With the FIFA World Cup just around the corner, the city of Seattle had been prepped to host some important matches. Lumen Field, named Seattle Stadium for the competition, hosts four group stage matches and two knockout round matches. While the price of tickets have been astronomically high, what matches taking place in Seattle would be the most fun for a local fan to attend? With no Sounders to watch for a month, let’s take a closer look at the matches in Seattle for the group stage.
If you are a fan of the Sounders who just wants to tune in to some World Cup games, or even attempt to attend a match in Seattle, this read will act as a guide for the four group matches. Ranking the matches on their competitiveness, star players, and how important that match is in the grand scheme of the tournament. These rankings will be scored on a scale of 1-5.
The first ranking of competitiveness will be directly related to FIFA World rankings. If the difference in team rankings is five or less, that is a full five stars. If it is between 6-10, it will be four stars, and so on. For example if a team is ranked 15th in the world and they face a team who is 23rd, that is a seven rank difference and will be scored with four points.
Star Players is a bit subjective and a tad ambiguous. To make it more simple, the stars on a team will be based on how likely an average soccer fan would be to recognize that player. For example, nearly every person who watches soccer will know of Lionel Messi while significantly less people in the same demographic will recognize Cody Gakpo. Additionally, casual American fans will likely recognize more of the USMNT players, so that will be taken into consideration.
Lastly, how important the match is or better stated as “What is at Stake?.” This category of ranking is how important a match is to the rest of the tournament. Is it a match between two favorites to advance from the group? Or is it a match between two teams expected to be at the bottom? The first of those two will be higher scored in this category.
With that out of the way we can dive into this rankings from fourth to first.
4 – 7/15 – Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Qatar
Last tournament’s hosts return to the world stage in Group B alongside Canada, Switzerland, and Bosnia. They will face Bosnia in Seattle on June 24th for the final group stage match.
Bosnia and Herzegovina are making just their second FIFA World Cup appearance in 2026. They previously qualified for the 2014 World Cup, which was their first ever World Cup.
Bosnian Goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj / Photo Credit: Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Federation
Qatar enters the tournament ranked 55th in the FIFA World rankings. Qatar have not won an international match since October when they defeated the United Arab Emirates in World Cup qualifying. They’ve since gone 0-1-4 after qualifying for the World Cup.
Bosnia qualified to the World Cup after beating Italy in a penalty shootout in the UEFA Qualification Playoff. Despite being one of the lowest ranked countries from UEFA, they pulled off shock upsets over Wales and Italy to reach the tournament.
This match will likely decide which teams finish 3rd or 4th in their group, with Switzerland and Canada being the favorites to advance. With the new format, the top eight 3rd place teams will advance to the Round of 32. If either of these squads want to reach the knockout stage, this will turn into a must-win match.
Players to Watch:
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Edin Dzeko (Schalke), Ermedin Demirovic (Stuttgart)
Qatar: Akram Afif (Al-Sadd)
Rating Breakdown:
Competitiveness: 4/5, -10 Difference: Qatar (55th) – Bosnia and Herzegovina (65th)
Importance: 1/5
Star Players: 2/5
3 – 9/15 – Egypt vs Iran
Similarly to the previously discussed match, this will likely not be a match that decides the group Wimmer. Belgium seem to be the clear favorites in the group, with Egypt being the favorites to finish 2nd.
Egypt failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and have not advanced beyond the group stage since 1934. In what may be Mohamed Salah’s last tournament with Egypt, this will likely be his last chance to perform on the world stage.
Photo Credit: Sam Fahmi / Massive Report
Iran has qualified for the last three World Cups, with this year’s tournament being their 7th appearance. Iran has never advanced beyond the group stage in the World Cup. This year’s group will be their best chance with a potential 3rd place finish being good enough.
Group G features Belgium, Egypt, Iran, and New Zealand. Belgium, as previously stated, are the favorites to win the group. New Zealand is the most likely last-place finisher. That means this match between Egypt and Iran could likely decide who gets 2nd and a long-awaited trip to the knockout rounds.
Players to Watch:
Egypt: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Omar Marmoush (Manchester City)
Iran: Mehdi Taremi (Olympiacos)
Rating Breakdown:
Competitiveness: 4/5, -8 Difference: Iran (21st) – Egypt (29th)
Importance: 3/5
Star Players: 2/5
2 – 10/15 – Belgium vs Egypt
Belgium enter the world cup ranked as the 9th best team in the FIFA world rankings and the favorites to win Group G. Belgium exited the 2022 World Cup in the Group Stage after finishing in third in the group. Despite an opening win over Canada, a loss to Morocco and a draw to Croatia saw the Belgians miss out on the knockout rounds for the first time since 1998.
This match seems to be a match between the two sides most likely to advance from Group G. Egypt, as mentioned earlier, has only advanced from the group stage once back in 1934. Since then, Egypt has been eliminated in the group stage at every World Cup they have participated in.
Belgium will be training at the Seattle Sounders training facilities in Tukwila, Washington, prior to their Group Stage matches. Stars like Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku will be training at the same facility as the club who plays all their home matches in Seattle. Will this give any advantage to Belgium? Probably not. But it is something to think about!
Photo Credit: Royal Belgian Football Association
Players to Watch:
Belgium: Romelu Lukaku (Napoli), Keven De Bruyne (Napoli), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal)
Egypt: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Omar Marmoush (Manchester City)
Rating Breakdown:
Competitiveness: 2/5, -20 Difference: Belgium (9th) – Egypt (29th)
Importance: 4/5
Star Players: 4/5
1 – 11/15 – USA vs Australia
The biggest match in the group stage that Seattle will host is the United States against Australia. The USMNT is hosting the World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico, with the majority of the matches taking place within the United States. The USMNT has reached the Round of 16 in the last three World Cups they have participated in. In 2022, they were eliminated by the Netherlands after finishing second in their group.
Australia has qualified for the last six World Cups, reaching the Round of 16 in 2006 and 2022. At the 2022 World Cup, Australia finished second in the group after beating Denmark and Tunisia, tying group winners France on points (They did lose 4-1 to France in the group opening match). Australia faced eventual winners Argentina in the Round of 16 and put up a good fight. While they did lose 2-1 to Argentina, they made it uncomfortable for the squad that would be crowned World Champs later that tournament.
The USMNT has faced Australia four times in international soccer, winning twice and losing once back in 1998 and drawing another in 1992. The two sides met in October of 2025 for a friendly, with the USMNT winning 2-1. Both goals were scored by Haji Wright with Cristian Roldan assisting both goals.
Photo Credit: Ray Bahner/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images
This match will likely determine which team will finish in the top two of Group D. If the USMNT win their opener against Paraguay, a win against Australia could see the Stars and Stripes through to the next round before their meeting with Turkiye. The same could be said for Australia if they manage a victory of Turkiye in their opening matches.
Players to Watch:
United States: Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth)
Australia: Jackson Irvine (St. Pauli), Nestory Irankunda (Watford), Alessandro Circati (Parma)
Rating Breakdown:
Competitiveness: 3/5, -11 Difference: United States (16th) – Australia (27th)
Importance: 4/5
Star Players: 4/5
The 2026 World Cup is set to be an exciting and unpredictable tournament as Seattle plays its part in the biggest World Cup to date. With four group stage matches and two knockout round matches, Seattle will see teams dreams continue or end on the pitch. Which match will be the best of them all? We are eager to find out!
(COVER PHOTO CREDIT: Mike Fietchner / Sounders FC Communications)
