World Cup Rankings 2026

 

Welcome back to my listing of the best teams in World Cup 2026 after the completion after the Round of 32.  I am only evaluating the teams based on their Round of 32 matchup - ONLY.  How did the team look in its win.  Group stage and pre-World Cup rankings DO NOT MATTER!.

But before we get to the rankings, I wanted to share my Top 20 list of things to happen during the Round of 32 (and some things that occurred in the interim between the second game and the upcoming third games.) 

20.  Romelu Lukaku for Belgium - is he aging?  Yes.  Did he play 65 minutes total in Serie A this year?  Yes.  Does he make a difference when he comes in for Belgium in the second half?  HELL YES!  Another goal to bring the Senegal lead to 2-1 in the 85th minute - and begin Belgium's comeback.

19.  Kylian Mbappe with a brace - almost ho-hum - in France's annihilation of Sweden.

18.    Cristiano Ronaldo's 68th-minute penalty kick goal to become the oldest player to score in the Knockout Round of the World Cup, breaking former teammate Pepe's age by almost 2 years.  (Cameroon's Roger Milla is still the oldest overall).

17.  Erling Haaland's 84th-minute game-winning goal as Norway advances to the Round of 16 over Cote d'Ivoire.

16.  And because we can never have too much Viking-Row from the Norwegian fans, here is one in support of Viktor Hovland as he won the Travelers Championship.

15.  Moroccan Center Back Issa Diop with a game-winning header in the 90'+2 as Morocco advances.

14.  Canadia Captain Stephen Eustaquio with a game-winning 90'+3 goal over South Africa.

13.  Harry Kane with 2 goals late - after Egland fell behind 2-0 - to salvage the win over the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

12.  And speaking of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the US Administration cannot keep its hands out of this tournament - revoking the Visa for Lumumbu Vea in advance of the game against England.

11.  Lionel Messi scored a goal in his 8th consecutive World Cup game - the only player to do that.  Only not higher because this game was insane - with even better plays.

10.  Not everybody was happy with the Paraguayan shootout victory over Germany.  Check out this German Shepherd's Reaction.

9.  Gabriel Martinelli scored a 90'+6 game-winning goal for Brazil as they defeat Japan!!!

8.  Yes, Martinelli scored the game-winner, but Casemiro's game-tying header after picking up a very early yellow card and allowing the Japanese goal to Kaishu Sano was critical!!!

7.  Belgium defeats Senegal on an absolutely atrocious penalty call!!!

6.  The best fan moment of this round was this clip from the Argentinians, helping locate the owner of A WALLET!!!

5.  The referee awarding a red card to Folarin Balogun on a play in which a foul wasn't initially called.  (In all honesty, I thought this was a yellow card, but close.  Nevertheless, it stands to be very important as Balogun has to miss the Round of 16 match against Belgium.

4.  Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill saves 2 penalty kicks in a shootout win over Germany - who had MANUEL NUEUR in goal.  Seriously huge.  To quote Thierry Henry, "There is no favorite in a shootout!"

3.  Yes Argentina won, but the story was Cabo Verde.  Since I have already mentioned Keeper Vozinha before, I will give this shout out to left back Sidny Cabral - with an absolute banger to tie the match 2-2 in extra time, when Cabo Verde had every reason to fold after falling down 2-1 in the first extra time period. 

2.  Probably the most important play of the entire tournament so far, Igor Matanovic barely touching the ball with his hair which caused Mario Pasalic to be offsides as Pasalic played the ball to Gvardiol for what looked like a game-timing goal for Croatia against Portugal.  The only way to tell that Matanovic played the ball is because of the sensor in the ball that reacts to touches by the players.

1.  Even though the Matanovic play was important, my favorite play was Cody Gakpo of the Netherlands scoring the first goal in the 72nd-minute to give the Netherlands the lead just after learning that his partner had lost their baby that she was carrying.  The emotion in Gakpo as he looked skyward - and from his teammates as they absolutely surrounded him with cheers - and obviously affection - after the goal.  This is what it means to be part of a team!!!

