The 2026 FIFA World Cup is less than a year away from the opening match in Mexico’s Estadio Azteca, kicking off the first FIFA World Cup that will be hosted by three nations.
After Canada, the United States and Mexico qualified as host nations, 12 nations remain fighting it out for three automatic qualifying positions. Below are all four teams in Group A and their form heading into the final qualification stage.
Panama are strong favourites to qualify for what would be only their second FIFA World Cup.
Their only previous appearance came in 2018, when they placed second in the fourth round of CONCACAF qualifying, behind Costa Rica, and thus qualified for the final round, known as the ‘Hexagonal’.
Due to the United States losing away to Trinidad and Tobago in the final match of the ‘Hexagonal’, and Honduras’ 3-2 win over Mexico not being enough, Panama snatched the final qualification spot.
They were placed in group G, however, placed as the worst team in the tournament, losing 3-0 to Belgium in their first-ever World Cup game, 6-1 to England and a narrow 2-1 loss to Tunisia in the final group match.
Los Canaleros, which translates to the Canal Men, is ranked as the 33rd-best team in the world and is managed by former Leeds United manager Thomas Christiansen. Christiansen was appointed in 2020.
Panama has been in incredible form. In last year’s Copa America held in the United States, Christiansen’s side finished second in the group, placing above and knocking out Bolivia and the United States.
More recently, Panama, also on US soil, reached the final of the Concacaf Nations League, beating Costa Rica in the quarter-finals over two legs and the United States in the semi-final.
This came through a 90+4th minute strike-through Cecilio Waterman, who is the striker for Chilean league leaders Coquimbo Unido.
El Salvador have qualified for the FIFA World Cup in two editions, in 1970 and 1982. In both editions, they were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.
Los Cuscatlecos are currently ranked as the 81st-best side in the world. They qualified for the final round after finishing as the runners-up in Group F, behind Suriname.
That being said, Los Cuscatlecos are in good form, going unbeaten in their last five matches, scoring in each match. Albeit, this is to weaker opposition.
They are under the management of 69-year-old Hernán Gomez, who was appointed by the El Salvador Football Association earlier this year.
Gomez has formerly managed other national teams such as his home nation of Colombia between 1995-1998 and 2010-2011, Ecuador between 1999-2004 and 2018-2019 and Honduras between 2021-2022.
He was also the manager for Panama between 2014-2018, where he led Los Canaleros to their first-ever FIFA World Cup.
Los Cuscatlecos will compete in the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer, in Group B alongside the 2026 World Cup co-host nations Canada, Honduras and Curacao.
Guatemala is the 106th best-ranked nation according to the FIFA Men’s World Rankings and is aiming to qualify for its first-ever FIFA World Cup.
Despite never qualifying for a previous tournament, La Furia Azul has reached the final round of qualification on four occasions. They have also qualified for the Gold Cup 20 times, winning it once in 1967.
Guatemala is managed by Luis Fernando Tena, the former Mexican caretaker manager in 2013. Tena has also managed top Mexican sides such as C.D. Guadalajara, Club América and Cruz Azul on four occasions.
La Furia Azul finished third in Group A Round 1 of the CONCACAF Nations League, placing behind Costa Rica and Suriname, with the latter they were level on points.
In their last five matches in all competitions, Guatemala have only won twice.
They are in Group C of the CONCACAF Gold Cup this summer, in a group containing Jamaica, Panama and Guadeloupe, who are unbeaten in four of their last five matches.
Suriname is the second-lowest-ranked side left in the final stage of qualification according to the FIFA Men’s World Rankings.
The nation, which competes within the North American football confederation despite being situated within the continent of South America, is ranked as the 137th best ranked side in the world, just below Botswana and the Central African Republic.
They are managed by Stanley Menzo, a former goalkeeper who spent a decade at Ajax, appearing in more than 300 official matches for the club.
Within this spell, Menzo won nine major honours. He also represented the Netherlands in the 1990 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1992, albeit failed to make an appearance.
This is Menzo’s second spell managing Suriname, returning to “De Natio” in 2024 after a short spell managing Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan.
