FIFA World Cup 2026 | Group C Preview
With just over a fortnight remaining until the biggest global sporting spectacle takes centre stage, national teams and their head coaches are making last-minute alterations before they step foot in North America to fight for a chance to lift the ultimate prize in football: the World Cup.
Keeping that in mind, we at SportsKhabri are bringing you a comprehensive preview of the group stage, analysing each team.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at Group C of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, comprising five-time winners Brazil, African giants Morocco, and Haiti and Scotland, who are making their long-awaited comebacks.
FIFA World Cup 2026 | Group C Teams
Brazil (CONMEBOL)
Morocco (CAF)
Haiti (CONCACAF)
Scotland (UEFA)
The run-in
Brazil
The most successful team in the history of the tournament, as well as the only team to play in every single edition since its inception in 1930, Brazil in recent decades have fallen behind some of their traditional European and continental rivals.
Indeed, they’ve won just one Copa América title, that too in 2019, over the last decade. Unlike previous campaigns, they finished fifth in their qualification group — enough to secure automatic qualification, but nowhere near good enough for a nation with such rich heritage. That resulted in legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti taking the reins in May 2025.
Ten games into his tenure, although Ancelotti has helped improve the football, his team have won just five games, while drawing two and losing three in that run.
Morocco
Topping the group against this Moroccan outfit will be difficult. This is arguably the golden era for Moroccan football, with the Atlas Lions finishing fourth at the 2022 FIFA World Cup (a first for Africa as well as the Arab nations) before becoming AFCON champions for only the second time in their history.
Unlike Brazil, Morocco’s qualification campaign went as smoothly as one could hope. They won all eight games, scoring 22 goals and conceding just two. Besides, this side are currently on a 27-game unbeaten run, having won a ridiculous 24 games while drawing just three.
Haiti
The full-time whistle at the Estadio Ergilio Hato back in November marked the end of a 52-year-long wait for Les Grenadiers as a 2–0 win over Nicaragua sealed the top spot and direct qualification for this marquee event.
Sébastien Migné’s side finished runners-up to Curaçao in the second qualification round before they were paired with Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua in the third round. However, two draws in their opening two fixtures, and then a defeat on matchday four to Honduras, meant they had to win their remaining two fixtures, while results elsewhere would also have to go their way.
As fate would have it, Haiti won both their remaining games, while Honduras lost to Nicaragua and drew against Costa Rica, leading to the Haitians finishing top of Group C and securing their ticket to the 2026 World Cup.
Scotland
Similar to Haiti, the Scots are making their long-overdue comeback at the biggest stage after 28 years. Set to make their ninth appearance, Scotland are yet to go beyond the group stage at the World Cup and will look to change that this time around.
After failing to qualify for the last six editions, which included a play-off semi-final defeat to Ukraine in 2022, Scotland were placed in Group C alongside Denmark, Greece, and Belarus. Although the Danes were the favourites in many people’s eyes, it was Scotland who managed to secure top spot and automatic qualification.
That said, in the last international break they lost against both Japan and Côte d’Ivoire, and deservedly so.
How each team stacks up
Given the wealth of talent at their disposal, Brazil comfortably rank among the top five squads going into the World Cup (alongside France, Spain, England, and Argentina). Moreover, having someone like Carlo Ancelotti at the helm immediately makes them one of the favourites for this edition.
However, with limited time at his disposal, the Italian coach has already tried a handful of different formations and tactics in the ten games he has led the team in order to get a proper understanding of what he’s working with. Factoring in their talent pool and level of opposition, securing group stage progression shouldn’t be a concern. However, whether Ancelotti can galvanise this group of huge egos and lead them to glory is a different question altogether.
Just like Brazil, Morocco, too, enter this World Cup with questions regarding how they will respond to a change in leadership. Everything we have discussed so far came under Walid Regragui; three months prior to the World Cup, however, the 50-year-old stepped down from his post citing mental fatigue as well as the team’s need for a new vision and identity ahead of the marquee event.
With Mohamed Ouahbi in charge now, it’ll be interesting to see whether Morocco can maintain the same level of performances they did under Regragui.
Elsewhere, ranked 83rd in the world, Haiti are one of the lowest-ranked sides in this year’s competition. They have a couple of players with Premier League experience in Wilson Isidor and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, but the rest of the squad lack experience and exposure at the highest level.
As for Scotland, the fact that the eight best third-placed teams go through to the next round means they will fancy their chances of finally breaking their streak of exiting at the group stage. A positive result against one of Brazil or Morocco and a win against Haiti will certainly make that possible.
Besides, they have decent players both in defence and midfield, although the lack of quality strikers might come back to bite them.
Who makes it out of Group C
Given the wealth of star power and a manager like Carlo Ancelotti at the helm, we expect the Seleção to top Group C, but not without competition from Morocco. Scotland certainly stand a chance of making the knockouts, but they’ll have to get their act together given how vulnerable they’ve looked recently.
Prediction
Brazil (1st)
Morocco (2nd)
Scotland (3rd)
Haiti (4th)