And before I rank the remaining 16 teams, here were the best games from my standpoint of the round of 32.  This is based upon not only the quality of the win/winner, but also the excitement of the game and the quality of play of the losing team.

17.  Portugal 0-0 Croatia (First Half)

16.  Switzerland over Algeria

15.  France over Sweden

14.  Colombia over Ghana (Should probably be higher but it followed Argentina over Cabo Verde)

13.  Spain over Austria

12.  United States over Bosnia-Herzegovina

11.  Egypt over Australia

10.  Belgium over Senegal

9.  Mexico over Ecuador

8.  Canada over South Africa

7.  Brazil over Japan

6.  Norway over Cote d’Ivoire

5.  England over DR Congo

4.  Paraguay over Germany

3.  Morrocco The Netherlands

2.  Argentina over Cabo Verde

1.  Portugal over Croatia (Second Half)

Now onto the rankings.  Once again, just based upon the Round of 32 matchup.  Previous ranking in parentheses.

1.  France (1)

2.  Spain (7)

3.  Brazil (2-1)

4.  Colombia (1-0) (6)

5.  Mexico (2-0) (3)

6.  Morocco (15)

7.  Argentina (2)

8.  Portugal (17)

9.  United States (13)

10.  Norway (11)

11.  Egypt (19)

12.  Switzerland (17)

13.  Canada (22)

14.  England (8)

15.  Paraguay (30)

16.  Belgium (16)

WORLD CUP RANKINGS 2026

 

Here is my listing of the best teams in World Cup 2026 after the completion of all 3 games of the Group stage.  In completing these rankings I take nothing from the historical traditions of the countries and their respective teams, nor FIFA's pre-tournament rankings.  I only rank based upon what I have seen on-the-field - for all of each team's games so far.  And since outcomes are paramount, all teams that are 3-0 will be ranked ahead of all teams that are 2-1-0, which will be ranked ahead of teams with worst records, etc. For example, Senegal which won 1 game but lost 2 games will be ranked below teams with a 1-1-1 record, even though Senegal looks better than most of the 1-1-1 teams.  Record matters.  So, as the games progress, this will be an incredibly fluid ranking system.  Entering the knockout rounds, here are the best performing teams in the World Cup.

But before we get to the rankings, I wanted to share my Top 15 list of things to happen during the second set of group games (and some things that occurred in the interim between the second game and the upcoming third games.) 

And before I get to my Top 15, I wanted to share a bit of trivia that I recently learned:  Robert Prosinecki is the only player in World Cup history to score goals for two different countries.  He scored for Yugoslavia in 1990, and scored representing Croatia in 1998.  I found it interesting.

15.  I have to star this off with Australia's fans, who after their game were chanting in the concourse, "We're Getting Deported!"  Over and over again.  We definitely know what the Australian fans think of us.

14.  Haiti lost 4-2 to Morocco, but scored its first World Cup goal in 52 years!!!  

13.  I scored a brace for Cote d’Ivoire against Curacao.  Oh wait, that was Nicholas Pepe.  Still a good showing nevertheless.

12.  Turkiye's Haan Ayhan scored a goal in the 90+9 minute to defeat the United States, and to end the Turkiye World Cup on a high note.

11.  South Africa’s defense was amazing against South Korea.  Despite the Koreans having 68% of the possession, South Africans team defense was awesome, limited South Korea to only 8 shots (3 on goal) and winning 450% of the headers.

10.  The Tartan Army once again makes an appearance (OK multiple appearances).  This time AT VERSAILLES! IYKNY.

9.  And not to be outdone, the Croation fans encountered this wedding party in Philadelphia.  The entire country of Croatia is now in THE WEDDING PARTY!

8.  Neymar made an appearance for Brazil in the second half of their 3-0 victory over Scotland.  With a bit of game-time/speed under his belt and with the way Vinicius, Jr. is playing, this could be dangerous for anyone on Brazil's part of the bracket!