Suriname has been in great form, finishing top of Group F in CONCACAF’s second qualifying round, winning three games and drawing one. They even finished above El Salvador, the 81st-best-ranked team in the world.
On top of this, Suriname finished second in the CONCACAF Nations League, just behind World Cup ever-present Costa Rica. Despite this, they lost 4-0 on aggregate to Canada who have been in fantastic form following the appointment of Jesse Marsch.
That being said, “De Natio” has been in fantastic form recently. They will compete in the Gold Cup this summer alongside Costa Rica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic in Group A.
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Premier League teams Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Nottingham Forest, Fulham, Wolves, and West Ham United continue to view Colombian midfielder Richard Rios as a potential signing. Sources close to the player’s situation have informed TheBoyHotspur that other major European clubs — including Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain, Milan, Roma, and Villarreal — are also closely monitoring Ríos. The €100 million release clause set by Palmeiras is considered one of the biggest obstacles to the transfer. However, clubs are looking to negotiate a lower fee rather than pay the full amount. Man United keen on the player Manchester United view Ríos as a potential replacement for Christian Eriksen. The club’s transfer department has assigned scouts to monitor his performances during the Club World Cup and may make a move depending on his displays in the tournament. Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest are also among the clubs “keeping a close watch” on the 25-year-old midfielder. Tottenham need Richard Rios Tottenham could use a quality central midfielder this summer, and the Colombian could prove to be an excellent addition. He would add creativity, drive, and physicality in the middle of the park. He has proven himself to be a high-quality performer for both club and country, with the physical and technical attributes to make the step up to the Premier League. He could be an important player for Tottenham if they manage to get the deal done. He scored four goals and four assists this season. Tottenham need to strengthen their squad this summer if they want to perform well in the Premier League. They finished in the bottom half of the table last season and will be desperate to bounce back. Having secured Champions League qualification after winning the UEFA Europa League, they should be an attractive destination for players. The opportunity to join them will be quite exciting for the South American. He is entering the peak years of his career, and joining a top Premier League club would be ideal for him. It will be interesting to see if he can hit the ground running.
Kirill Kaprizov‘s the Minnesota Wild’s top priority, and they’re not worried about a Marco Rossi offer sheet Jessi Pierce of NHL.com: Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin isn’t worried about anyone offer sheeting forward Marco Rossi. “I’m not concerned,” Guerin said Tuesday. “We’re prepared. We will match. It’s not an issue with us. I think when you’ve seen (offer sheets) in the past that have been successful, maybe the teams weren’t fully prepared for it. But yeah, we’re prepared for it. “We’d rather make a deal with Marco.” What the Wild want to pay Rossi and what Rossi thinks he should be paid is the sticking point. During the regular season, Rossi was a top-six forward and recorded 24 goals and 36 assists in 82 games. During the playoffs Rossi was dropped down to the fourth-line. Guerin reiterated again that forward Kirill Kaprizov and a contract extension are his No. 1 priority and talks continue. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period: A Kirill Kaprizov extension could be at least $14 million. If over $14 million, to would put him as the highest paid player in the NHL. Marco Rossi shares the same agent as K’Andre Miller, who was part of sign-and-trade. Though it’s possible the same could happen to Rossi (as of a couple of days ago), those talks haven’t taken place. Guerin wants to be involved in other deal and is open to the idea of adding a big-time player. “Big players end up moving,” Guerin said, naming the likes of Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk and Mikko Rantanen as recent examples. “It’s just a matter of being involved in that sort of stuff.”
