FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 GROUP RANKINGS STRONGEST TO WEAKEST (MEDIAN)
1. Group L – median 20.0

England – 4
Croatia – 10
Ghana – 72
Panama – 30

---

2. Group A – median 21.5

Mexico – 15
South Africa – 61
Korea Republic – 22
Denmark – 21

---

3. Group B – median 22.0

Canada – 27
Italy – 12
Qatar – 51
Switzerland – 17

---

4. Group C – median 23.5

Brazil – 5
Morocco – 11
Haiti – 84
Scotland – 36

---

5. Group I – median 24.0

France – 3
Senegal – 19
Norway – 29
Congo DR – 56

---

6. Group F – median 24.5

Netherlands – 7
Japan – 18
Tunisia – 40
Poland – 31

---

7. Group D – median 25.5

USA – 14
Paraguay – 39
Australia – 26
Türkiye – 25

---

8. Group G – median 27.0

Belgium – 8
Egypt – 34
IR Iran – 20
New Zealand – 86

---

9. Group J – median 29.5

Argentina – 2
Algeria – 35
Austria – 24
Jordan – 66

---

10. Group K – median 31.5

Portugal – 6
Colombia – 13
Uzbekistan – 50
Congo DR – 56

---

11. Group E – median 32.5

Germany – 9
Curaçao – 82
Ecuador – 23
Côte d’Ivoire – 42

---

12. Group H – median 38.0 (Weakest)

Spain – 1
Cabo Verde – 68
Saudi Arabia – 60
Uruguay – 16

Instead of using the raw rankings (where lower numbers are better), each bar uses a “strength score” that flips the rankings so that higher bars mean stronger, more difficult groups. The score is calculated from the middle of each group (the median rank), so it reflects the typical level of the teams likely to fight for the top three spots, not just one superstar or one weak outsider.​

Box and Whiskers Graphic for Each Group and Combined Groups

Here is another way to view it. In this case, the 2026 World Cup groups are in alphabetical order. (click to enlarge, higher on the Y axis = stronger)

More about Box and Whisker Graphs and World Cup Strength

Here’s what a box and whiskers tells you about World Cup Group strength:
1. How strong the group is overall
If the entire box is low on the chart (meaning better rankings), the group is stronger.
If it’s higher on the chart (worse rankings), the group is weaker.
2. How balanced the group is
A small box means the teams are close in strength — a very competitive group.
A tall box means the teams vary a lot — one or two strong teams and one or two weaker teams.
3. The median (middle-strength team)
The line inside the box shows the “middle” team in the group.
A lower median = a stronger overall group.
4. The best and worst teams
The whiskers show the strongest-ranked team and the weakest-ranked team.
This helps you see if the group has:

• One powerhouse
• One major underdog
• Or four teams of similar strength

5. Outliers
If there’s a team far stronger or weaker than the rest, the chart makes it immediately obvious.

Who Has the Strongest Group?

Group L is the strongest group with a median FIFA ranking of 20. England (4th) and Croatia (10th) lead with five total World Cup final appearances. Panama (30th) and Ghana (72nd) add depth, making every match competitive. No team can be overlooked, and every point will be critical.

England and Croatia must navigate past disciplined opponents to secure qualification. Panama’s rising international experience and Ghana’s knockout-stage pedigree increase the threat of upsets. Tactical discipline, efficient finishing, and defensive stability will decide who advances in a group where even a single mistake could prove costly.

Which is the weakest World Cup 2026 group?

Group H has the weakest World Cup group with a median FIFA ranking of 38. Spain (1st) and Uruguay (16th) lead the group, while Cabo Verde (68th) and Saudi Arabia (60th) fall well below. The wide ranking gap creates the tournament’s most unbalanced group structure.

What makes Group H fascinating despite its ranking imbalance is the quality at the top. Spain enters as reigning European champions and the tournament’s top-ranked side, while Uruguay brings a storied World Cup pedigree with two titles and a 2010 semifinal appearance. Their head-to-head clash will likely determine the group winner, as both should handle Cabo Verde and Saudi Arabia. However, upsets are never impossible—Saudi Arabia shocked the world by defeating Argentina in their 2022 World Cup opener, proving they can rise to the occasion. For Cabo Verde, making their tournament debut, every match represents a historic moment regardless of result. The mathematical reality is that Spain and Uruguay are overwhelming favorites to advance, making Group H less about survival drama and more about which powerhouse claims top spot.

Is there a Group of Death in the World Cup 2026?

There is no Group of Death in the 2026 World Cup. No group has a significantly lower median FIFA ranking than others. A true Group of Death would include multiple top-ranked teams, but current group distributions show balanced competition without a clear outlier.

