With the 2026 World Cup here, it’s time to rank all of the teams based on how likely they are to win it all.
MORE — Daily schedule for 2026 World Cup
We will update this ranking throughout the tournament, as things will change pretty drastically during the largest World Cup in history.
- You can watch every single 2026 World Cup game live across Universo, Telemundo and Peacock en Espanol, here.
Below we rank all 48 teams at the 2026 men’s World Cup and group them into categories of how likely they are to win it all.
2026 World Cup rankings for all 48 teams
Eliminated
48. Tunisia
47. Jordan
46. Uzbekistan
45. Qatar
44. Iraq
43. Saudi Arabia
42. Haiti
41. Scotland
40. South Korea
39. Uruguay
38. Czechia
37. Curacao
36. South Africa
35. Panama
34. New Zealand
33. Turkiye
32. Iran
31. Japan
30. Netherlands
29. Germany
There were some decent teams who got eliminated at the group stage with Iran and Turkiye very unlucky, while New Zealand, Panama and Curacao all punched above their weight.
Uruguay, Scotland and South Korea were all extremely disappointing, while Haiti were decent but were in an extremely tough group.
We saw Germany, Japan and the Netherlands all knocked out during the Round of 32, as three teams who were legit darkhorses to make a deep run were all knocked out. Japan pushed Brazil all the way, while Germany were so lackluster against Paraguay in their penalty shootout defeat and the Netherlands lost to Morocco on penalties after going for an ultra-defensive approach.
The upstarts
28. Cape Verde
27. Australia
26. Ghana
25. DR Congo
24. Bosnia and Herzegovina
23. Algeria
22. Sweden
21. Egypt
20. Paraguay
Okay, so this group of teams is really interesting and has the most potential to climb much higher in our rankings.
When it comes to Sweden and Egypt, they have superstar forwards stepping up with Gyokeres/Isak for Sweden and Salah/Marmoush for Egypt making a big difference to lead them out of the group. But can they improve at the back against better teams?
Cape Verde have been one of the stories of the tournament as they’re so solid defensively and are in the knockout rounds and face Argentina in a fairytale clash in the Round of 32 and have nothing to lose.
As for DR Congo, Algeria, Ghana and Paraguay, they are used to punching above their weight and have a couple of brilliant players each who can deliver special moments and they can do damage in the knockout rounds.
These teams may not win it all, but one team from this group has the potential to get to the quarterfinals. At least.
The potential darkhorses
19. Ivory Coast
18. Switzerland
17. Austria
16. Canada
15. Norway
14. Ecuador
13. Mexico
12. Croatia
Switzerland are a funny team but when it clicks they can cause upsets too and they have plenty of experience, while Ivory Coast have a great young talent in Yan Diomande and are capable of causing upsets.
Two of the three co-hosts are in this group and rightly so due to their groups being pretty easy. Mexico and Canada took care of business in the group stage round and Canada have seen off South Africa in the Round of 32 but have a tough last 16 game coming up. Mexico breezed into the knockout rounds and are building confidence and momentum and look solid at the back, but they do face Ecuador and a tough route in the bracket.
Norway have no fear and are extremely dangerous with their talented attackers, Haaland, Sorloth, Nusa, Bobb and Odegaard to name a few, and Haaland is off and running and rested. Ecuador’s have some world-class defensive players, while Croatia have players with big tournament experience and are extremely tough to control.
There is a real chance a team from this group makes it to the semifinals, at least.
The legit darkhorses
11. Senegal
10. Colombia
9. Belgium
8. USA
7. Portugal
6. Brazil
Senegal have a vastly experienced squad and a new crop of youngsters stepping up and they are very dangerous and step up, big time, in tournaments. Colombia are tough to break down and prefer a team-first approach in attack to confuse opponents, and if someone can start scoring goals for them they can go on a run.
Could we see one of these teams winning it all? Definitely. The U.S. has risen to the occasion and Mauricio Pochettino’s side now have confidence and belief and have a favorable route in the knockout rounds. Can they go far? Yes. They. Can.
Belgium still have Kevin de Bruyne pulling the strings and Thibaut Courtois in goal with new stars like Jeremy Doku ready to stand tall, but we need to see more from others.
Brazil have been solid and Carlo Ancelotti has tweaked things to give them some extra energy. The Selecao are relying on counters and Matheus Cunha and Vinicius Junior and that is a good recipe in the knockout rounds, as they just squeezed past Japan to reach the last 16.
Portugal have been generally poor in attack and with a wonderful midfield and wide players it’s all about Roberto Martinez getting the best out of Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo in unison.
The favorites
5. Morocco
4. England
3. Spain
2. Argentina
1. France
Morocco, the surprise package in 2022 in Qatar, look set to go on another deep run. They were sensational against Brazil, even after a few key injuries hit their preparations hard, and they have some very talented youngsters stepping up with Saibiri and Bouaddi proper talents. Big time. So much energy and so fun to watch and they just got past the Dutch in the Round of 32 in penalty kicks and look ready to at least get to the quarterfinals.
England have Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane stepping up and Thomas Tuchel is tweaking the balance, and his sublime in-game management gives them hope they can finally win a major trophy again. But there are some defensive concerns for the Three Lions to iron out. Will they be better suited against teams who come out and have a go against them? Probably.
And then the reigning European champions Spain seem to have a great chance of going all the way, even without a proper striker which did bite them against Cape Verde as they had an off day. Spain will rotate their fluid midfield and attacking midfielders endlessly and that seems like it will be a really helpful en route to going all the way with teenager Lamine Yamal now ready to lead the charge after his minutes were managed.
Argentina and Lionel Messi are looking to repeat and Lionel Scaloni’s side are well set up defensively and have plenty of players to do Messi’s running and put chances on a plate for him. Which worked out well in their cruise through the group stage as Messi scored six times and is thriving at 39.
But France are the clear favorites, for us, with Mbappe, Doue, Dembele, Olise and Cherki in attack and Didier Deschamps’ side just have too many wonderful attacking options to find ways to break through a deep block. As they proved in the group stage, France’s best chance of winning it all will be to go with all-out attack.
