World Cup 2026 Group I preview: Prediction, odds, full team overviews

Group I might be the closest thing this World Cup has to a Group of Death with three teams — France, Senegal and Norway — that look capable of making a run.Iraq is in the unfortunate position of having to play all three of them.The Post previews Group I at the World Cup:Teams listed in predicted order of finish.

* indicates third-place team predicted to advance to the knockout stage.Odds to win the group: -215What you need to know: Champions in 2018, finalists in 2022, an outrageously talented roster and a well-respected veteran manager in Didier Deschamps.Les Bleus are as good as it gets.

Kylian Mbappé might be the best player in the world, Ousmane Dembélé won the Ballon d’Or last year, Michael Olise and Désiré Doué are electrifying players on the wings, N’Golo Kanté and Aurélien Tchouaméni can control games from midfield — you get the idea.You would be hard-pressed to find a deeper team in this tournament or one with more star power.How they play: Deschamps has a multitude of options at his disposal, but a 4-2-3-1 with Mbappé up top and Olise behind him looks like France’s preferred setup going into the World Cup.

France can play with blistering speed and skill when necessary, but it’s happy to deploy any style to beat teams.At times, Deschamps has even been criticized at home over boring showings.Star player: Mbappé is the biggest star in the sport not named Messi or Ronaldo.

So important is he in France that he has a personal relationship with president Emmanuel Macron, who once made an appeal to Mbappé to stay at Paris Saint-Germain.He did, for a time, but moved on to Real Madrid in 2024 after a long courtship.

Much like Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry in the generation prior, Mbappé’s celebrity has risen above sport to make him a national symbol in France.World Cup history: Champions in 1998 and 2018, finalists in 2006 and 2022, France is one of the sport’s perennial powers, especially over the past 30 years.Though its do...