2026 FIFA World Cup: How does co-host Canada stack up against other Group B opponents?
It’s less than 100 days to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with co-host Canada looking to advance past the group stage for the first time ever.
Canada is in Group B along with Switzerland, Qatar and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Canadians have the second-highest FIFA World Ranking among that group and the expectation should be nothing less than an appearance in the knockout stage.
So, how does Canada stack up against the rest of Group B? Let’s find out.
Canada
Canada will look to shed their reputation as purely a hockey nation when they co-host the world’s biggest sporting event in June and July.
This will be Canada’s third trip to the World Cup after playing in Mexico in 1986 and Qatar in 2022, but they have never advanced past the group stage or even won a match.
Still, there’s a lot of optimism in this squad led by Bayern Munich superstar Alphonso Davies. The Edmonton native will have some talented help with the likes of Juventus forward Jonathan David and Southampton’s Cyle Larin.
Currently ranked 30th in the world, Canada opens the group stage on June 12 in Toronto against No. 65 Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Switzerland
The Swiss are the top ranked team in Group B at No. 19 in the FIFA World Rankings and they come in as -125 favourites to win the group.
Switzerland has played in the last five World Cups and reached the knockout stage in the last three, but never advanced further.
Led by captain Granit Xhaka of Premier League club Sunderland, the Swiss didn’t drop a game in qualifying and only allowed two goals in six matches.
It hasn’t been as smooth in recent friendlies, however, as Switzerland dropped a 4-3 decision against Germany then played a scoreless draw against Norway.
Switzerland opens the World Cup against world N0. 55 Qatar on June 13 in Santa Clara, California.
Qatar
Qatar is in the World Cup for just the second time ever after hosting in 2022. They’ll hope for a better result this time around after being eliminated in the group stage four years ago while only scoring one goal.
Something that might surprise you is how homegrown Qatar is. The country has been very ambitious when it comes to developing its national team and domestic league and almost every player on the roster plays professionally in Qatar.
If you want to highlight a couple of players, look at team captain Hassan Al-Haydos and striker Almoez Ali. Al-Haydos, who retired from the national team in 2024 but came back for the World Cup, has 41 goals in 184 international matches, while Ali has 55 goals in 118 appearances.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina earned one of the final World Cup spots after eliminating Italy in a penalty shootout on March 31, with much of Canada likely breathing a sigh of relief as a result knowing they won’t have to face the Azzurri.
This will be Bosnia’s second World Cup after they failed to advance past the group stage in 2014.
Striker Edin Dzeko is arguably Bosnia’s greatest player as the nation’s all-time leading scorer with 73 goals in 148 international matches. There’s some concern, however, as Dzeko suffered a shoulder injury in the win against Italy and there’s been no conclusive update on how serious the injury is.