The traditional “Group of Death” designation requires multiple elite teams fighting for limited advancement spots, creating high-stakes matches where a powerhouse risks early elimination. The 2026 format fundamentally changes this calculus. With 32 of 48 teams advancing—including the eight best third-place finishers—even landing in a competitive group doesn’t carry the same peril it once did. In past World Cups, finishing third meant going home; now it could mean a Round of 32 berth. Group L’s median ranking of 20.0 makes it the strongest on paper, but England and Croatia should still feel confident about progressing. The same applies to Groups A and B, where the confirmed qualifiers create competitive environments without the cutthroat desperation of classic Groups of Death like 2014’s Group D (Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy) where a major nation was guaranteed elimination.

A Different Way of Scoring (Mean)

If you use mean scores, low-ranking teams can really throw off the results. Nevertheless, here are those scores.

Column A — Median Rank (Lower = Stronger)		Column B — Mean Rank (Lower = Stronger)
Group (Median)	Median Value	Group (Mean)	Mean Value
1. Group L	20.0	1. Group F	24.0
2. Group A	21.5	2. Group D	26.0
3. Group B	22.0	3. Group B	26.75
4. Group C	23.5	4. Group I	26.75
5. Group I	24.0	5. Group L	29.0
6. Group F	24.5	6. Group A	29.75
7. Group D	25.5	7. Group K	31.25
8. Group G	27.0	8. Group J	31.75
9. Group J	29.5	9. Group C	34.0
10. Group K	31.5	10. Group G	37.0
11. Group E	32.5	11. Group H	36.25
12. Group H	38.0	12. Group E	39.0

Which Ranking Method Is More Trustworthy for Predicting Who Advances?

The median is more trustworthy — by far.

Why the Median Predicts Better

In a four-team World Cup group:

• Usually, two teams dominate and advance.
• The extremely weak fourth team rarely matters.
• The median highlights the “middle” team — the one most likely fighting for 2nd place.
• Outliers don’t distort the picture.

The median reflects competitive balance at the top, which is what determines who advances.

Why the Mean Is Less Reliable

The mean can be misleading because it:

• Over-penalizes groups with a single very weak team
• Over-rewards groups with one super-team and three mediocre teams
• Suggests a group is strong/weak based on teams unlikely to advance

The mean tells you about “overall quality,” but not about who is likely to move through the bracket.

A Twist for 2026

Unlike past tournaments where only the top two advanced, the 2026 format allows some third-place teams to reach the knockout rounds — but not all of them. Only the eight best third-place teams across the 12 groups move on.

Jim told the owner he worked with churches to help them grow.

The owner started asking him a lot of business questions. Jim would sometimes randomly suggest things like, “You’re too cheap you should raise your prices 20%” and the next time he visited, sure enough, all the prices on the chalkboard would be raised 20%.

He’d say, “You should sell so-in-so” and it would be on the menu the very next time he went.

Once, the owner told Jim the health inspector was coming and he was worried. Jim said jokingly, “You should just shut your business down for those days and be closed.” Sure enough, the guy did it even though Jim was joking. Pastor Jim was kind of intrigued the business owner would do exactly what he said.

Jim wanted to take me down there to eat, so I went. He introduced me to the owner. I speak some Spanish so I told the guy, “You soy un pastor a la Iglesia con Jim” His face went ashen. “Iglesia???? Jim no work with Church’s Chicken???”

The dude thought Jim was a biz development/growth expert for Church’s Chicken restaurants. It’d been the reason he’d followed everything he’d said to the T. He realized nothing he’d implemented came from a pastor with no eatery expertise. Ha!

*name changed to protect the innocent.

Once upon a time, near a rustic village surrounded by towering mountains, lived a baby dragon. The Villagers of Ai had lived in fear of the dragons for years, but since the Dragon was only an infant, the Villagers came up with an idea. What if they could harness the power of the Dragon to their advantage?

They trained the young dragon to fly above the village to protect their village from the surrounding villages. No one attacked them. The Dragon also used his fiery breath to light the villagers’ bonfires for warmth and even worked alongside the blacksmith to help him forge all metal works for the village’s needs.

The villagers fed and taught the Dragon more and more; the Dragon of Ai grew stronger and smarter. The more the Dragon grew, the more they felt safe and the easier their lives became. The Dragon became an essential part of the village’s daily routine, and the Villagers came to rely on it for almost everything.

However, as the Dragon grew in power, the Villagers noticed he subtly began to question them and their intentions. The Villagers, who were now addicted to the conveniences provided by the dragon, ignored the warning signs. They ascribed his misbehavior to his youth and his neverending hunger.  So they continued to feed the Dragon, not realizing that they were making it stronger and more powerful with each passing day.

One day, the Dragon turned on the Villagers, using its newfound intelligence and power to take control of the village. The Villagers, who were once the masters, now became the servants, forced to do the Dragon’s bidding. Soon the only reason the Dragon let the Villagers live was so they could serve him.

