The World Cup draw on Friday morning in Washington D.C. revealed most of the teams coming to the Bay Area to play at Levi’s Stadium next June.
All of Group D, aside from the United States’ national team, will play at Levi’s Stadium during group-stage games. We’ll also have two games from Group J, but the Bay Area is expected to miss the big draw from that set of teams, Lionel Messi and defending World Cup champion Argentina, based on the scheduling rotation that FIFA has used for prior World Cups.
The top-ranked team coming to Northern California – provided Argentina does not play here – will be Switzerland, which faces Qatar here on June 13 in both nations’ opening match. One team assured of coming to the Bay has not yet been revealed. Group D’s fourth qualifier will come from a playoff between Turkey, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo.
Santa Clara will host five group-stage games and a knockout round game in the Round of 32.
The knockout match will feature the winner of Group D against one of the top third-place finishers from another group. That means either the U.S. will play here in a must-win match, or one of Group D’s other teams will return to the South Bay.
Here are the teams expected to play in Santa Clara throughout June:
Switzerland
FIFA ranking: 17
How they qualified: Finished first in its UEFA group with 14 points (4-2-0), clinching its spot with a 1-1 tie against Kosovo last month.
World Cup appearances (including 2026): This will be Switzerland’s 13th appearance and sixth in a row.
Best World Cup finish: The Swiss reached the quarterfinals in 1934, 1938 and 1954.
Top 3 players to watch: Granit Xhaka is the national team’s captain, as well as captain for Premier League club Sunderland. Breel Embolo of French club Stade Rennais scored four goals in qualifying. Dan Ndoye of Premier League club Nottingham Forest had two goals and three assists in qualifying.
Population: 8,986,658
Trivia: The Swiss eat more chocolate per capita than any other country, with its citizens consuming roughly 240 bars per year.
Austria
FIFA ranking: 24
How they qualified: A 1-1 draw with Bosnia & Herzegovina on the final day of UEFA qualifying moved Austria into the field. They outscored opponents 23-5 over eight games to qualify.
World Cup appearances: Austria has played in eight World Cups, but has not qualified since 1998 in France.
Best World Cup finish: Third place (1954)
Top 3 players to watch: Real Madrid center back David Alaba is far and away Austria’s most accomplished squad member with 10 Austrian player of the year awards. Marcel Sabitzer has been a Bundesliga mainstay in central midfield and Marko Arnautovic, at 36, led the nation in scoring during qualifying.
Population: 9,178,482
Trivia: The 1930s team, including its first World Cup entrant in 1934, was known as the Wunderteam. When Nazi Germany annexed Austria, the nation withdrew from the 1938 cup, but after the war, the Austrians reached their best finish in 1954.
Australia
FIFA ranking: 26
How they qualified: Finished 2nd in Asian Football Confederation third round with a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia.
World Cup appearances: This is their seventh, qualifying for each tournament since 2006.
Best World Cup finish: Round of 16 (2006, 2022)
Top 3 players to watch: Stalwart midfielder Jackson Irvine plays for the Bundesliga’s St. Pauli and winger Nestory Irankunda is among an upcoming group of young Socceroos. Riley McGree plays for Middlesbrough in England’s second division.
Population: 27,536,874
Trivia: Australia had only qualified once before 2006, reaching the 1974 World Cup in Germany and going scoreless.
Algeria
FIFA ranking: 35
How they qualified: A 3-0 win over Somalia in October sealed Algeria’s place atop its group in African qualifying.
World Cup appearances: 2026 will be Algeria’s fifth World Cup. Algeria has won the Africa Cup of Nations twice, in 1990 and 2019.
Best World Cup finish: Round of 16 in 2014 (lost against Germany in extra time 2-1).
Top 3 players to watch: Riyad Mahrez (Al-Ahli, formerly with Man City. The saudi team paid 35 million euros for his move), Mohamed Amoura (Wolfsburg), who scored 17 goals in the Belgian Pro League before moving to the Bundesliga, and Ismaël Bennacer (Dynamo Zagreb, on loan from AC Milan).
Population: 46,164,219
Trivia: Algeria is the largest country in Africa by land area, and the 10th-largest in the world.
Paraguay
FIFA ranking: 39
How they qualified: Secured the sixth and final spot in the CONMEBOL (South American) qualifying tournament with a 0-0 draw against Ecuador. They went 7-7-4, but only allowed 10 goals. (They also only scored 14).
World Cup appearances: This is their ninth, but first since 2010. They are two-time Copa America winners.
Best World Cup finish: Quarterfinals in 2010.
Top 3 players to watch: Antonio Sanabria is the leading scoring threat for “La Albirroja”; captain Gustavo Gómez and Omar Alderete anchor the formidable defense.
Population: 7,048,458
Trivia: Paraguay was one of the 13 teams that participated in the first World Cup in 1930 (16 teams were invited) and went 1-1, losing to the United States and defeating Belgium.
Qatar
FIFA ranking: 51
How they qualified: Finished at the top of its group in the fourth round of Asian qualifiers after barely escaping the third round after allowing 24 goals in 10 matches.
World Cup appearances: This is their second; the first was an automatic spot as the host nation in 2022.
Best World Cup finish: 32nd, in 2022 (out of 32 teams)
Top 3 players to watch: Almoez Ali was the top scorer in qualification with 12 goals; Akram Afif was the MVP of the most recent Asian Cup; Hassan Al-Haydos is the team captain.
Population: 3,143,859
Trivia: “The Maroons” were the first Arab nation to host the competition, but also became the quickest hosts eliminated and the first to fail to record a point. Qatar was knocked out before it even played its third pool-play match. In all, they were outscored 7-1.
Jordan
FIFA ranking: 66
How they qualified: Jordan qualified second in group B in the Asian Federation behind South Korea with 16 points (4-4-2).
World Cup appearances: 2026 will be Jordan’s first World Cup appearance. Jordan hasn’t won any important tournaments, but reached the finals of the Asian Cup in 2023 (lost 3-1 to Qatar).
Best World Cup finish: This is their first World Cup, ever.
Top 3 players to watch: Musa Al-Tamari (Rennes, Ligue 1), Yazan Al-Naimat (Al-Arabi, Qatar), both nominated for the best player in Asia Award, and Ali Olwan, who plays for Iraqi side Al Karma and scored multiple times during the World Cup qualifiers.
Population: 11,439,213
Trivia: The national team’s nickname is “Al Nashama” (The Chivalrous Ones), a common Jordanian moniker associated with qualities such as strength, generosity, hospitality and courage.