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The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is finally done. After the best part of 90 minutes of preamble, musical interludes and detailed explanations of draw methodology, the great and good of U.S. sport were unleashed and delivered upon the world a set of fixtures that should be intriguing with the potential for several big matches early on in the tournament. It is worth noting from the outset that the jeopardy is not unduly high for a tournament where the group stage whittles 48 teams down to 32, but there will certainly be a few national team managers who want a word with Aaron Judge or Shaquille O'Neal after what just went down at the Kennedy Center.

USMNT boss Mauricio Pochettino is probably not one of those, however, and there seems to be no more obvious spot to start the quadrennial look at the winners and losers than with the nation who will play host to the bulk of this gigantic tournament:

Winner: Mauricio Pochettino

Now, of course, there are no easy matches in international football. I'm obliged to tell you that even though I know as well as the rest of you that the San Marino national team is a thing that exists. It's important to reaffirm that the other three teams in Group D will have made their way to the World Cup in a much more gruelling fashion than the USMNT did. Australia beat Japan and Saudi Arabia to get here. I'm not sure I'd fancy the U.S. to do that.

And yet every potential group out there had its difficulties. A lot of them were more challenging than this. The U.S. had to get a European team but they didn't land the superstars of Norway, the battle-hardened vets in Croatian shirts or the probability that it'd be Italy in Inglewood. This could have been so, so much worse. 

Australia were beaten 2-1 by a much-changed USMNT in Denver back in October. Paraguay lost by the same scoreline in Philadelphia the following month. Pochettino knows he can beat these teams and that was without the customary home nation bounce. 

The team coming out of Path C of the European playoffs could be good. You would make Turkiye slight favorites ahead of Romania and then the winner of Slovakia vs. Kosovo. If it were to be Vincenzo Montella's men, then maybe they would also be confident of topping the group, a team that has won a knockout game at the European Championships is to be taken seriously, especially when they field talent on the level of Kenan Yildiz, Hakan Calhanoglu and Arda Guler. It is not like the U.S. are devoid of bright young things either, though, and with momentum finally swinging behind Pochettino, this is a group the hosts should be expecting to top.

Now, don't get carried away. I'm delivering you this assessment from a nation who saw Algeria, Slovenia and the USA in their group in 2010 and pronounced it EASY (the y is for Yanks). If the last vestiges of England's golden generation can make fools of themselves, so can their counterparts across the pond. But the chances of a real pratfall on the biggest stage of them all have got that little bit smaller. That's the sign of a good draw.

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Winners: The other hosts

Pochettino's counterparts in the other home nations should be pretty pleased too. Mexico get perhaps the most truly World Cup of World Cup groups. South Africa, South Korea, and maybe Denmark or the Republic of Ireland? That feels so 90s coded that I have to assume Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be making a cameo. It'll be tough for El Tri but there aren't any mega teams in the mix.

There could well be for Canada, though. I really wouldn't take for granted that Italy will beat both Northern Ireland and either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina -- I'm convinced that the moment Spain beat the Netherlands in 2010 then the Azzurri took on through osmosis the role of European giants frittering away good but not great talent -- but they're the team you're penciling in to round out Switzerland and Qatar. The presence of the latter is probably good news for the Canadians given that eight of the 12 third-placed teams escape. Don't, however, rule out an upset for a side that has been together for a very long time with Jesse Marsch and has a few game changers. Now, if only Jonathan David could discover some form.

Losers: Scotland

Now, of course, landing Brazil and Morocco is hardly ideal for Scotland, bringing back as it does the wrong sorts of memories of World Cups gone past. These three made up the bulk of Group A back in 1998, where the Scots' last stand on the World Cup stage ended in familiar fashion: they were credibly beaten 2-1 by reigning champions Brazil and then brushed aside in dispiriting fashion by Morocco.

That could well happen again this time around. Morocco have the talent level to at least match their run at the 2022 World Cup. Brazil go into this tournament with the same expectations they have for every other one. You hire a coach like Carlo Ancelotti because you think that what's separating you from the biggest prizes is arched eyebrows and elite-level star maintenance.

And yet my suspicion is that the one worry gnawing in the back of Scottish minds even amid the jubilation of being at a World Cup is in the other game. Haiti, playing at this tournament for the first time since 1974 and in pursuit of their first-ever points at the competition. Doesn't it feel a bit Costa Rica 1990 or a bit Iran in 1978? The story of Scotland at the World Cup too often is one of glorious failure against the best sides -- Archie Gemmill dancing through the Dutch defense -- but failure precisely because they made a mess of the games they might have won.

Winners: Ticket holders Norway vs. France

People going to these matches, you are in for a treat. There was a fear that expanding the tournament to 48 teams might dilute its quality and neuter its competitive stakes. The latter question remains up in the air but if there's anything at all riding on Norway's matchup with France, it'll be a cracker.

On one side: Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard and a group of young players who might be the coming forces of European football. Set against them, you would suspect, Didier Deschamps would gravitate towards a few veterans but he could still surround Kylian Mbappe with world-class talent of any age. This could well be the game of the league phase, the two best strikers in the world coming up against each other with elite supporting casts surrounding them.

As for what the stakes might be, you'd assume they wouldn't be nothing. France, who will open up with a tricky clash against Senegal, will be extremely motivated to secure top spot given that it means avoiding another top-four seed until a potential semifinal with Spain. Meanwhile, Senegal's presence in the group alongside Iraq, Bolivia and Suriname shapes for a group that could go a bit six points for each of the top three, meaning wildness right through to the final minutes. And truly, isn't that what we all want?

Losers: The Netherlands

There's plenty of contenders for a group of death. Some will say England have been roughly done by with Croatia and Ghana. Perhaps it's the Franco-Norwegian one (but I've already used that for one of these points, so let's say no). Germany's and Brazil's look tricky too. The thing about those groups, mind, is that they mostly have pretty good top seeds. A key factor in what proves to actually be the group of death is often that it has a big team who look like they might be vulnerable.

As such, it's Group F that looks quite interesting. The Dutch got hrough their group in qualifying quite easily but their player pool looks a little underwhelming when you get past the defenders. Then you look at a tricky start against Japan, whose abundance of talent perhaps hasn't yet dawned on the wider footballing public. Any team that has beaten Brazil in the last few weeks is eminently capable of a deep run. It is not quite as clear what Tunisia might do but they topped their group in qualifying without conceding a goal. The UEFA Path B winner will be one will be Ukraine, Poland, Albania or Sweden. All could beat the Dutch with the right performance. Imagine the latter of those four, spearheaded by Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak, actually clicked in the coming months.

The sheer abundance of qualifying spots for third placed teams means it's hard to believe that there is a group capable of dealing a mortal blow to a big team. If there is, however, it might just be Group F. With quite a few of the wrong breaks, it could be one that has the Netherlands at the bottom of it.