Meet the Group of Death at 2026 World Cup, where these 4 teams have toughest road

It’s generally accepted that every World Cup there is one “Group of Death,” where the competition is so brutal that at least one highly ranked team will fail to move onto the knockout stage. While most groups will have one legitimate contender, one possible contender, and then two easier opponents, the Group of Death will have at least two top teams, with the other two having a chance to be trap games.

This happens because of the 12 group format. It’s a simple numbers game where sorting all the teams into groups will naturally lead to some being paired up unequally. On Friday we got our first look at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group of Death — which is Group L, and it’s absolutely brutal.

• England (No. 4)
• Croatia (No. 10)
• Ghana (No. 79)
• Panama (No. 30)

There is a strong possibility three teams could get in with the expanded seeding which means the eight best 3rd place teams advance, but this is still an absolutely brutal group to make it out of.

Has a team ever won the World Cup out of the Group of Death?

Yes, but it’s been a long, long time. The last time a team won the World Cup from the Group of Death was in 1982 when Italy was in Group 1 with Poland, Cameroon, and Peru. It was a brutal group with only one win as Poland beat Peru, with every other game being a draw.

Brazil was the first team to win out of the Group of Death in 1970, and Argentina did the same in 1978.

What are some of the most notable Group of Deaths in modern history?

The last Group of Death in 2022 was Group E. This contained Spain, Germany, Japan, and Costa Rica. Spain and Germany were two past champions, and the FIFA rankings entering the cup were 7, 11, 24, and 31 respectively — making it much more difficult than other groups.

Other notable groups since 2000 are:

2002 — Group F

Sweden
England
Argentina
Nigeria

2006 — Group C

Argentina
Netherlands
Ivory Coast
Serbia and Montenegro

2010 — Group G

Brazil
Portugal
Ivory Coast
North Korea

2014 — Group D

Costa Rica
Uruguay
Italy
England

2018 — Group D

Croatia
Argentina
Nigeria
Iceland