The Rangers have taken care of one of their remaining restricted free agents. PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that New York has signed forward Brendan Brisson to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay $775K in the NHL, $100K in the minors, and contains a guaranteed salary of $125K, meaning he took less than his qualifying offer to secure more guaranteed money. The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by Vegas back in 2020, going 29th overall after a promising season with USHL Chicago. Brisson continued to be a strong producer in college, averaging a point per game over two seasons at the University of Michigan before turning pro in 2022. Unfortunately for Brisson and Vegas, his production slowed after that. He picked up 37 points in 58 games in 2022-23 with AHL Henderson but wasn’t able to build off of that too much the following year with 38 in 52. Brisson did, however, get into 15 games with the Golden Knights that season, notching two goals and six assists, providing some hope moving forward. This season, things didn’t go as well. Brisson was held off the scoresheet in seven games to open the season before being demoted back to the Silver Knights and didn’t notch a point in a two-game stint in January either. In between, Brisson was limited to just five goals and 14 assists in 49 games in Henderson. That was enough for Vegas to make him available at the trade deadline as they sent him and a third-round pick to the Rangers for Reilly Smith, a pending UFA at the time who ultimately re-signed last month. Brisson didn’t get any looks with New York down the stretch but managed just two goals and four assists in 16 games with AHL Hartford. Brisson is now waiver-eligible and while his 2024-25 performance wouldn’t be enough on its own to justify a potential claim, teams have been known to take flyers on fairly recent first-round picks in the hopes that a change of scenery could get them going. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Rangers take a long look at Brisson in training camp to see if he can land a spot on the fourth line or at least break camp as a reserve forward. The Rangers now have two remaining restricted free agents to deal with this summer, goaltenders Dylan Garand and Talyn Boyko.
The meaty part of the NHL offseason has already come and gone with the NHL Draft in the rearview mirror and most of the top free agents already signed. While there are still some big trades and smaller free-agent signings to be made, most teams have already set the tone for their offseason. So let's take a look at three teams that have whiffed so far. There is still time for these teams to change their offseason, and one big trade can still impact things, but through the first week, these teams have dropped the ball. So far. Los Angeles Kings The Kings have hit a wall in their rebuild. They are back to being a consistent playoff team, but they have lost in the first round to the Edmonton Oilers four years in a row. They still need something more. Specifically, more goal-scoring. They replaced general manager Rob Blake with Ken Holland to help get them over the hump, and the early returns are not promising. While the Kings did add some depth to their forward lines with players like Corey Perry and Joel Armia in free agency, the biggest moves were reshaping a defense that was already one of the best in the NHL. Along with allowing Vladislav Gavrikov to walk in free agency (to the New York Rangers), they also traded Jordan Spence to the Ottawa Senators. That is two big-time players leaving, while they were replaced by free agents Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin on multi-year deals. Ceci is best suited to be a third-pairing defenseman, but would be badly overpaid in that role. If he plays higher in the lineup, he is going to get exposed in a role he shouldn't be in. Dumoulin was once a strong shutdown defender, but has since declined rapidly. For the money they spent on Ceci and Dumoulin, they could have kept a superior player in Gavrikov. They also did not do enough to upgrade an offense that is still middle-of-the-pack. Not only are they still not good enough to beat the Oilers on paper, but they may have gotten worse. Columbus Blue Jackets When the offseason began, the Blue Jackets seemed like one of the most intriguing teams in the NHL with a chance to make some serious moves. They are starting with a rapidly improving young core that took a big step forward in 2024-25 to compete for a playoff spot, had more salary cap space than almost any team in the NHL, and also had some serious trade capital with two first-round picks (that they were willing to move) and a deep farm system. The only moves so far are acquiring Charlie Coyle and re-signing defenseman Ivan Provorov for eight years at over $8 million per season. It might be one of the biggest overpays of the summer so far. Columbus might still take another step forward this season due to the young talent in the organization, but so far, they have really missed a big opportunity to speed up the process even more. Detroit Red Wings The Red Wings' playoff drought is at nine years, and without any postseason play this season, it will reach a decade. They have experienced six of those seasons under the leadership of general manager Steve Yzerman, whose rebuild has been especially methodical. There might be some frustration brewing over the slow pace, and captain Dylan Larkin seemed to indicate some of that at his end-of-season media availability when he said the locker room was upset at the lack of help management gave the roster at the trade deadline. The Red Wings need more scoring depth. They need more defense. They need a little bit of everything. So far this offseason, the only move Yzerman has made was to send away Vladimir Tarasenko in a salary dump move, while also acquiring goalie John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks. Gibson had a nice bounce-back year in 2024-25, but it was in a small sample size, and his career had rapidly declined in the four seasons before that. If adding Gibson is their only move this summer, that would be highly underwhelming for a team that still needs a lot of help to get back into the playoffs.