— Before diving into spectating strategy, let's first organize the big picture

We're going to organize group stage spectating strategies, but
before that, let's take a look at what the group draw looks like in terms of FIFA rankings ,
as a quick mental warm-up exercise.

This analysis is based on

• After checking the latest FIFA Rankings (November 2025)、
• with the assumption that the highest-ranked teams advance through playoffs
  .

While Japan's advancement is a given, grasping the big picture before making spectating plans will help
clarify the "travel," "pricing," and "choice of spectating cities" we'll consider later.

Group-by-Group Average FIFA Ranking

(*The lower the number, the more powerhouses and the higher the difficulty)

Below, we've calculated the average FIFA ranking of each group's 4 teams,
ranked by "strength density" from highest to lowest.

1st: Group F (Average 23.2)

Netherlands (7th), Japan (18th), Ukraine (27th), Tunisia (41st)

2nd: Group D (Average 26.8)

USA (16th), Turkey (25th), Australia (26th), Paraguay (40th)

3rd: Group B (Average 27.8)

Italy (12th), Switzerland (17th), Canada (28th), Qatar (54th)

3rd (Tied): Group I (Average 27.8)

France (3rd), Senegal (19th), Norway (29th), Iraq (60th)

5th: Group L (Average 29.0)

England (4th), Croatia (10th), Panama (30th), Ghana (72nd)

6th: Group A (Average 29.2)

Mexico (14th), Denmark (20th), South Korea (22nd), South Africa (61st)

7th: Group K (Average 31.5)

Portugal (6th), Colombia (13th), Uzbekistan (51st), DR Congo (56th)

8th: Group J (Average 31.8)

Argentina (2nd), Austria (24th), Algeria (35th), Jordan (66th)

9th: Group C (Average 34.2)

Brazil (5th), Morocco (11th), Scotland (36th), Haiti (85th)

10th: Group H (Average 35.8)

Spain (1st), Uruguay (15th), Saudi Arabia (59th), Cape Verde (68th)

11th: Group G (Average 37.2)

Belgium (8th), Iran (21st), Egypt (34th), New Zealand (86th)

12th: Group E (Average 39.0)

Germany (9th), Ecuador (23rd), Ivory Coast (42nd), Curacao (82nd)

Summary

Group F has the lowest average ranking among all 12 groups,
making it a "high-density group" where all teams are ranked within the top 41.
However, Japan's goal is the knockout rounds and ultimately the championship.
In that sense, decisively winning against these opponents is a prerequisite.

Before thinking about spectating plans, we've first grasped the overall picture through data.

In the next Part 2,
the advantages from a spectating perspective (host cities, travel, ticket prices) will be organized.