THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SOCCER OF A WORLD CUP YEAR! Oh, friends, this is what it’s all about! After five weeks of MLS action, we’ve officially made it to the first international break of the year, and this one is huge. With 42 of the 48 teams in this summer’s tournament field already set, we’ve got two distinct groups to watch during this window: the qualified teams fine-tuning their rosters and the 22 teams still vying for a place via the play-offs. 

There are fewer games to watch in this guide than there’ve been in the last few, but trust me, it’s going to be full of the kind of passionate play that comes as a precursor to major moments in soccer history. Cancel your plans, or better yet, change them so you can watch these matches with friends. It’s time to get yourself into World Cup-watching shape. 

Loons

As always, several of your Loons will be repping their national colors this week. This time around, four MNUFC players have earned a call up, with three (Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Carlos Harvey, and James Rodríguez) taking part in World Cup preparations, as their nations have already qualified. Meanwhile, Nectarios Triantis joins Greece once again to further establish his place in the next generation of Greek soccer.

• Bongokuhle Hlongwane - South Africa

• Carlos Harvey - Panama

• James Rodríguez - Colombia

• Nectarios Triantis - Greece

Schedules

• Croatia vs. Colombia, Thursday, March 26, at 6:30 p.m. CT

• South Africa vs. Panama, Friday, March 27, at 12:00 p.m. CT

• Greece vs. Paraguay, Friday, March 27, at 2:00 p.m. CT

• Colombia vs. France, Sunday, March 29, at 3:00 p.m. CT

• South Africa vs. Panama, Tuesday, March 31, at 12:30 p.m. CT

• Hungary vs. Greece, Tuesday, March 31, at 1:00 p.m. CT

You may have noticed that Carlos Harvey and Bongokuhle Hlongwane are going full Dani Rojas vs. Thierry Zoreaux (or Van Damme), with a pair of international friendlies against one another on the horizon. Meanwhile, James and the Colombian national team will be taking on a European tour to test their mettle against two of the strongest teams in recent World Cup history.

World Cup Play-Off Tournament

Six teams, five confederations, two spots up for grabs. Yes, the FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off Tournament is here, kicking off on March 26 down in Mexico. This last-chance, inter-confederation play-off sees nations from every continent (except Europe) fighting for two final qualification spots. Two of these nations (New Caledonia and Suriname) are looking to qualify for their first World Cup, while the others look to make long-awaited returns. The winner of Path 1 will join Group K (Colombia, Portugal, Uzbekistan), and the winner of Path 2 will join Group I (Norway, France, Senegal). Talk about a tough reward!

Path 1

• New Caledonia vs. Jamaica, Thursday, March 26, at 10:00 p.m. CT
• Winner plays DR Congo on Tuesday, March 31, at 4:00 p.m. CT

Path 2

• Bolivia vs. Suriname, Thursday, March 26, at 5:00 p.m. CT
• Winner plays Iraq on Tuesday, March 31, at 10:00 p.m. CT

The Play-Off Tournament will be available for streaming on FIFA+, as well as broadcast on FOX and FS1. 

UEFA Play-Off 

That special federation over in Europe gets their own play-off because they’re just so dang special. Do they deserve it? Someone thinks so, and they get paid more than I do, so let’s just accept it and move on. Of the 16 (!!) guaranteed spots designated to UEFA nations, 12 are already full. The remaining four will be decided this month, with 16 teams still fighting to be at this summer’s tournament. 

Each of the four play-off groups are broken into mini-tournaments, with teams needing to win two games to advance to the main stage this summer. It’s hard to predict how these will end up, but if I were legally allowed to be a betting man, my favorites for each path would be Italy, Türkiye, Sweden, and Denmark, though my heart is with Ireland as they look to pull off a miracle in Path D. 

Path A - winner joins Group B (Canada, Qatar, Switzerland)

• Wales vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Thursday, March 26, at 2:45 p.m. CT

• Italy vs. Northern Ireland, Thursday, March 26, at 2:45 p.m. CT

• Final, Tuesday, March 31, at 1:45 p.m. CT

Path B - winner joins Group F (Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia)

• Ukraine vs. Sweden, Thursday, March 26, at 2:45 p.m. CT
• Poland vs. Albania, Thursday, March 26, at 2:45 p.m. CT
• Final, Tuesday, March 31, at 1:45 p.m. CT

Path C - winner joins Group D (USA, Paraguay, Australia)

• Slovakia vs. Kosovo, Thursday, March 26, at 2:45 p.m. CT

• Türkiye vs. Romania, Thursday, March 26, at 12:00 p.m. CT

• Final, Tuesday, March 31, at 1:45 p.m. CT

Path D - winner joins Group A (Mexico, South Africa, Korea Republic)

• Czechia vs. Ireland, Thursday, March 26, at 2:45 p.m. CT

• Denmark vs. North Macedonia, Thursday, March 26, at 2:45 p.m. CT

• Final, Tuesday, March 31, at 1:45 p.m. CT

Just like the FIFA Play-Off, the UEFA Play-Off Tournament will be available on FS1 in the United States. 

International Friendlies

The tune-up window is here! There’s no shortage of friendly matches to watch over the next week and a half, but I’ll spare you an overly long list. Instead, we’ll focus on the USMNT, as Mauricio Pochettino makes his final decisions ahead of the final roster announcement. Questions remain at center back, and the surprise inclusion of Gio Reyna in this camp seems to be a break from Poch’s usual policy, making for some intriguing decisions on the horizon. Friendlies against Belgium and Portugal will give the USMNT boss a chance to test his players against quality opposition, and hopefully answer all the questions he still has. There are plenty of streaming options for these two matches, including TNT and Max for English commentary, and Peacock and Universo for Spanish commentary.

• USA vs. Belgium, Saturday, March 28, at 2:30 p.m. CT

• USA vs. Portugal, Tuesday, March 31, at 6:00 p.m. CT

It’s all coming together. The games are shifting toward our hemisphere, the times are more reasonable (notice that I didn’t ask you to watch anything in the middle of the night this time?), and there are fewer than 80 days until the first World Cup game kicks off.