The expansion of this year’s World Cup to 48 teams has been welcomed by fans around the world, though Group B is a fairly clear-cut example of how diluted this tournament is in places.
H1: World Cup 2026 Group B Preview: Super Swiss
Switzerland are strong odds-on favourites to win the group, but they are comfortably the lowest-ranked top seeds on world rankings, which will give opponents Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Qatar plenty of hope. We’ve taken a deep dive into the stats to pick out our best bets in the second group to get going in the tournament.
H2: World Cup 2026 Group B: World Rankings
-Switzerland – Ranked 19th
-Canada – Ranked 30th
-Qatar – Ranked 55th
-Bosnia and Herzegovina – Ranked 64th
H2: World Cup 2026 Group B Fixtures (UK Time)
-Canada v Bosnia, Friday 12th June (8pm), Toronto
-Qatar v Switzerland, Saturday 13th June (8pm), San Francisco
-Switzerland v Bosnia, Thursday 18th June (5pm), Los Angeles
-Canada v Qatar, Thursday 18th June (11pm), Vancouver
-Switzerland v Canada, Wednesday 24th June (8pm), Vancouver
-Bosnia v Qatar, Wednesday 24th June June (8pm), Seattle
H2: World Cup 2026 Group B: Team-by-Team
Group B doesn’t look to be the strongest in the tournament on paper, which means there could be the opportunity for an upset or two, with as many as three teams potentially qualifying for the knockout stage. Here’s how the land lies for the quartet.
H3: Switzerland (1.76)
The Swiss rarely go deep into the tournament but they are turning into ever-presents, with this their sixth finals appearance in a row. They have qualified for the last-16 on four of those occasions and are comfortable favourites to reach the knockouts once again.
As mentioned above, they are just one of two top seeds to be ranked outside the top 10 alongside joint-hosts Mexico, sitting 19th on the world rankings. That isn’t necessarily a negative however as they qualified with minimal fuss, finishing unbeaten which included also-qualified Sweden.
Switzerland took England to penalties when reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 and they’ll be confident of a similar run here, with a squad full of talent. Captain Granit Xhaka has 145 caps for his country and was a key part of a Sunderland side which sealed European qualification, while the likes of Manuel Akanji, Breel Embolo and Ricardo Rodriguez bring plenty of quality.
They ought to be hard to break down and should have sealed qualification by the time they have to face co-hosts Canada, meaning they look well worth siding with to finish top.
H3: Canada (3.15)
The home of Ice Hockey, it’s fair to say that Canada isn’t particularly known for its prowess at football, though they are due to make their second finals appearance in a row and third overall. Led by Bayern Munich hot-shot Alphonso Davies, there was plenty of excitement about the Canadians’ trip to Qatar four years ago though they struggled to land a blow, finishing pointless in an admittedly tough group alongside Morocco, Croatia and Belgium.
The draw has been much kinder this time around and they will have the benefit of playing on home turf, as well as the leadership of highly-rated coach Jesse Marsch. Canada has yet to win a finals match, so they will be bullish about ending that run against Qatar in particular. Aside from defenders Davies and Moïse Bombito, plus forwards Jonathan David and Tani Oluwaseyi, there’s very little depth in terms of players at the top level, making them vulnerable against two well-drilled European sides in Switzerland and Bosnia. The fact that the top three could qualify should see Canada through, but it could be a nervous wait.
H3: Bosnia and Herzegovina (4.15)
It wasn’t a particularly popular week in March if you are of a Welsh persuasion, but Bosnia caused a fair upset when dumping Wales and Italy out of the play-offs to seal a second appearance at a finals as an independent nation. It’s 12 years since Bosnia were last here and plenty fancied them to be dark horses in Brazil with a squad filled with top-level talent, but they fell at the first hurdle.
Defensively robust, they negotiated a competitive-looking group by pipping Romania to second spot behind Austria, before winning two play-off ties on penalties. Taking away the seven goals against minnows San Marino, Bosnia managed just 10 goals in six qualifying matches, and their campaign will be built behind a well-drilled unit.
The fact that 40-year-old frontman Edin Džeko still plays a key part shows that there aren’t too many stand-out names in this side, but they will relish the challenge this group poses. Bosnia are a nightmare first opponent for hosts Canada, as they will set up to frustrate and it looks well worth taking the 1.83 about them getting an early result to build on.
H3: Qatar (32.00)
Rounding off the group are the 2022 hosts Qatar, who are rightly outsiders to land a blow. This is the first finals tournament that they have qualified for in their own right, finishing fourth in the third round of qualifying before seeing off continental middleweights United Arab Emirates and Oman in a three-way round robin.
The fact that Homam Ahmed is the only man who plies his trade outside of Qatar (for Spanish second tier side Cultural Leonesa) speaks volumes and it’s tough to fancy a side that lost all three games and shipped seven goals on home soil last time around. A final warm-up match against lowly El Salvador is unlikely to prevent a similar result this year.
World Cup 2026: Group B Tips
Back Switzerland to win Group B @ 1.76 with kwiff
Back Bosnia or Draw Double Chance v Canada @ 1.83 with kwiff
By Nick Seddon
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