The Madness Is Here: All the Projected World Cup Lineups

A historic opening round of 24 matches lies ahead, so who will start in each national team’s XI? Sign up now for Bank Yahav’s World Cup Fantasy on Sport 5

Published: 11.06.26, 11:30

Photo: Sport 5

The madness begins tonight, Thursday. The 2026 World Cup will be the biggest of all time, with 12 groups, 48 teams, and no fewer than 24 matches in the opening round, which gets underway at 22:00 with the host Mexico facing South Africa. For the occasion, we have gathered all the projected lineups for the first-round matches in the group stage. Please note that the substitution window in Bank Yahav and Sports Channel’s World Cup Fantasy will close half an hour before the first match of each round kicks off, meaning tonight at 21:30.

Group A Mexico: José Rangel; Jesús Gallardo, César Montes, Juan Vázquez, Israel Reyes; Erick Lira, Julián Quiñones, Brandon Gutiérrez, Álvaro Fidalgo, Roberto Alvarado; Raúl Jiménez. South Africa: Ronwen Williams; Aubrey Modiba, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Ime Okon, Khudisane Muda; Thapelo Maseko, Teboho Mokoena, Thapelo Morena, Relebohile Mofokeng, Oswin Appollis; Lyle Foster.

South Korea: Kim Seung-gyu; Kim Min-jae, Lee Han-beom, Lee Gi-hyuk; Lee Tae-seok, Lee Jae-sung, Hwang In-beom, Seol Young-woo; Lee Kang-in, Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan. Czechia: Matěj Kovář; Ladislav Krejčí, Robin Hranáč, Štěpán Chaloupek; David Jurásek, Tomáš Souček, Michal Sadílek, Vladimír Coufal; Lukáš Provod, Pavel Šulc; Patrik Schick.

Opening day nostalgia One more day until the start of #FIFAWorldCup 2026 pic.twitter.com/JvT1w26f02

, FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 10, 2026

Group B Canada: Maxime Crépeau; Richie Laryea, Derek Cornelius, Luc de Fougerolles, Alistair Johnston; Liam Miller, Ismaël Koné, Stephen Eustáquio, Tajon Buchanan; Jonathan David, Cyle Larin. Bosnia and Herzegovina: Nikola Vasilj; Sead Kolašinac, Nikola Katić, Tarik Muharemović, Amar Dedić; Asmir Bajraktarević, Ivan Bašić, Benjamin Tahirović, Kerim Alajbegović; Jovo Lukić, Armin Džeko.

Qatar: Meshaal Barsham; Homam Ahmed, Boualem Khoukhi, Pedro Miguel, Ayoub Al- Owaisi; Karim Boudiaf, Jassim Gaber, Ahmed Fathi; Akram Afif, Edmilson Junior, Almoez Ali. Switzerland: Gregor Kobel; Ricardo Rodríguez, Manuel Akanji, Nico Elvedi, Silvan Widmer; Remo Freuler, Granit Xhaka, Michel Aebischer, Ruben Vargas, Dan Ndoye; Breel Embolo.

Group C Brazil: Alisson; Douglas Santos, Gabriel Magalhães, Marquinhos, Danilo; Casemiro, Bruno Guimarães, Vinícius Júnior, Raphinha, Lucas Paquetá; Igor Thiago. Morocco: Yassine Bounou; Anass Salah-Eddine, Chadi Riad, Issa Diop, Achraf Hakimi; Neil El Aynaoui, Ayoub Bouaddi, Bilal El Khannouss, عز الدين أوناحي, Brahim Díaz; Ismael Saibari.

Haiti: Johnny Placide; Maxi Ernest, Hannes Delcroix, Ricardo Ade, Carlens Arcus; Ronaldo Damus, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Leverton Pierre, Garry Estic; Wilson Isidor, Duckens Nazon. Scotland: Angus Gunn; Andrew Robertson, Scott McKenna, John Souttar, Aaron Hickey; Ryan Christie, Lewis Ferguson, John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Ben Doak; Che Adams.

Group D United States: Matt Freese; Mark McKenzie, Chris Richards, Tim Ream; Antonee Robinson, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Sergiño Dest; Malik Tillman, Christian Pulisic; Folarin Balogun. Paraguay: Gatitio Fernández; Junior Alonso, Gustavo Gómez, Omar Alderete, Juan Cáceres; Mauricio, Kaku, Andrés Cubas, Diego Gómez; Miguel Almirón, Antonio Sanabria.

Australia: Mathew Ryan; Harry Souttar, Cameron Burgess, Alessandro Circati; Jordan Bos, Connor Metcalfe, Jackson Irvine, Jacob Italiano; Aiden O'Neill, Christian Volpato; Mohamed Touré. Turkey: Uğurcan Çakır; Eren Elmalı, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Merih Demiral, Zeki Çelik; Orkun Kökçü, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Arda Güler, Barış Alper Yılmaz; Kerem Aktürkoğlu.

Group E Germany: Manuel Neuer; Nathaniel Brown, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jonathan Tah, Joshua Kimmich; Felix Nmecha, Aleksandar Pavlović, Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sané; Kai Havertz. Curaçao: Eloy Room; Sherel Floranus, Jurien Gaari, Armando Obispo, Shaquille Pinas; Leandro Bacuna, Juninho Bacuna, Livano Comenencia; Jarchinio Antonia, Tahith Chong, Kenji Gorré.

