The Argentine national team will find out its opponents for the group stage of the 2026 World Cup this Friday, when the draw will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center in the US city of Washington. The team led by Lionel Scaloni, which will seek to become the third team to win two consecutive World Cups after Italy in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil in 1958 and 1962, will be in Pot 1, thus avoiding facing the major powers in the group stage. However, each pot contains teams that pose a real threat to the 'Albiceleste'. In Pot 2, the main threats are Morocco and Croatia, who reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup. In Pot 3, the main 'bogeyman' will be Norway, which had nearly perfect European qualifiers, easily overcoming all rivals to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1998. The Nordic team has great offensive power, as it features a superstar like Erling Haaland, while Martin Odegaard is one of the key figures at Arsenal, who are leading the Premier League. Finally, the team from Pot 4 that everyone will want to avoid, should they qualify, is Italy. Although it has missed two consecutive World Cups and its current form is far from the best, the 'Azzurra' could represent a real complication for any team. Taking into account that there cannot be three European teams in the same zone, the most complicated group for Argentina would be composed of Morocco, Norway, and Italy.