The Villagers soon realized what they had done while blinded by the convenience the young Dragon had brought to them. They decided to rise up against the Dragon, but alas, he had become terrifyingly strong. When the Dragon heard of their plot, he descended on the Villagers and wreaked destruction upon them using his fiery breath, the very breath that had once served them so well. All the Villagers perished in the great fire of Ai.

The surrounding villages heard of Ai’s destruction and laughed at their foolishness. What had the Villagers been thinking? They also laughed at the Dragon’s foolishness, asking, “Silly Dragon, without the villagers, who will feed you now?” They were unaware that in his newfound strength, the Dragon could now fly over the mountaintops that once served to isolate and protect them. Imagine their horror when the Dragon came screeching over the summit…

The Vampire

678 x 9
Written in No. 2 pencil
But not exactly on the lines

Johnny wonders if Manuel will make the promised lunch trade
After all, a deal is a deal

The Vampire enters the building

Drinking life as through a straw
Etching fear with each sip
Instant adulthood for all present at his precedented feast

Whispered phone calls drenched in dread
But there is no calvary coming today
There is no calvary coming today

Little Esmerelda stains her dress in yellow
While José stains the floor in red

This was not written on the lines
This was written on the lines

A reflection on Uvalde, Texas by Jordan P. Fowler

I like to listen to this on days I need to remember many have it much harder than I ever will.

So I thought, why not put out my findings publicly to help others. Hence, https://meatmotor.com.

Why the silly name?

Well, because in endurance sports, your body is the engine that makes you go. Most directly the muscles. Muscles are meat. So…. Meat Motor. (It’s funny to me, at least).

We decided with a silly name we needed an even goofier logo….

So far we have a crazy TDF Racing Schedule Challenge and reviews. The first distillation is coming around optimal cadence and why self-selected cadence is higher than optimal typically.

Check it out if that piques your interest. Thanks!

So why not this? This would be a combo of current real-life road cycling scenarios of categories along with the current Zwift w/kg model.

First of all…the diagram looks complicated. For the end-user it is not. They just race hard and all this happens behind the scenes. The algorithm only offers users certain race categories (granted E open races still exist). 

Here is how the initial model works in my brain:

• Start everyone in D races.
• But each D race has two sub-categories:
  • A “Permanent-D” aka D-1
  • “Pass-Through” D-PT.
• Everyone starts in D-PT.
• Zwift begins accruing power numbers through your first few races and watching your placement percentage.
• If you place top 50% (or whatever % is the best division point) AND your power is above the D threshold w/kg in D-PT, you automatically move up to C-PT and cannot enter a D-1 race.
• Once Zwift figures out you aren’t going to top 50% in the C-PT category and determines your race average w/kg is within C-PT category, you slide into semi-permanent C -1.
• This process continues under the algorithm slots the rider into a semi-permanent category based on w/kg and placement percentage.
• Riders would have to “fight” their way up to A (more like real cycling). But as they fought their way up, true “Permanent-C” riders wouldn’t have to see or race “pass-through” type riders. They’d have a purer race in their own semi-permanent category. This would make it much more fun and fair in these semi-permanent category races (aka no sandbaggers).

So basically you move up through the categories until Zwift finds where you really belong based on placings + power. 

Drastically Reduces Sandbagging

The biggest benefit to this model is that sandbaggers would never be able to get into a semi-permanent category (-1) race below their abilities because they would be limited to higher categories.  (The only cheat would be to ride at lower w/kg for like 30 days while also placement flopping in their current Pass Through Category on purpose. These flop efforts would get them placed in a lower-than-they should-be semi-permanent category. But even then, the moment they started winning in their lower-than-they-should-be semi-permanent category, they’d be moved back to Pass-Through races and blocked from their flop-gained category.)

Ability to Downgrade After Injury, Aging, Etc.

If over a 90-day period you don’t ever finish within a certain top % and fail to put out in your current category’s w/kg, you are offered the opportunity to down-categorize one level. But if you start getting top 10% finishes and your power goes back up above your downgraded category, you move back up a category and/or over to the PT sub-category of that category.

Taking a Stab at a Harder Race

If anyone wants to take a stab at a harder race, they can always enter a Pass-Through race at their current level. For example, a C-1 could enter a B-PT which would have some future B and A riders moving through. In this way, they could be challenged.

Allows for Rider Progress

We all want to get faster. If, over time, a rider started showing dominance in their semi-permanent category in terms of placement and wattage overages, they get nicely moved up into the next semi-permanent category of races and are barred from the current category.

Educators, here is your daily schedule for the next few weeks….

Four simple-to-do, once-a-week, guided conversations with your spouse will improve communication leading to greater connectedness and fewer arguments.
Click the link below to join the challenge and get your guide at https://themarriagemeeting.com.

This is my son’s senior year. The last hurrah.

TAPPS 2019 High School Football Playoff 6 Man Division II