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.)
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).