Ivory Coast: Yahia Fofana; Ghislain Konan, Odilon Kossounou, Emmanuel Agbadou, Ghuela Doué; Seko Fofana, Franck Kessié, Ibrahim Sangaré; Ousmane Diomande, Amad Diallo, Evan Guessand. Ecuador: Hernán Galíndez; Pervis Estupiñán, Piero Hincapié, Willian Pacho, Joel Ordóñez; Nilson Angulo, Antonio Valencia, Moisés Caicedo, Alan Franco; Jordi Caicedo, Enner Valencia.

The greatest show in the world is ready. Are you? #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/ISxLhuLUkm

, FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) April 1, 2026

Group F Netherlands: Bart Verbruggen; Micky van de Ven, Jan Paul van Hecke, Virgil van Dijk, Denzel Dumfries; Frenkie de Jong, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Tijjani Reijnders, Donny Malen; Memphis Depay. Japan: Zion Suzuki; Takhiro Tomiyasu, Ko Itakura, Hiroki Ito; Keitsu Nakamura, Ao Tanaka, Daichi Kamada, Ritsu Doan; Junya Ito, Takefusa Kubo; Ayase Ueda.

Sweden: Kristoffer Nordfeldt; Victor Lindelöf, Isak Hien, Gustav Lagerbielke; Gabriel Gudmundsson, Jesper Karlström, Yasin Ayari, Daniel Svensson; Benjamin Nygren, Viktor Gyökeres, Alexander Isak. Tunisia: Bechir Ben Saïd; Ali Abdi, Montassar Talbi, Omar Rekik, Yan Valery; Ellyes Skhiri, Rani Khedira, Anis Ben Slimane, Hannibal Mejbri, Elias Achouri; Firas Chaouat.

Group G Belgium: Thibaut Courtois; Timothy Castagne, Brandon Mechele, Nathan Ngoy, Thomas Meunier; Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana, Jérémy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne, Loïs Openda; Charles De Ketelaere. Egypt: Mostafa Shobeir; Ahmed El- Fattouh, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Youssef El- Henfawi, Mohamed Hany; Mohanad Lasheen, Marwan Attia, Trezeguet, Emam Ashour, Mohamed Salah; Omar Marmoush.

Iran: Alireza Beiranvand; Milad Mohammadi, Ali Nemati, Shojae Khalilzadeh, Arya Yousefi; Mohammad Mohebi, Saeid Ezatolahi, Saman Qoddous, Amir Hossein Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Ghaedi; Mehdi Taremi. New Zealand: Michael Crocombe; Liberato Cacace, Finn Surman, Michael Boxall, Tim Payne; Marko Stamenić, Joe Bell, Eli Just, Sarpreet Singh, Matthew Garbett; Chris Wood.

Group H Spain: Unai Simón; Marc Cucurella, Pau Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte, Pedro Porro; Pedri, Fabián Ruiz, Rodri; Álex Baena, Ferran Torres, Mikel Oyarzabal. Cape Verde: Vozinha; João Paulo, Pico, Logan Costa, Steven Moreira; Yannick Semedo, Kevin Pina, Jovane Cabral, Jamiro Monteiro, Ryan Mendes; Dailon Livramento.

Saudi Arabia: Mohammed Al-Owais; Nawaf Boushal, Ali Lajami, Hassan Al-Tambakti, Saud Abdulhamid; Mohamed Kanno, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Salem Al-Dawsari, Musab Al-Juwayr, Nasser Al-Dawsari; Firas Al-Buraikan. Uruguay: Fernando Muslera; Mathías Olivera, José María Giménez, Sebastián Cáceres, Guillermo Varela; Maximiliano Araújo, Rodrigo Bentancur, Manuel Ugarte, Federico Valverde; Darwin Núñez, Federico Viñas.

Group I France: Mike Maignan; Theo Hernández, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba, Jules Koundé; Aurélien Tchouaméni, Adrien Rabiot, Désiré Doué, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise; Kylian Mbappé. Senegal: Édouard Mendy; El Hadji Diouf, Moussa Niakhaté, Kalidou Koulibaly, Krepin Diatta; Lamine Camara, Pape Gueye, Habib Diarra; Sadio Mané, Iliman Ndiaye, Nicolas Jackson.

Iraq: Jalal Hassan; Mharas Doski, Ravan Solaka, Zaid Tahseen, Hussein Ali; Ali Jassim, Ameer Al-Ammari, Zidane Iqbal, Ibrahim Bayesh; Ali Al-Hammadi, Ayman Hussein. Norway: Ørjan Nyland; David Møller Wolfe, Torbjørn Heggem, Kristoffer Ajer, Julian Ryerson; Sander Berge, Fredrik Aursnes, Martin Ødegaard; Antonio Nusa, Alexander Sørloth, Erling Haaland.

Alvarez or Oyarzabal Go to the website and build your team in the Sports Channel and Bank Yahav World Cup Fantasy https://t.co/XPxT9319kg pic.twitter.com/2liYsxqKBC

, Sport5 (@sport5il) June 8, 2026

Group J Argentina: Algeria: Austria: Jordan: Group K Portugal: Democratic Republic of Congo: Uzbekistan: Colombia: Group L England: Croatia: Ghana: Panama: World Cup 2026 Did you spot a language error?