FOOTBALL – After months of anticipation, the 2026 Fifa World Cup draw on Friday has given a much clearer picture of how next summer’s tournament will play out.

There still is the business of six qualification spots, four coming from Europe and two more from Fifa’s intercontinental playoffs, both set to be staged in March.

But we now mostly know the group alignments, the potential paths and the storylines that are likely to captivate us for more than a month next summer.

Here are a few key takeaways:

Group of Death: Group L – England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama

Co-hosts Canada’s Group B could become very formidable if Italy emerge from their playoff path. The same could be said of the USA’s Group D if Türkiye join. And any of the three confirmed Group I teams (France, Norway, Senegal) conceivably could win that foursome.

But England’s Group L is likely the most difficult on paper. Ghana have a far better European-based talent pool to pull from than their No 72 Fifa ranking currently suggests.

Croatia and England are both teams that could reach a World Cup final. And Panama have consistently been one of the top four teams in Concacaf over the past decade.

Group of Life: Group G – Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand

While Belgium still received Pot 1 status, it is clearly a national team programme in generational transition, which will leave Egypt and Iran both dreaming of pulling off an upset or two and winning the group.

Even New Zealand will think they have a shot to advance from their World Cup group for the first time.

Elsewhere, Argentina will feel they received a favourable draw in Group J (alongside Algeria, Austria and Jordan), and Portugal and Colombia will like their chances to advance without incident from Group K.

Best group games

Brazil v Morocco (Group C): A Brazilian side possibly moving on from Neymar face a Morocco team with heightened expectations after becoming the first-ever African semifinalists in 2022.

Egypt v Iran (Group G): A potentially explosive encounter between two strong footballing forces that have relatively little competitive history between them.

Spain v Uruguay (Group H): A fascinating clash in styles between Luis de la Fuente’s modernised version of the Spanish tiki-taka and Marcelo Bielsa’s organised chaos.

France v Norway (Group I): A game that could feature arguably the world’s two best goal-scorers, France’s Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haaland.

England v Croatia (Group L): The sides will meet for a fourth time at a major international tournament since 2004.