Welcome back to my listing of the best teams in World Cup 2026 after the completion after the Quarterfinals. I am only evaluating the teams based on their Quarterfinal round matchup - ONLY. How did the team look during its win? Round of 16 games, round of 32 games, Group stage and pre-World Cup rankings DO NOT MATTER!.
But before we get to the rankings, I wanted to share my Top 8 list of things to happen during the Round of 16 (or that occurred in the interim between the second game and the upcoming third games.)
8. Thibault Courtois injury - The Belgian goalkeeper, whom any consider the best in the world right now, left the game against Spain in the 71st minute due to a thigh injury. Mikel Merino of Spain, then proceeded to jump on a rebound to slot home the winner in the 88th minute - a rebound you could never convince me that Courtois would have given up. But alas, we will never know. And this after losing star Youri Teilemans to injury in the pregame warmup.
7. VARgentina - I don't necessarily buy into this, but there is so much belief in the world that FIFA is trying to hand this Cup to Argentina that this nickname is trending - or whatever is more than trending - online.
6. Kylian Mbappe/Ousmane Dembele - The current Golden Boot leader and the reigning Ballon d'Or recipient are the most dangerous combination in this World Cup, and they both scored in France's 2-0 win over Morocco.
5. With England's 2-1 victory over Norway, and England's first victory over Vikings since the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, we lose the Norwegian fans, but not before one last huge VIKING ROW in which Mexican future star Gilberto Mora joined!
4. Spanish Super Sub Mikel Merino (that is a whole lot of literation!) enters the game against Brazil in the 86th minute and scored the game winner in the 88th winner. This is the second-consecutive game in which Merino entered late and scored the game winner, having scored the lone goal in Spain's 1-0 win over Iberian rival Portugal.
This reminds me ....
Does anybody besides me that is not Italian remember Salvatore Schillaci? Schillaci was perhaps THE Super Sub in World Cup history - plying his trade in 1990 World Cup in his home country of Italy. In the Azzuri's first game against Austria, Schillaci subs in and scores the only goal of the game late. In the next game against Czechoslovakia, he scores again! Proving too much of a force to keep on the bench, Schillaci was given the starting nod up to next to the vaunted Roberto Baggio, but did not score. Schillaci started again in the Round of 16 against Uruguay, but this time as an attacking midfielder, scoring the first goal midway through the second period as Italy won 2-0. In the quarterfinals, Schillaci was back up top with Baggio, and once again scored - this time the only goal in a 1-0 victory. In the semi-finals, Schillaci was again starting up top, this time IN PLACE OF BAGGIO, and scored Italy's lone goal in a 1-1 game in which the hosts lost to Argentina in a shootout. Schillaci cemented his Golden Boot by scoring his 6th goal of the tournament in a 2-1 third-place victory over England, while also assisting on the second goal.
Schillaci did not receive the call much for Italy after that, finishing his international career with 18 caps (16 in 1990-1991), and never again appeared in a World Cup. He retired from his club career in 1997 having scored 154 goals in 417 games. He passed away in 2024 at the age of 59.
Back to the countdown (and in the saddest of segues) ...
3. Jayden Adams - Shortly after the 25-year-old South African midfielder returned home following Bofana Bofana's ouster from the knockout rounds, he was found dead on the morning of July 11. Cause of death remains unknown - or at least unreleased. Adams appeared in three of South Africa's four games in this World Cup.
2. This game-winning goal by JULIAN ALVAREZ!!!
1. What is an appropriate response by your team's fans when you score both goals in a 2-1 extra time victory? HEY JUDE by the Beatles!!! And Bellingham's reaction is priceless too!
Which were the best games of the quarterfinals? Here are my rankings ...
4. France 2-0 over Morocco - Morocco contributed next-to-nothing for excitement, making this game one-sided and kind of boring.
3. Argentina 3-1 (ET) over Switzerland - Switzerland was game, but Argentina's 60% possession is really why this is third.
2. England 2-1 over Norway - The first quarter (Ha! Ha! - Take that FIFA) was pretty plodding, slow, and uneventful. It really picked up from there.
1. Spain 2-1 over Belgium - Just a truly great game, even if not at the level of some of the games in the previous rounds.
The top 4 teams in the FIFA rankings all made the Semi-Finals. But how do they rank on my list? (Previous ranking in parentheses)
1. France (6) - Best game they have played all tournament.
2. Argentina (4) - They win even without Messi scoring a goal!
3. Spain (5) - They finally gave up a goal in this tournament!
4. England (3) - Mostly because they were truly tested by Norway!
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