7.  The Algeria/Austria 3-3 draw (more on that later), means both teams advance, knocking Iran into the first team out position.  This is important to note because the government of the United States of America definitely affected this Iranian team by not allowing them to stay and train in the United States - despite all of their games being played in the US AND they would only allow Iran to travel to the city in which they played the day of a game, and they had to immediately leave afterward.  This logistical hurdle meant that Iran could not train and rest as the rest of the teams in the tournament and no other team faced these VISA issues.

6.  I am not sure which was more impressive, that Estadio Azteca was absolutely rocking for Mexico-Czechia, or that Miami Stadium f/k/a Hard Rock Stadium was rocking for Colombia-Portugal.  Either way, this is how ALL games should be.

5.  In the last installment, I wondered if the Tartan army would discover, E1EVEN, Space, or Bed.  THEY DID (at least Club Space!)

4.  Back to the Austria-Algeria game.  If either team won this game, they would advance to the Knockout stage, with the losing team failing to advance due to goal differential.  Iran, sitting in the last qualifying position, has a GD of 0.  If Austria lost, their differential would have been -1 (or worse), and Algeria's would have been -3 (or worse).  After 90 minutes of a hard-fought game, the score stood 2-2.  Then, in the 90'+4, Algerian star Riyad Mahrez found the back of the net to send Iran into position 32 over Austria.  Austria immediately struck back through Sasa Kalajdzic in the 90'+7 on its next position to send Austria into the Knockouts and to send Iran home (through Mexico).

3.  Longstanding Mexican starting goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who has agreed to play on this World Cup as a backup and basically mentor to the entire team as THE elder statesmen, substituted in for his replacement Raul Rangel, in the 78th minute to end his career (barring something ridiculous happening to Rangel like an injury or suspension), in Estadia Azteca, the same place where he started his career.  Rest assured that the fans treated him with the respect, admiration and adulation that he deserved with a THUNDEROUS ovation.  You can see here that his teammates understood the moment in this picture.

2.  Sadly, Scotland failed to advance to the Knockout rounds.  Since they are eliminated from the World Cup, here is a compilation of some of the best moments from THE TARTAN ARMY!!!

1.  And. since we always end the list with on-field action at number 1, Messi scored again, to be the leader for the Golden Boot with 6 goals in the group stage.  He entered the game against Jordan in the 60', and scored in the 80's to increase his lead to 2 goals.  Not to be outdone, Vinicius, Jr. scored 2 for Brazil against Scotland, and reigning Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele of France scored a hat trick as France beat Norway 4-1.

Now on to the rankings (with last installment's rankings in parentheses)!!!  An interesting note, South Korea is the highest ranked team to miss the Knockout Round (32), whereas Cabo Verde is the lowest ranked team to have qualified (36).

