France enters the 2026 World Cup as the clear frontrunner to top Group I due to its unmatched squad depth, recent major-tournament pedigree as 2018 champions and 2022 runners-up, and attacking options that extend well beyond established stars. Norway sits second in trader consensus after a flawless qualifying campaign led by Erling Haaland’s prolific scoring and a supporting cast featuring strong contributions from Ødegaard and others, marking its first appearance since 1998. Senegal brings physicality and prior knockout-stage experience but trails on overall quality and consistency metrics. Iraq remains a distant outsider with limited recent results against this level of competition. The June 16 opener between France and Senegal, followed by the full slate through June 26, will test these assessments in a group widely viewed as one of the tournament’s strongest.