WC 2026 Group B Guide: Squads and Fixtures

The 2026 World Cup Group B brings together Switzerland, Qatar and Bosnia and Herzegovina alongside host Canada. The group's matches will be played in two Canadian cities Toronto and Vancouver and in the US cities of Santa Clara, Inglewood and Seattle. While Switzerland, which has the highest FIFA ranking of Group B, stands out as the leader candidate, Canada maintains its claim with its host identity and star names such as Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David. Bosnia and Herzegovina joins the group with the morale of eliminating Italy in the play-off stage, while Qatar reached the World Cup for the first time after the 2022 hosting by going through the qualifiers.

Team Profiles and Announced Squads

🇨🇦 Canada (Manager: Jesse Marsch) Marsch, who took office in 2024, had taken the team to the semi-final at the 2024 Copa America. The red-and-white team stayed in the Canada job by rejecting the US offer. Captain Alphonso Davies is trying to recover from injury; he looks unlikely to make the opening match on June 12, with him expected to feature in the later matches in the group.

• Goalkeepers: Maxime Crépeau (Orlando City SC), Dayne St. Clair (Inter Miami), Tom McGill (Hapoel Be'er Sheva)
• Defenders: Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich — captain), Moïse Bombito (Nice), Derek Cornelius (Marseille), Alistair Johnston (Celtic), Joel Waterman (CF Montréal), Luc de Fougerolles (Fulham — 20)
• Midfielders: Stephen Eustáquio (Porto — vice-captain), Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC — 33, 90 caps), Ismaël Koné (Marseille), Mathieu Choinière (LAFC), Liam Fraser, Niko Sigur, Jacob Shaffelburg
• Forwards: Jonathan David (Juventus — 39 international goals, team's top scorer), Tajon Buchanan (Villarreal), Cyle Larin (Southampton), Tani Oluwaseyi (Villarreal), Jacen Russell-Rowe, Promise David, Daniel Jebbison

🇨🇭 Switzerland (Manager: Murat Yakin) Switzerland is in the position of the group favourite as the team with the highest FIFA ranking of Group B. The team, which has advanced to the round of 16 in four of the last five World Cups, has the goal of reaching the quarter-final this time. After Xherdan Shaqiri's retirement from the national team after EURO 2024, the weight of experience was loaded onto Xhaka.

• Goalkeepers: Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund), Marvin Keller (Young Boys), Yvon Mvogo (Lorient)
• Defenders: Manuel Akanji (Inter Milan), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Rodríguez (Real Betis), Silvan Widmer (Mainz 05), Miro Muheim (Hamburger SV), Aurèle Amenda (Eintracht Frankfurt), Eray Cömert (Valencia), Luca Jaquez (Stuttgart)
• Midfielders: Granit Xhaka (Sunderland — captain, 145+ caps, 4th WC), Johan Manzambi (Freiburg), Remo Freuler (Bologna), Denis Zakaria (Monaco), Ardon Jashari (AC Milan), Djibril Sow (Sevilla), Christian Fassnacht (Young Boys), Michel Aebischer (Pisa), Fabian Rieder (Augsburg), Rubén Vargas (Sevilla)
• Forwards: Breel Embolo (Rennes — 24 international goals), Noah Okafor (Leeds United), Dan Ndoye (Nottingham Forest), Zeki Amdouni (Burnley), Cedric Itten (Fortuna Düsseldorf)

🇶🇦 Qatar (Manager: Julen Lopetegui) Spanish manager Lopetegui was brought to the head of the Qatar national team after his Premier League jobs at Wolves and West Ham. Qatar had completed the Asian qualifiers in third place and remained at the play-off stage; they got the ticket by drawing goalless with Oman and then beating UAE 2-1 in Doha. Al Annabi, which won the Asian Cup twice in a row, had been eliminated in the group stage at the 2022 hosting.