1.  France 3-0-0 (1)

2.  Argentina 3-0-0 (3)

3.  Mexico 3-0-0 (7)

4.  Brazil 2-1-0 (10)

5.  Netherlands 2-1-0 (8)

6.  Colombia 2-1-0 (5)

7.  Spain 2-1-0 (9)

8.  England 2-1-0 (11)

9.  Germany 2-0-1 (2)

10.  Cote d’Ivoire 2-0-1 (19)

11.  Norway 2-0-1 (4)

12.  Croatia 2-0-1 (27)

13.  United States 2-0-1 (2)

14.  Switzerland 2-1-0 (17)

15.  Morocco 2-1-0 (15)

16.  Belgium 1-2-0 (29)

17.  Portugal 1-2-0 (12)

18.  Japan 1-2-0 (13)

19.  Egypt 1-2-0 (18)

20.  Sweden 1-0-1 (20)

21.  Ghana 1-1-1 (16)

22.  Canada 1-1-1 (14)

23.  Bosnia Herzegovina 1-1-1 (35)

24.  Ecuador 1-1-1 (32)

25.  Algeria 1-1-1 (21)

26.  Austria 1-0-1 (25)

27.  Democratic Republic of the Congo 1-1-1 (46)

28.  South Africa 1-1-1 (33)

29.  Australia 1-1-1 (23)

30.  Paraguay 1-1-1 (26)

31.  Senegal 1-0-2 (40)

32.  South Korea 1-0-2 (24)

33.  Scotland 1-0-2 (22)

34.  Turkiye 1-0-2 (42)

35.  Iran 0-3-0 (30)

36.  Cabo Verde 0-3-0 (31)

37.  Uruguay 0-2-1 (28)

38.  Saudi Arabia 0-2-1 (39)

39.  Czechia 0-1-2 (34)

40.  New Zealand 0-1-2 (37)

41.  Qatar 0-1-2 (36)

42.  Curacao 0-1-2 (38)

43.  Panama 0-0-3 (43)

44.  Uzbekistan 0-0-3 (47)

45.  Haiti 0-0-3 (44)

46.  Jordan 0-0-3 (46)

47.  Iraq 0-0-3 (41)

48.  Tunisia 0-0-3 (44)

World Cup - Russia 2018

So the second round of group play is complete, meaning that all 32 have played two of their three group games.  Although a few teams have qualified for the knockout stages, and a few teams are eliminated, most are still in contention.The below is a ranking of how the teams have looked so far, taking into account both games played.

A couple of notes as to the standings: (1) The teams that have earned the most points are all ranked higher than teams that have earned less points.  Even though a team with two draws may look better than a team with one win and one loss, the team with one win will be ranked ahead; (2) My rankings come only based upon how I think each team has looked so far, taking into account their opponent - prior rankings of the teams do not factor into these rankings; and (3) Score can be a factor in how a team performed, but if a team won by 5 it doesn't necessarily mean they are ranked higher than a team that may have won by 2 goals.

On to the rankings ...

6 Points (2 Victories)

1.  Belgium - Two big wins against lesser opponents, but Belgium dominated both Panama and Tunisia, whereas other favorites have not looked so great.  Romelu Lukaku stands tied for second in the golden boot standings.

2.  Mexico - Scored the win of the tournament to date in defeating Germany.  Had a solid victory over South Korea.

3.  Croatia - They followed up a 2-0 victory over Nigeria with an impressive 3-0 victory over Argentina, that just might have knocked Messi out of the tournament.

4.  England - A 6-1 thrashing of Panama has the Three Lions ranked ahead of some of the other undefeated's.  Harry Kane's hat trick over Panama follows up his brace against Tunisia to lead the golden boot standings.

5.  Russia - The host squad has looked great so far, but its toughest group challenge lies ahead of them.  Have already advanced to the knockout round.

6.  France - Have looked underwhelming in their 2 victories against Australia and Peru, but still have 2 victories.

7.  Uruguay - Have not dominated the two lesser opponents in their group - Saudi Arabia and Egypt.  Can rise substantially if they handle Russia.

4 Points (1 Win/1Draw)

8.  Spain - After the exciting draw with Portugal, went on to easily defeat Iran 1-0.  Diego Costa tied for fourth in the golden boot standings.

9.  Portugal - After the exciting draw with Spain, went on to easily defeat Morocco 1-0.  Cristiano Ronaldo tied for second in the golden boot standings.

10.  Senegal - They might be the fastest team in the tournament.  Could not hold on to 1-0 and 2-1 leads against Japan.  Will lead to an interesting matchup with Colombia, with the winner advancing to the knockout stages.

11.  Switzerland - A great performance against Serbia (2-1 win) on the heels of the draw with Brazil.

12.  Brazil - Won 2-0 against Costa Rica, but still does not yet look like they are clicking.  Tough matchup against Serbia looming.

13.  Japan - Looked really gutsy in comeback draw against Senegal.  Sits atop their group (with Senegal) with last match against lowly Poland.

