The 2026 FIFA World Cup will feature 48 different countries, the most in the history of the tournament of the 96-year-old tournament. As a result, the level of talent will be more evenly spread out with 12 groups as opposed to the usual eight.
What we can say with confidence, however, is that the group that Erling Haaland and Norway are drawn into will be the dreaded “Group of Death.”
(Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP via Getty Images)
Norway finished UEFA World Cup qualifying with a perfect record (8W-0D-0L) but will enter Friday’s draw as a Pot 3 team due to it being ranked 29th in the world by FIFA.
“They’re way better than a Pot 3 team,” U.S. men’s national team legend Landon Donovan said on FOX Sports’ World Cup Draw Preview Show. “They’re not a Pot 1 team, but they’re a top Pot 2. It’s just recent that this form has come, so it hasn’t caught up yet, but they are good.”
Norway is led by its star striker Erling Haaland. Haaland, who stands at 6-foot-5, finished World Cup qualifying with 16 goals, which tied the record for most goals scored by a player in a single World Cup qualifying campaign, set by Poland’s Robert Lewandowski in 2018. The next-closest player, Austria’s Marko Arnautović, had eight goals during qualifying.
“If you have to play against a player like that, it is a nightmare,” Donovan said. “It’s a nightmare in a World Cup. You get isolated in a 1-v-1, it’s a disaster.”
(Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
That’s not to mention the supporting cast around Haaland, who have been hailed by many, including U.S. Soccer legend Cobi Jones, as the country’s “Golden Generation.”
“Antonio Nusa and Oscar Bobb, the wingers that Norway has, they’re electric 1-v-1 in dribbling and taking you on,” Jones said. “Martin Odegaard and his fantastic left foot. They’re good all the way around, solid.”
A team might get a favorable matchup in Pot 2, but make no mistake: no one is safe until Norway’s name is called in Pot 3.
Coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will start at 11:30 a.m. ET on FOX.
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