The defending champion United States is again placed in a group with Sweden for the Women's World Cup next summer in France.
Host France will open the tournament on June 7 with a match against South Korea in Paris.
The draw for soccer's premier tournament was held Saturday at a gala event in Paris amid a backdrop of unrest in the country. There were widespread clashes between police and demonstrators protesting high taxes under French President Emmanuel Macron.
The United States defeated Japan 5-2 — highlighted by Carli Lloyd's hat trick — in Canada at the last World Cup, in 2015. The U.S. has played in every World Cup since the competition started in 1991, winning the event in 1991, 1999 and 2015.
The top-ranked Americans are grouped with Sweden for the fifth straight World Cup. Also in Group F are Thailand and Chile, which is making its World Cup debut. The United States will open the tournament against Thailand in Reims on June 11.
Twenty-four teams were placed in six groups at the draw. The pots for the draw were based on world ranking. France, as host, was atop the first pot, followed by the top-ranked U.S., Germany, England, Canada and Australia. The updated FIFA rankings were released on Friday.
France, ranked No. 3 in the world, has gone 7-1-2 this year, with the loss coming against England in the SheBelieves Cup in the United States in March. This will be the fourth World Cup for Les Bleues.
The Americans went undefeated in play this year, finishing 18-0-2, including a 2-0 victory over Canada in the final of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament. The team's overall unbeaten streak is at 28 games, dating to a 1-0 loss to Australia in the 2017 Tournament of Nations.
Lloyd, who attended the draw event, was asked if she was confident the United States can defend its title.
"Pretty confident I must say," she said from the stage. "This squad is as talented as can be, we've got the depth and a great coaching staff in place."
England, ranked No. 4 in the world, drew a difficult group that includes No. 8 Japan. England was the surprise third-place finisher in Canada and has been on the rise in the past several years. The squad is coached by Phil Neville, former Manchester United and England defender who played in three European Championships.
The draw took place inside La Seine Musicale, a dome-shaped concert hall perched over the river Seine on the outskirts of Paris — and far enough away from the center not to be affected by the vehement and widespread anti-government demonstrations taking place.
The groups that will play next year in France:
Group A: France, South Korea, Norway, Nigeria.
Group B: Germany, China, Spain, South Africa.
Group C: Australia, Italy, Brazil, Jamaica.
Group D: England, Scotland, Argentina, Japan.
Group E: Canada, Cameroon, New Zealand, Netherlands.
Group F: United States, Thailand, Chile, Sweden.
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AL HENAKIYAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Ricky Brabec deliberately gave up his motorbike lead over Luciano Benavides in the Dakar Rally while Nasser Al-Attiyah was happy to cruise through another day closer to his sixth car title on Thursday.
Al-Attiyah started 346-kilometer stage 11 between Bisha north to Al Henakiyah with a 12-minute overall lead and let it drop to less than nine minutes over new second-placed driver Nani Roma in a Ford.
Al-Attiyah was content to let Dacia teammate Sébastien Loeb catch up and pass him to have a teammate nearby for any help and to minimize errors on the mazy, dirt track. Al-Attiyah was 17th, nearly 13 minutes behind stage winner Mattias Ekström, and said he needed to execute the same plan on Friday's last effective racing stage before the end on Saturday.
“If we lose two, three, four minutes no problem,” Al-Attiyah said. “We just need to finish this Dakar in first place.”
Honda cooked up a strategy in the Saudi desert for Adrien van Beveren to open the way and let Brabec catch up after the 190-kilometer pit stop and pick up time bonuses.
Brabec boosted his overall lead from 56 seconds to nearly four minutes just 25 kilometers from the finish. He was also within a minute of the stage lead but he slowed down so KTM rival Benavides was the new overall leader, but only by 23 seconds.
Brabec got his his wish to start Friday's stage 12 six minutes behind Benavides, so he can eye him. They head west to the rally starting point of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast on 311 kilometers of gravel, some river beds with a finish in the dunes.
“A little bit of strategy today and hopefully it pays off tomorrow,” Brabec said. "I feel like its going to be a good day. We’re going back into the rocks so it will be a little bit better for us.”
Brabec is counting on his experience of winning the Dakar in 2020 and 2024 to trump Benavides, who has a best placing of fourth last year.
“I've been in this situation before,” Brabec said. “For the whole two weeks I've been just trying to stay relax, stay comfortable and just be confident, so two days more. I'm gonna do the same thing tomorrow that I've been doing every day; ride dirt bikes and have fun.”
Van Beveren helped Brabec with navigation while fighting with another teammate, Skyler Howes, the entire day for the stage win.
Howes prevailed by 21 seconds for his first career major stage in his eighth Dakar. He was third in 2023 and sixth last year. He's running fifth, 34 minutes off the pace.
Benavides was fourth in the stage and believed the race will be decided on the final 105-kilometer sprint on Saturday.
“I played no strategy like Ricky. I don't care,” Benavides said. “I'm doing what I can to control what I can control.”
Ekström won his third car stage of this Dakar, a special so fast that 12 other drivers were within 10 minutes.
Ford achieved another 1-2-3 stage. Romain Dumas, a three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, was a career-best second just over a minute back and Carlos Sainz was third.
Only Toyota's Henk Lategan beat Ekström to a checkpoint but Lategan's podium hopes were wrecked after 140 kilometers when a bearing broke on his rear left wheel. Lategan took four hours to get home. He was second last year and second overall overnight but plunged to 23rd.
Loeb moved up to third overall, 10 minutes behind Roma and three minutes ahead of Ekström.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Rider Daniel Sanders competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Fabian Lurquin compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Rider Skyler Howes competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Henk Lategan, left, and co-driver Brett Cummings repair their car during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Nani Roma and co-driver Alex Haro compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
