that they can go further than the last-16 exits that have become almost a routine occurrence at recent World Cups.

In five of their last six World Cup appearances, they have exited at that stage. The hunt for a quarter-final berth is the minimum objective.

The spine of the team is excellent. Gregor Kobel is one of the best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga. Manuel Akanji at Inter Milan is a World Cup-calibre centre-back.

And in midfield, Sunderland’s Granit Xhaka is captain for an unprecedented fourth consecutive World Cup and remains the architect who dictates tempo and sets the tone for the entire squad.

Behind the experienced guard, there is youth and dynamism in the form of Ardon Jashari at AC Milan, Dan Ndoye at Nottingham Forest and Noah Okafor at Leeds United.

Yakin has been characteristically pragmatic in his squad selection, mixing experienced veterans with younger talent.

The loss of Xherdan Shaqiri, Yann Sommer and Haris Seferovic to international retirement has removed some of the most recognisable names from previous tournaments, but the overall standard has not dropped.

Star Player: Great Granit will lead the Swiss

At 33 and with 145 caps, Xhaka prepares for his fourth World Cup and, in all likelihood, his last. His move from Bayer Leverkusen to Sunderland raised eyebrows, but his quality shone through immediately, playing a huge role in the Wearsiders securing a Europa League spot a year after promotion to the Premier League.

He is Switzerland’s most-capped outfield player, their leader and their most important footballer. Will likely be one of the best midfielders at the tournament.

Prediction: Top spot for Switzerland

Switzerland should top the group. Their quality, experience and tactical organisation give them a clear edge over the other three sides, and while Canada on home soil will be a difficult final group game, the Swiss have the tools to handle the occasion. A last-16 appearance is the floor.

Predicted Group B table