(Photo credit: Witters Sport-Imagn Images)

After months of anticipation, the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw on Friday gave us a much clearer picture of how next summer's tournament -- the first staged with a record 48 teams -- will play out.

There still is the business of six qualification spots, four coming from Europe and two more from FIFA's intercontinental playoffs, both set to be staged in March. But we now mostly know the group alignments, the potential paths and the storylines that are likely to captivate us for more than a month next summer.

Here are a few key takeaways:

Group of Death: Group L -- England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama

Co-host Canada's Group B could become very formidable if Italy emerges from its playoff path. The same could be said of the USA's Group D if Turkiye joins. And any of the three confirmed Group I teams (France, Norway, Senegal) conceivably could win that foursome.

But England's Group L is likely the most difficult on paper. Ghana has a far better European-based talent pool to pull from than its No. 72 FIFA ranking currently suggests. Croatia and England are both teams that could reach a World Cup final. And Panama has consistently been one of the top four teams in CONCACAF over the past decade.

Group of Life: Group G -- Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand

While Belgium still received Pot 1 status, it is clearly a national team program in generational transition, which will leave Egypt and Iran both dreaming of pulling off an upset or two and winning the group. Even New Zealand will think it has a shot to advance from its World Cup group for the first time.

Elsewhere, Argentina will feel it received a favorable draw in Group J (alongside Algeria, Austria and Jordan), and Portugal and Colombia will like their chances to advance without incident from Group K that also includes Uzbekistan and an intercontinental playoff qualifier.

Best group games

Brazil vs. Morocco (Group C): A Brazilian side possibly moving on from Neymar faces a Morocco team with heightened expectations after becoming the first-ever African semifinalist in 2022.

Egypt vs. Iran (Group G): A potentially explosive encounter between two of the Muslim world's biggest footballing forces that have relatively little competitive history between them.

Spain vs. Uruguay (Group H): A fascinating clash in styles between Luis de la Fuente's modernized version of the Spanish tiki-taka and Marcelo Bielsa's organized chaos.

France vs. Norway (Group I): A game that could feature arguably the world's two best goal-scorers, France's Kylian Mbappe and Norway's Erling Haaland.

England vs. Croatia (Group L): The sides will meet for a fourth time at a major international tournament since 2004, with the most famous being Croatia's extra-time victory in the 2018 World Cup semifinals.

More storylines

Deja vu all over again: In its first World Cup appearance in 28 years, Scotland will face two of the same group foes it drew in 1998, Brazil and Morocco.

Colonial tensions: 2022 World Cup finalists France faces one of its oldest former colonies for the first time since 2002, when Senegal pulled one of the all-time great World Cup upsets.

Revenge for Gijon: Algeria, 44 years later, gets its shot at revenge against an Austria side that some believed colluded with West Germany to eliminate the North Africans in 1982.

Italian Toronto takeover?: If the Azzurri win their playoff, they will face Canada in Toronto, a city that has 30% of Canada's ethnically Italian population.

--Ian Quillen, Field Level Media