10 Dec 2025

First Touch '26

There will be no Friday edition of the Kickback Minutes this week due to the World Cup draw!

Remembering a Random World Cup Legend Every Week:

Whoever made a piece from the set of “Hellraiser” the FIFA Peace Prize trophy.

Headlines from the World Cup Draw:

The World Cup Draw was even more FIFA-y than we could have ever imagined:

A prolonged video and Infantino speech praising Donald Trump before issuing him the FIFA Peace Prize, both as a medal and the above trophy that was seemingly scoured from Pennywise’s underground lair.
Kevin Hart’s introduction really, really insisting we believe that he is a “football” fan.
Three different pre-recorded video skits featuring Rio Ferdinand.
A three song set from Lauryn Hill.
Three different insistences, including one from Donald Trump, that we call it football and not soccer.
All of this in 80 minutes before we even started the draw!

On top of that, FIFA created a second presentation on Saturday to announce the actual locations and times of the matches.

Ok, Now After that Prolonged Prelude the Actual Headlines from the World Cup Draw:

We did, eventually, get the information we came for. Here it is, the World Cup 2026 Groups:

The expansion to 48 teams makes the “Group of Death” more a “Group of Mild Indigestion” now, but there’s still plenty of takeaways. You can listen to our group-by-group analysis here, but we’ll highlight some key takeaways:

The U.S.’s group difficulty will largely depend on the UEFA qualifier. While Paraguay and Australia are not pushovers, the U.S. did recently play both in October and November Friendlies and appeared clearly the superior side.
However, both feature stingy defenses and are unlikely to open up to the U.S. Thinks get more complex, too, if Turkiye snag the UEFA spot, as this Turkish side features some of the most dynamic young talent in the world between Arda Gular and Kenan Yildiz, and would likely be one of the tournament’s top dark horses.
Elsewhere, the Norway vs. France match will feature arguably the two top players in the tournament in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland. While France may be a tournament favorite, Norway’s young golden generation have them playing as well as any nation in the world.
Other highlights include a rematch of one of the biggest World Cup upsets ever, France vs. Senegal, and the elite vibes of a The Netherlands vs. Japan match, on and off the pitch.
Want a party? Brazil vs. Haiti in Philadelphia is going to be legendary.
Want an upset? We’re going back to Group F, where Tunisia may be overlooked and threaten group favorites The Netherlands.

Ecuador is suddenly producing some of the world’s best talent, and it’s thanks to a club that only recently upgraded to a 12,000 person stadium:

First Touch '26 Podcasts:

This week, Kickback Soccer Media has released sixteen of our World Cup “capsules,” as well as an hour-long World Cup draw analysis featuring David Gass, Eric Krakauer, Claudia Pagan, and Heath Pearce breaking down every World Cup group, as part of our launch of our World Cup vertical, First Touch ‘26.

You can follow First Touch now by:

Following us on Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok or YouTube @firsttouchksm
Listen to our podcasts here https://linktr.ee/firsttouchksm .
Or find all of these links at kickbacksoccer.com!

Other Headlines:

Another big change by FIFA was announced over the past week, with mandatory 3-minute water breaks introduced in every half of every match. While water breaks are welcomed and necessary in outdoor afternoon games in the U.S., with so many matches in climate-controlled domes many are asking if this isn’t just a play to create more inventory for commercials.

FIFA’s pivot to selecting match stadiums after the draw has cities like San Francisco furious. Major matches like Morocco vs. Brazil and Germany vs. Ecuador ended up in New York, while other markets seemingly ended up with fewer of the marquee matchups.

Interested in the local schedule for your nearest host city?