THE ALS WORLD CUP TEAM GUIDE (PART 1)

The 23rd edition of the World Cup is almost upon us, with 48 teams, three host nations, 16 stadiums and 104 matches, it’s the biggest ever. Here’s a brief(ish) overview of the teams in Groups A, B and C at the upcoming tournament and how I think they'll get on:

MEXICO

RANKED: 15TH

MY PREDICTION: QUARTER FINAL

Hosts Mexico will be looking to reach the final eight of the tournament after years of missing out. Look out for veteran goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (aged 40),who is the most capped member of the squad with 152 appearances, you’ll be familiar with Raul Jimenez of Fulham in the team and their captain, Edson Alvarez, is contracted to West Ham United. 17-year-old attacking midfielder Gilberto Mora is the youngest of their players and they’re managed by Javier Aguirre, a 67-year-old veteran, who is now in his third spell as Mexico boss. He’s previously led them to success in the CONCACAF Gold Cup (2009 and 2025) and in the CONCACAF Nations League (2025), plus he orchestrated a run to the 2001 Copa America final. I’m backing them to reach the quarter final stage, for the first time since 1986 when they last hosted.

SOUTH KOREA

RANKED: 25TH

MY PREDICTION: ROUND OF 32

Captained by veteran forward Son Heung-min, now of Los Angeles FC, their greatest ever player (the most capped and just three goals away from becoming their top goalscorer) should provide enough firepower to get them out of their group. I’d also point towards defender Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich at the other end of the pitch and you’ll be aware of Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers too. It’s not a young squad, with the youngest being 22-year-old Bae Jun-ho, a midfielder who plays for Stoke City. Hong Myung-bo is their manager, he’s previously won two South Korean titles whilst in the dugout.

SOUTH AFRICA

RANKED: 60TH

MY PREDICTION: GROUP STAGE

Their first World Cup since hosting in 2010, and the first they’ve qualified for on the pitch since 2002, getting to the finals is always the goal for South Africa and anything they do at the tournament is a bonus. Still, they have a decent manager in Belgian Hugo Broos, he won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 with Cameroon and led his current team to a credible third place in the 2023 edition. Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams is their captain, he’s one of a strong contingent of Mamelodi Sundowns players and the Orlando Pirates are also well represented. Forward Lyle Foster (Burnley) will be the most recognisable name on the team sheet and their youngest player, defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi (20), also plies his trade away from South Africa, turning out for Chicago Fire.

CZECHIA

RANKED: 41ST

MY PREDICTION: ROUND OF 32

Czechia are back on the biggest stage after a 20-year absence and they’ll largely be relying on forward Patrick Schick for goals. Defender Vladimir Coufal has been assisting a few in the Bundesliga for Hoffenheim though. However, their captain, centre back Ladislav Krecji of Wolves, hasn’t had the greatest club season for obvious reasons. Manager Miroslav Koubek can point towards a league title win with Viktoria Plzen as a highlight, in a career spanning all the way back to 1983 in the dugout. That’s contrasted with the only teenager in the squad, Hugo Sochurek, who was only promoted to Sparta Prague’s senior team last year. You’ll be aware of experienced defender Tomas Soucek (West Ham) and I think they’ll tightly contest that second place spot in Group A with South Korea.

CANADA

RANKED: 30TH

MY PREDICTION: ROUND OF 16

A bit of a bold prediction but I think if their big names, Jonathan David of Juventus and captain Alphonso Davies of Bayern Munich namely, are at their best I reckon they can turn a few heads this summer with home advantage. David has struggled this season and Davies hasn’t played as much football as he would have liked however.  Liam Millar of Hull City is in the squad too, with former Leeds United gaffer Jesse Marsch leading them. Defender Luc de Fougerolles (he’s come through Fulham’s academy) is the youngest in the team at 20. Forwards Lyle Carin and Ali Ahmed, of Southampton and Norwich City respectively, have also made the final squad.

SWITZERLAND

RANKED: 19TH

MY PREDICTION: ROUND OF 16

The most obvious thing to say about Switzerland is that current Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka is also their captain. He’s definitely their best player too. Forward Noah Okafor of Leeds United isn’t too bad either though and there’s also defender Manuel Akanji, who's most recently been playing for Inter Milan on loan from Manchester City. 20-year-old midfielder Johan Manzambi of Freiburg is the youngest Swiss player heading over to North America. Murat Yakin is the boss, he was in charge during the last World Cup and European Championship. I can’t see them getting past the round of 16 but getting to a quarter final would be a remarkable achievement, considering they haven’t done it since 1954.

