World Cup draw reaction with fixture schedule to come – matchday live

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Taking a look at this, which group do we think is the ‘group of death’? Group I is looking like a tricky one, Group C and Group F too.

• Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Euro Playoff D

• Group B: Canada, Euro Playoff A, Qatar, Switzerland

• Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti

• Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, Euro Playoff C

• Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador

• Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, Euro Playoff B

• Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand

• Group H: Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Cape Verde

• Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, Fifa Playoff 2

• Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan

• Group K: Portugal, Fifa Playoff 1, Colombia, Uzbekistan,

• Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana

At the end of an extraordinary day in the US capital and a World Cup draw that lurched between the ridiculous and the sublime (with a greater emphasis on the former, if the truth be told), Thomas Tuchel and England now know. Croatia in Toronto or Dallas. Ghana in Boston or Toronto. Panama in New Jersey or Philadelphia. And that is just the group games…

It was a case of Déjà vu for England last night when discovering they will meet two nations they played against at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Three Lions were drawn against Panama – who they beat 6-1 in the group stage – and Croatia – who they lost 2-1 to in the semi-finals that year.

England will also face Ghana in Group L.

The England flag is displayed on a screen during the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Photograph: Deccio Serrano/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Another key moment from the draw yesterday was Donald Trump receiving… an award. The President of the United States was named the first winner of the newly created Fifa peace prize, claiming “the world is a safer place now” as he received the medal and trophy.

Paul MacInnes will be on hand for a World Cup draw Q&A later on this morning. Feel free to leave a comment or send your questions in to [email protected] before 11am.

Before we begin looking ahead to this afternoon’s games, let’s quickly talk about THAT World Cup draw from yesterday. Firstly, the groups, as things stand, look like this…

• Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Euro Playoff D

• Group B: Canada, Euro Playoff A, Qatar, Switzerland

• Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti

• Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, Euro Playoff C

• Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador

• Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, Euro Playoff B

• Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand

• Group H: Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Cape Verde

• Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, Fifa Playoff 2

• Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan

• Group K: Portugal, Fifa Playoff 1, Colombia, Uzbekistan,

• Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana

Preamble

Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! Well, where do we start? How about yesterday’s World Cup draw? That was… something. Anyway, we’ll get into that properly a bit later.

Today we’ll be looking ahead to this afternoon’s Premier League, Championship and EFL games and looking back at some of the midweek fixtures.

We’ve also got a big WSL clash between Arsenal and Liverpool to look forward to. What more could you want?

I’ll be with you this morning to assess it all - join me!

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