World Cup Rankings

 

Let's get through the easy stuff, since there were only two games this round - the Final Rankings!!!

1.  Spain (1)

2.  Argentina (2)

3.  England (3)

4.  France (4)

Easy stuff!!!

Also, the best game was easily England over France - no question.  

So that is it.  The end of the blog, right?  Nope.  I have two more segments for you to end this World Cup.

First up, the All-World Cup team.  Since everyone does an ALL-XI, I am going to do a complete team.  Each roster in the field contains 26 players, so here is my All-World Cup Team, with starters (ALL-XI) in bold.  The roster is composed of 2 at each position (a starter and a backup).  That is 22 players.  A third goalie and striker - making the roster 24.  And then just the two other players I felt belonged on the list and deserved recognition.  Here is your team!

G – Unai Simon (Spain); Vozinha (Cabo Verde); Orlando Gill (Paraguay) - The Spanish team gave up one goal the entire campaign, and although that is a complete defensive accomplishment, the goalie positions everyone and controls the defensive calls.  Vozinha and Gill made stars of themselves.

RB – Pedro Porro (Spain); Achraf Hakimi (Morocco) Porro stabilized the wing on the back line and Hakimi does it all.

CB – Aymeric Laporte (Spain); Lisandro Martinez (Argentina); Dayot Upemacano (France); Pau Cubarsi (Spain)  No real surprises here as Spain - again - only gave up one goal the entire tournament.  Cubarsi was named the Best Young Player (at AGE 19!!!).  Martinez's injury really impacted Argentina in the final.  Nobody was as emotional on the pitch as Upemacano.

LB – Marc Cucarella (Spain); Djed Spence (England) Cucarella has showed that he is a premier left back in the world right now.  Spence really came to life this tournament.  His interplay on the left - especially with Anthony Gordon - was immaculate to watch.

M – Rodri (Spain); Jude Bellingham (England); Alexis McCallister (Argentina); Enzo Fernandez (Argentina); Martin Odegaard (Norway); Pedri (Spain); Aurelien Tchouameni (Belgium) - Rodri won the Golden Ball as the Player of the Tournament.  Nobody played better than Bellingham overall.  McCallister was just a bit better than Fernandez in passing and turning over the offense while defending, whereas Fernandez scored more, but his red card in the final was the decider in the starting position.  Haaland gets all of the acclaim because of his propensity to score, but Odegaard drives that offense.  Pedri was phenomenal and Tchouameni was just too dynamic to leave out.  This was definitely the hardest decisions to make.

Wingers – Lionel Messi (Argentina); Julian Quinones (Mexico); Vinicius, Jr (Brazil); Lamine Yamal (Spain); Luis Diaz (Colombia)  Starting Quinones meant that only three midfielders could start, which send Enzo Fernandez to the bench, but game-after-game he came up huge for team Mexico, even winning over fans who had previously hated him because he wasn't born in Mexico (Colombia), and perhaps because of his dark skin.  All of Mexico loves him after this performance.  Yamal just didn't play enough minutes to earn a starting spot, but he was amazing.  Luis Diaz is so dynamic.  I really wanted to put Yan Dioumande into this team, and he could have replaced Luis Diaz, but I really think Diaz deserves it.

Striker – Kylian Mbappe (France); Erling Haaland (Norway); Harry Kane (England)  Duh, Duh, and Duh!

And, for my last take on this Year's World Cup - the Top 10 most memorable occurrences in the Tournament!

10.  Fans Discovering American "culture" - Seriously, the social media posts of soccer tourists as they make their first trip to the United States and find out about Bucc-ee's, Waffle House, Wal-Mart, Raisin' Canes, Chick-fil-A, Publix Subs, etc.  Is amazing.  My favorite quote was from one European who entered the "pharmacy" CVS.  He said that they sell "things that can heal you, as well as the frozen mac-n-cheese that caused the problem!"

9.  Ranch Dressing - The most obvious segue, as Ranch Dressing in-and-of-itself was - and always should be - a star.  The shops inside Logan Airport (and passed the TSA Security entrance), started selling ranch dressing so that the travelers could avoid the 3 1/2 ounce liquid rule.

8.  Norwegian Row - Not just the fans in the stadium, but the fans on the field, the fans at the golf tournament, the fans on the escalator, the fans on the streets ... everywhere a "Dum-Dum Row!"

7.  Spain's Defense - I have typed it once, and I have typed it a thousand time.  Spain only conceded 1 goal this entire tournament.  That means they kept 7 clean sheets in 8 games.  OUTSTANDING!!!