QATAR

RANKED: 55TH

MY PREDICTION: GROUP STAGE

The hosts last time out have qualified on merit for this one, with a squad contracted to domestic clubs entirely. They’re captained by 35-year-old forward Hassan Al-Haydos (Al-Sadd) and their all time top goalscorer, Almoez Ali of Al-Duhail, is also in the squad. 19-year-old Tashin Jamshid (also Al-Duhail) is the youngest. The most well known figure involved with Qatar this summer (at least for those of us in England) is actually manager Julen Lopetegui, formerly of West Ham, Wolves, Spain and Real Madrid. I can’t see them doing a lot to be honest. Although they might have improved since their poor showing in 2022, recent results indicate that they have not.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

RANKED: 65TH

MY PREDICTION: ROUND OF 32

The Dragons are returning to the World Cup for the first time since 2014 after taking one of the final spaces via the play-offs. 40-year-old Edin Dzeko is captaining the team. Midfielder Amir Hadziahmetovic has just spent the most recent club campaign out on loan at Hull from Besiktas and former Arsenal man Sead Kolasinac will feature too. Manager Sergej Barbarez enjoyed a positive playing career, largely in Germany, being named Bosnian Football of the Year three times and has now led the national side for over two years. They’ve proven they are capable of punching above their weight, beating Italy in the final of the play-offs back in March. I think they’ll sneak knockout football via the spots available to third placed teams and will give Canada a run for their money for second place.

BRAZIL

RANKED: 6TH

MY PREDICTION: FOURTH PLACE

I don’t think Brazil are anywhere near as good as they have been in years gone by but I do think they’ll have a relatively smooth path to the semi finals and having seasoned gaffer Carlo Ancelotti (who’s come so painfully close to World Cup glory with Italy, both as a player and assistant manager) also helps. A potential slip up isn’t out of the question though with Mexico being potential opponents in the quarter final. They’ve got bags of quality in their team, with recent Premier League winners, Gabriels Magalhaes and Martinelli, Vinicius Junior, Raphinha and Endrick to name but a few. The legend that is Neymar is also in the squad but whether he’ll be fit enough to play is another matter. Their youngest player is Bournemouth attacker Rayan and their captain is Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos.

MOROCCO

RANKED: 8TH

MY PREDICTION: QUARTER FINAL

Africa’s best team (although Senegal will dispute that) they were the dark horses of the last World Cup after reaching the semi final. I don’t think they’ll get quite that far this time but they will be one of the last few teams again. Chemsdine Talbi is in the squad, hopefully he gets a run out, and their captain is right back Achraf Hakimi. Other than Talbi, three of their players play in the Premier League, Noussair Mazraoui, Issa Diop and Chadi Riad, who are all defenders. Appointed in March, Mohamed Ouahbi will be dreaming of replicating his 2025 under-20 World Cup victory with Morocco with the senior team. Ayyoub Bouaddi (midfielder, Lille) earns the accolade as their youngest squad member (18).

SCOTLAND

RANKED: 43RD

MY PREDICTION: ROUND OF 32

I don’t think the Scottish are optimistic for this one, even though it is their first outing on this stage this century. Still, I’ll optimistically predict, on their behalf, that they’ll manage to get out of the group stage at a major tournament for the first time ever. I’ll first point out former Sunderland striker Ross Stewart in the squad and then former Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon, 43 years young, the oldest player at this World Cup. They’ve got some real quality, with the likes of Scott McTominay and John McGinn, not to mention captain Andy Robertson. Steve Clarke is now going on his seventh year in charge of Scotland. Midfielder Tyler Fletcher is the youngest amongst them, aged 19, and drafted in late on due to an injury.

HAITI:

RANKED: 83RD

MY PREDICTION: GROUP STAGE

A remarkable achievement to reach the finals, with their manager, Sebastian Migne of France, not even having ever set foot in the country due to ongoing civil conflict. Of course, they have Wilson Isidor, probably one of their standout players and you might recognise the name of Jean-Ricner Bellegarde too (midfielder, Wolves). Captaining them is Bastia goalkeeper Johny Placide, with the youngest man being centre back Keeto Thermoncy (appropriately playing for Young Boys of Switzerland). I was originally thinking they'd be happy to just score but I now think they'll be aiming to avoid defeat against Scotland, given that they've just smashed New Zealand 4-0 in a friendly.