• Goalkeepers: Meshaal Barsham (Al-Sadd), Mahmoud Abunada, Salah Zakaria
• Defenders: Pedro Miguel, Boualem Khoukhi, Ahmed Al-Janahi (Al-Gharafa), Ahmed Fathi, Sultan Al-Brake, Lucas Mendes, Homam Ahmed
• Midfielders: Assim Madibo, Karim Boudiaf, Abdulaziz Hatem, Tahseen Mohammed (Al-Duhail), Jassem Jaber, Mohamed Al-Mannai, Issa Lai, Yusuf Abdurisag (Al-Wakrah), Hassan Al-Haydos (Al-Sadd — captain), Ayoub Al-Aloui, Al Hashmi Al Hussein
• Forwards: Akram Afif (Al-Sadd — twice Asia's Player of the Year), Almoez Ali (Al-Duhail — Qatar's top scorer, 12 goals in Asian qualifiers), Edmilson Junior (Al-Duhail), Ahmed Alaa (Al-Rayyan), Mohammed Muntari (Al-Gharafa)

🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina (Manager: Sergej Barbarez) The Dragons under Barbarez returned to the World Cup after a 12-year gap. Bosnia and Herzegovina had finished second in the last process of qualifiers two points behind Austria; they managed to eliminate Wales on penalties in Cardiff in the play-off semi-final and Italy on penalties again in the final. Bosnia and Herzegovina, which eliminated Italy from the World Cup again after 32 years, will realise only the second World Cup participation in history.

• Goalkeepers: Nikola Vasilj (St. Pauli), Martin Zlomislić (Rijeka), Mladen Jurkas (Borac Banja Luka — added at the last moment due to Hadžikić's injury)
• Defenders: Sead Kolasinac (Atalanta), Amar Dedić (Benfica), Nihad Mujakić (Gaziantep), Nikola Katić (Schalke 04), Tarik Muharemović (Sassuolo), Stjepan Radeljić (Rijeka), Dennis Hadžikadunić (Sampdoria), Nidal Čelik (Lens)
• Midfielders: Amir Hadžiahmetović (Hull City), Ivan Šunjić (Pafos), Ivan Bašić (Astana), Dženis Burnić (Karlsruher SC), Ermin Mahmić (Slovan Liberec), Benjamin Tahirović (Brøndby), Amar Memić (Viktoria Plzeň), Armin Gigović (Young Boys), Kerim Alajbegović (RB Salzburg)
• Forwards: Edin Džeko (Schalke 04 — captain, 40, 73 international goals, 148 caps), Haris Tabaković (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ermedin Demirović (VfB Stuttgart), Esmir Bajraktarević (PSV Eindhoven — 21, scored the decisive penalty in the Italy final), Jovo Lukić (Universitatea Cluj), Samed Baždar (Jagiellonia Białystok)

Group B Fixtures (Local Time)

Matchday 1 — Friday, June 12, 2026

• Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina | BMO Field, Toronto | 15:00 (local/ET)

Matchday 1 — Saturday, June 13, 2026

• Qatar vs Switzerland | Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara | 12:00 (local PT)

Matchday 2 — Thursday, June 18, 2026

• Switzerland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina | SoFi Stadium, Inglewood | 12:00 (local PT)
• Canada vs Qatar | BC Place, Vancouver | 15:00 (local PT)

Matchday 3 — Wednesday, June 24, 2026

• Switzerland vs Canada | BC Place, Vancouver | 12:00 (local PT)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Qatar | Lumen Field, Seattle | 12:00 (local PT)

The group winner and runner-up will advance directly to the round of 32, while the third-placed team will be evaluated based on the performance of the third-place teams of other groups. The 8 best third-place teams will also join the round of 32.

Europe and Turkey Times

Friday, June 12, 2026

• Canada - Bosnia and Herzegovina: 21:00 CEST | 22:00 TST

Saturday, June 13, 2026

• Qatar - Switzerland: 21:00 CEST | 22:00 TST

Thursday, June 18, 2026

• Switzerland - Bosnia and Herzegovina: 21:00 CEST | 22:00 TST
• Canada - Qatar: 00:00 CEST (June 19) | 01:00 TST (June 19)

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

• Switzerland - Canada: 21:00 CEST | 22:00 TST
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - Qatar: 21:00 CEST | 22:00 TST

Image: bbc.com