6.  Stars Shining - Another common thread in my blog posts.  The stars came to compete.  Kylian Mbappe scored 10 goals and won his second-consecutive Golden Boot - the only player in history to win twice.  And, he has the record for most World Cup goals, passing Miroslav Klose, Marta, and Lionel Messi!  And Messi scored 8 with 4 assists, including a hat trick.  Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham had 7.  Harry Kane had 6.  Rodri wins Golden Ball.  The stars truly shone in this World Cup.

5.  England-Mexico Thriller - The best game I have ever seen.  If this was further along in the knockout stages - like a semifinal or a final - this would be talked about as the greatest game ever.

4.  Thierry Henry dealing with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexi Lalas - Henry is one of the best players ever, and he is incredible on UCL today with Kate Giles nee Abdo, Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards - which is probably the best sports analysis show on right now.  But, for the World Cup, Henry was paired with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexi Lalas as analysts, with the uber-professional Rebecca Lowe.  The fact that Henry could put up with Ibrahimovic's attitude and arrogance - despite Henry being a much better player - and the fact that he could put up with Lalas's utter incompetence, without blowing up or hurting anybody is a top 10 moment from this tournament.

3.  Folarin Balogun Red Card Saga - It wasn't the red card, which itself wasn't a horrible tackle and should have been a yellow; It wasn't the red card in that we have seen yellow cards turned into reds (and vice versa before); but it was President Trump getting involved and having the red card overturned that turned this whole tournament into a sideshow.  Along with refusing to grant visas to several people directly involved with the tournament (team managers, staff, Lumumba Vea, and even the Referee of the Year from Africa), not allowing the Iranian team to stay in the US, despite all three games being in the US and forcing them to fly in and out of their game sites on the day of games (coincidentally, Iran was the first team out of the tournament), to Trump trying to hog the spotlight by jumping into the official picture of Spain's championship trophy award, to the red card saga - this tournament will be remembered for being overly political.

2.  Scotland Fans - If I have to tell you why, you weren't paying attention.  "No Scotland, No Party!"

1.  Cabo Verde - The darlings of these games.  Everybody loves Cabo Verde, and they played outstandingly.  They drew Spain 0-0, and scored the goal of the tournament down 2-1 in extra time to Argentina.  They showed they belonged on the World Cup stage!

World Cup Rankings 2026

 

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 Semifinal round matchups - ONLY.  How did the team look during its win?  The Quarterfinals, Round of 16 games, round of 32 games, Group stage and pre-World Cup rankings DO NOT MATTER!.

But given that there are only two games, the content of this post would ordinarily be brief.  So to counter that, I wanted to discuss the breakout stars of this tournament.  These are the players that have really made a name for themselves even though they may be young, or play for a smaller club team, or are overshadowed at club or country by a star - and in some cases multiple of these.  Nevertheless, they managed to standout in these games and made me pay attention.

15.   Helio Varela (Cabo Verde) - The 24-year-old winger scored in the 2-2 draw with Uruguay, helping Cabo Verde reach the knockout round!  Varela currently plays for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Premier League, but I could see him make a move to a team near the relegation points in one of the other European Leagues.

14.  Julio Enciso (Paraguay)  The 22-year-old from Paraguay has been their quarterback, scoring the opening goal against Germany in the Round of 32 - which helped knock the European power out of the tournament.  He currently plays for Strasbourg in Ligue 1, whose team is likely to look to him to become more involved and make more plays for them this season.

13.  Esmir Bajraktarvic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) - The 21-year old winger plays for PSV Eindhoven, and made his World Cup debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina, after having his football citizenship changed from the United States, where he was born.  

12.  Gilberto Mora (Mexico) - The 17-year old currently plies his trade in Liga MX for Tijuana, and is a future STAR!  He was the youngest player in this tournament, making his debut off the bench against south Africa.  He started in the knockout round against Ecuador, becoming the second-youngest player to start in a knockout round - behind only Pele'.

11.  Deniv Undav (Germany) -  How can a 29-year old that plays in the Bundesliga after having played previously played in the English Premier League?  Easy, win "Man of the Match" after scoring two-goals late against Cote d'Ivoire when Germany was down 1-0.  He also had a goal and 2 assists coming off the bench against Curacao.

10.  Arda Guler (Turkiye) - Ordinarily somebody that plays for a club like Real Madrid cannot "breakthrough" in a tournament like this, but the 21-year-old is still young enough that he hasn't really made international acclaim, despite featuring regularly in Real Madrid's lineup.  But, despite Turkiye being eliminated from the knockout rounds, Guler scored Turkiye's opening goal against the United States and earning "Man of the Match!"  I expect bigger and brighter things for the youngster moving forward.