14.  Denmark - Sits in second place in its group (behind France) after a 1-0 win over Peru and a 1-1 draw with Australia.  A draw against France or a close loss against France and a close win by Australia over Peru allows Denmark to advance.

3 Points (1 Win/1 Loss)

15.  Serbia - Looked decent in a win over Costa Rica, but looked overwhelmed by Switzerland.  Can still advance with a good result over Brazil.

16.  Nigeria - As lackluster as they looked in their first matchup against Croatia is how good they looked against Iceland.  They have the pre-tourney group favorites tomorrow in Argentina.

17.  Colombia - Oh how different things could be without a red card in the third minute of game 1.

18.  Germany - Rose from the dead against Sweden in gaining an extra time goal by Toni Kroos to not only stay alive, but take over second place in the group, with doormat South Korea next.

19.  Sweden - Simply tired against Germany and could not hold the lead, or draw.  Can still advance with a win over Mexico depending upon the Germany - South Korea outcome.

20.  Iran - A boring 1-0 win over Morocco gives them a chance to advance if they can stun Portugal.

1 Point (1 Draw/1 Loss)

21.  Australia - A close loss to France in which they played up to the level of the French, but could only manage a draw with Denmark.  Still have the opportunity to advance, but they must beat Peru and hope France beats Denmark.

22.  Iceland - The feel good story of qualifying followed up their dramatic tie with Argentina with a 2-0 loss to Nigeria.  Can still advance, but that task is daunting with Croatia up next.

23.  Argentina - Looked miserable against Croatia.  Amazingly enough - still have a chance to advance.

0 Points (2 Losses)

24.  Peru - Tough defensive-minded team that has yet to score a goal (along with 3 others).

25.  South Korea - Close losses to Sweden and Mexico are pretty respectable, but just lacks any threat going forward.

26.  Tunisia - Handled fairly easily by England and Belgium.

27.  Costa Rica - Another team that has yet to score a goal in the tournament.

28.  Egypt - Even with the great Mohammed Saleh, lost 2 matches to Uruguay and Russia, although playing Uruguay tight until the 88th minute.

29.  Morocco - The third team to have failed to score a goal throughout the tournament, although both losses were only 1-0.

30.  Poland - A team with Robert Lewandowski up front should have more of a scoring threat, but alas, only 1 goal and no other real threats for Poland.

31.  Panama - The only saving grace to yesterday's 6-1 thrashing is that Panama scored its first ever World Cup goal.  And, a 6-1 defeat to England is better than a 5-0 loss to Russia (see below).

32.  Saudi Arabia - Through 2 rounds, the Saudis are easily the worst team in the tournament, losing 5-0 to Russia and 1-0 to Uruguay.

World Cup - Russia 2018

So the first round games of the world's largest sporting event is complete, meaning that all 32 have played one of their three group games.  Although it is far from determined as to who all will advance to the bracket, several teams made strong statements, and several proved they are just lucky to be in the World Cup.  The below is a ranking of how the teams have looked so far.

A couple of notes as to the standings: (1) The teams that won are all listed ahead of any teams that drew, even if the the latter looked better; (2) My rankings come only based upon how I think each team has looked so far, taking into account their opponent - prior rankings of the teams do not factor into these rankings; and (3) Score can be a factor in how a team performed, but if a team won by 5 it doesn't necessarily mean they are ranked higher than a team that may have won by 2 goals.

Winners

1.  Belgium - The number three ranked team in the world looked every bit that good as they dismantled Panama behind a brace from Romelu Lukaku and a gorgeous volley from Dries Mertens (who is one of the best players so far in this tournament).

2.  Mexico - El Tri beat the vaunted Germans 1-0, but seemed to control large portions of the game.  The midfielders controlled possession and were not afraid in close possession against the team most select to win the entire tournament.

3.  Russia - The hosts decimated Saudi Arabia 5-0 behind a brace from Denis Cheryshev.  Although Saudi Arabia is likely the worst team in the tournament, Russia did exactly what it was supposed to do.

