Data-based attempt at defining the 2026 World Cup Group of Death/Life

I’ve been trying to take a simple data-driven look at which groups at the 2026 World Cup are actually the “Group of Death”… and which ones might be the closest thing to a “Group of Life.”

To keep it objective, I used two different methods:

1) Sum of FIFA Rankings

I added the current FIFA rankings for every team in each group. Lower total = stronger group.

Strongest to weakest: Group F (93), group D (104), group B (107), group I (109), group L (116), group A (119), group K (125), group J (127), group C (136), group H (145), group G (148), group E (156).

2) Pot-Strength System

I also tried a pot-based approach:

• In each pot, the highest-ranked team = –5
• The lowest-ranked team = +5
• The two middle teams = 0 Then I added these scores for each group. Again, lower = stronger.

Strongest to weakest: Group L (-9), group I (-8), groups F,H,J and K (-2), group C (-1), group B (2), groups D and G (4), group A (7), group E (9).

*For UEFA and Intercontinental playoff teams, I used the highest-ranked possible entrant in both methods.

From what I’ve seen, Method 1 doesn’t really “feel” right in terms of how strong the groups actually are, while Method 2 lines up quite well with intuition. It’s obviously not a perfect science, but it gives a decent picture of how the draw might have landed in terms of difficulty.

I’m curious what people think, does these methods actually reflect how strong/weak the groups feel? If anyone has a sharper or more sophisticated way to measure group strength, I’d love to hear it.