9.  Ibrahim Maza (Algeria) - Another youngster (20) who plays in a major league, Maza is an attacking midfielder for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, but has played for the club, but in a limited capacity so far.  He is expected to become a fixture in the starting lineup for years to come - of Bayer Leverkusen or another large club - after impressing in teh World Cup.

8.  Elijah Just (New Zealand) – The 26-year-old winger plays professionally in New Zealand, so he has little to no international acclaim.  But, he announced himself in the World Cup by scoring three goals — two in a 2-2 draw with Iran and another against Belgium — making this his breakthrough on the world stage.

7.  Nathan Saliba (Canada) – Only 22, Saliba plays in the Belgian league for perennial power Anderlecht, and was critical Canada’s historic run to the last 16, especially with the Canadian's being shorthanded with Alphonso Davies' playing time minimized due to injury and Ismael Knoe breaking his leg against Qatar.  He scored a goal and had 2 assists in the 6-0 win over Qatar.

6.  Ayyoub Bouaddi (Morocco) – Only 18, Bouaddi has been with the senior squad in Ligue 1 in France for Lille.  After playing early in his international career for France, he switching to Morocco just a couple of months ago, and had some absolutely stunning performances.  Against Brazil, he won 9 duels and completed 91% of his passes while playing the entire game.

5.  Antonio Nusa (Norway) - Norway is all about star striker Erling Haaland and captain Martin Odegaard, but the Scandinavian country advanced to the quarterfinals largely because of the emergence of Nusa.  Nusa's attacking presence helps set up plays for Haaland, and he provides an additional target for Odegaard's pin-point passing.  He certainly looks like a mainstay for Norway, and at 21 years of age, an almost certain future captain.

4.  Nico O'Reilly (England) - It is hard for somebody who already starts at Manchester City "break through," as it would seem star acclaim would have already occurred.  But O'Reilly's performance as left back and his advance on the left flank (and his teamwork with Anthony Gordon) has really stunned this tournament.  O'Reilly has cemented his place in the England lineup for a good decade, and Manchester City would do well to keep him locked up for the same.

3.  Yan Diomande (Cote d’Ivoire) - Diomande, only 19, has impressed a lot of soccer impresarios in his one year at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, having already agreed to a transfer to Paris St. Germain pending club agreement to terms of the transfer.  But to really watch Diomande as he speeds up the left flank with total control of the ball at his feet is a wonder.  A different style of player than compatriot Didier Drogba, but Diomande looks destined to a similar place in Ivorian soccer history.

2.  Johan Manzambi (Switzerland) – The last young player on the list.  The 20-year-old has played the last two seasons for Freiburg, in the Bundesliga, was known in soccer circles prior to the World Cup, and was all set to transfer to Newcastle United in the English Premier League.  That was until his monster performances in the World Cup had the rest of the World take notice.  Aston Villa, fresh off a fourth-place campaign this season has swooped in to take the midfielder away from Newcastle, and who wouldn't after he scored three times in the group stage and helped lead Switzerland into the quarterfinals.  He substituted into the game against Bosnia-Herzegovina to score a brace, and then followed that game up with a goal and an assist - and the Man of the Match Award - against Canada.  Alas, he injured his knee while training for the Round of 32 game and missed the remainder of the tournament.

For the biggest breakout star of World Cup 2026, there is only one word ...

1.  Vozinha!!! (Cabo Verde) - If you have to ask why then you have neither watched nor followed this year's World Cup, as the 40-year-old goalkeeper has just absolutely stole the show.  Here is EVERY SAVE HE MADE IN THIS CUP!!! - from the mundane to the spectacular.

With only two games, there are only a few things upon which to comment, so here are the best/interesting things that happened in the Semi-Finals, the ranking of the games from the Semi-Finals, and the ranking of the remaining teams heading into the finals and third-place games.

Interesting Things from the Semi-Finals

6.  Spain has only conceded one 1 goal this entire World Cup.

5.  Lamine Yamal's head-up play to draw the penalty which Mikel Oyarzabal struck home for the opener.

4.  This MESSI CROSS to Lautaro Martinez for the game-winner against England.

3.  I could not find a video, since the highlights only show a snippet - but please, please, go back and watch Spain's entire buildup to Pedro Porro's goal to go up 2-0.  It is sublime teamwork, dribbling and passing.

2.  This ENZO FERNANDEZ STRIKE!!!

1.  I don't know if I could actually describe this, so I am just going to say UNAI SIMON DOUBLE SAVE?!.

Semi-Finals Game Rankings

2.  Spain 2-0 over France

1.  Argentina 2-1 over England

Team Rankings

Spain (3)

Argentina (2)

England (4)

France (1)