4.  Senegal - Probably the best dark horse in the tournament, Senegal proved that they are possibly the fastest overall team in Russia.  A late concession made the game closer in score than it was on the pitch.

5.  Croatia - Defeated Nigeria 2-0 and seemed in control most of the match.

6.  England - A brace by Harry Kane, including an extra time header to win, in a solid performance over Tunisia.  Late substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek put a lot of offensive pressure on Tunisia, and we should look for him to start next match.

7.  Sweden - A solid if unspectacular win over South Korea.

8.  France - Lucky to have defeated Australia 2-1 in a match in which France played well below their talent level.

9.  Serbia - Defeated a defensive-oriented, but non-spectacular Costa Rican team.

10.  Uruguay - Took an 89th minute goal to defeat Egypt.

11.  Japan - Took advantage of a third minute red card for an intentional handball in the box to defeat Colombia 2-1.  Without the dismissal, Japan likely loses.

12.  Denmark - They won a game in which Peru often looked like the better squad.

13.  Iran - A 90+5th minute goal to defeat Morocco 1-0 and to snatch 3 points from an otherwise deadlocked match.

Ties

14.  Spain - Tied Iberian rivals Portugal in a 3-3 stunner, coming back from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 and losing the win on an 88th free kick by Ronaldo.  Diego Costa with a brace.

15.  Portugal - Tied on a stunning free kick by Cristiano Ronaldo in the 88th minute to complete his hat trick.  Only behind Spain because the last foul Ronaldo drew might have been a bit of a flop.

16.  Brazil - Really controlled most of the game against Switzerland, but one defensive breakdown allowed the Swiss to draw against the pre-tournament co-favorites.

17.  Argentina - Also controlled their match against Iceland, for the most part, and Messi had an attempt to take the lead on a penalty, but the penalty was saved by Hannes bor Halldorsson.

18.  Switzerland - Not a superb effort, but enough offense to draw with Brazil.

19.  Iceland - Like Switzerland, but with less offense and much better defense.  A Messi missed penalty was the difference.

Losers

20.  Peru - The one losing team that actually looked like it controlled the game.  Lost 1-0 to Denmark, but that game easily could have gone the other way.

21.  Germany - Although Mexico deserved the win, Germany played fairly well.  I don't foresee the Germans being this far down the list after round 2.

22.  Australia - Really gave France a game.  Les Blues were lucky to come out of that game with the full 3 points as Australia earned/deserved a draw.

23.  Colombia - Played galliantly with only 10 men for the last 87 minutes plus extra time.  Probably deserved to be ranked higher, but the 2-1 loss to Japan will be hard to stomach.  Still likely to escape the group stage, but it is much harder of a job now.

24.  Poland - Managed a late goal to make their 2-1 loss against Sengal interesting, but looked slow throughout.

25.  South Korea - Lost 1-0 in a close match against Sweden, but looked sluggish as this was one of the least interesting games of the first round of the group stage.

26.  Nigeria - Did not put up too much of a fight in the 2-0 loss to Croatia.

27.  Egypt -Played Uruguay tough, only giving up a late goal to lose, but looks powerless with Mohammed Salah on the pitch.  Next round should look much different.

28.  Costa Rica - Lost 1-0 to Serbia, but doesn't look like it has much firepower at all. It'll be a feat to score a goal in the tournament.

29.  Morocco - Played a fairly good defensive game in the loss to Iran.  Not dangerous on the ball at all.  Only ranked this high because the three teams below looked so putrid.

30.  Tunisia - Lost to England 2-1, and in fact, actually made the English squad look good, despite holding onto the draw until Harry Kane's header in extra time.

31.  Panama - Looked fairly good defensively for a half, and even took some - not much but some - offensive chances.  Second half was a whole different game.

32.  Saudi Arabia - Lost 5-0 to the hosts, Russia.