Clash of giants: Haaland to take on Mbappé at the World Cup

The World Cup draw has produced several groups that present genuine challenges for the favourites. While there may be no true “group of death”, which is unsurprising given the number of participants this year, Groups C and I do feature some major contenders.

In Group C, Brazil — one of the favourites to win the title — will face Morocco, Scotland, and Haiti. Haiti look the most manageable opponent, but Morocco deserve attention, as they are arguably the team that has improved the most over the past five years. Scotland are also traditionally strong and now feature McTominay, one of the standout players in Italian football.

France will meet Senegal, Norway, and the winner of the playoff involving Bolivia, Suriname, and Iraq. Norway are a formidable side, having topped their qualifying group ahead of Italy, and with Haaland, Odegaard, Sorloth, and Nusa, they possess a highly dangerous attack. Senegal also have several high-calibre players, including Nico Jackson, Mané, and Koulibaly.

The competition format means these two favourites could still progress even if they finish third, but a poor group stage could have a psychological impact ahead of the knockout rounds.

Among the other favourites, the Netherlands and Portugal also face demanding groups. Ronald Koeman’s team will take on Japan, Tunisia, and a particularly tough European playoff path that includes Ukraine, Sweden, Poland, and Albania.

Argentina’s group (Austria, Algeria, and Jordan) and England’s (Croatia, Ghana, and Panama) may produce a few surprises, but neither should cause major concern for two of the leading contenders.

Germany appear to be the luckiest of the major nations, landing in Group E with Curaçao, who are making their debut, Ivory Coast, who struggled in African qualifying, and Ecuador, the only solid opponent in the group. Belgium and Portugal do not seem to have difficult paths either.

The easiest groups belong to the hosts, for obvious reasons. Without a clear favourite, their groups lack much competitive strength.