World Cup Power Rankings: Top 10 teams ranked

The World Cup is almost upon us as 48 nations prepare to battle it out for the most coveted prize in football.

France and Spain are many people's fancies given their recent successes in the World Cup and the European Championships with England, Portugal, Brazil, Germany and Argentina also amongst the favourites.

But who are the best teams at the 2026 World Cup? We've taken a look at the top 10 sides ahead of the summer showpiece.

10 – Netherlands

Manager Ronald Koeman’s first issue is that he doesn’t have the quality of players that he shared a pitch with in his playing days. His second issue is that of the current crop, far too many are battling injury.

Memphis Depay, Frenkie de Jong and Denzel Dumfries have spent time on the sidelines through injury, while the likes of Xavi Simons, Matthijs de Ligt and Jerdy Schouten are long-term absentees, with Tijjani Reijnders and Nathan Ake frequently absent from Manchester City’s starting XI.

That said, the Netherlands do boast a back line containing Virgil van Dijk, Jurrien Timber and Micky van de Ven and the midfield trio of De Jong, Reijnders and Ryan Gravenberch is strong when all fit and firing.

Donyell Malen burst into life following his loan move away from Aston Villa, and will be relied upon to score the goals alongside Cody Gakpo and the talismanic Depay.

9 – Norway

Norway have always had a handful of recognisable players in their ranks but ahead of the 2026 World Cup, they’ve all come together at the same time.

Of course, it’s all well and good having a golden generation of players, but it’s wasted without the right man at the helm, and in Stale Solbakken, Norward appear to have just that. Solbakken provides a sturdy defensive base while allowing his attacking players to flourish.

Julian Ryerson provides width as an attacking full-back with Martin Odegaard the side’s primary creative outlet. There’s also the rapid Antonio Nusa and the potent Alexander Sorloth, but Norway’s hopes entirely rest on the shoulders of Erling Haaland.

Haaland recently scored in 11 straight games for the national side, a run that saw him find the net 21 times.

8 – Belgium

While Belgium’s golden generation is no more, they do have reason for quiet optimism heading into the 2026 World Cup.

Drawn in Group G alongside Egypt, they’ll face minnows New Zealand and Iran, the latter of which look to be plagued by logistical issues.

Romelu Lukaku is lacking in fitness but will still play a key role while Kevin De Bruyne can still be trusted to pull the strings with Jeremy Doku and Leandro Trossard providing a threat out wide.

Perhaps more importantly for Belgium, should they win their group, they’ll play a third-placed team followed by the winner of Group D, which contains Turkiye and the USA.

While the Red Devils can’t get too far ahead of themselves, their path to the quarter-finals looks well within reach.

7 – Brazil

How good are Brazil exactly? The Dorival Junior era can largely be ignored, and the Selecao now have arguably the best tournament manager in world football at the helm.

Carlo Ancelotti has mostly overseen friendlies which aren’t always the easiest to glean form from and their side looks far from vintage.

A central defensive partnership of Marquinhos and Gabriel looks strong, but the midfield looks desperately lacking for a side looking to win a World Cup. Bruno Guimaraes is an excellent midfielder but the veteran Casemiro shouldn’t be starting for a team harbouring ambitions of winning a summer World Cup in North America, and Ancelotti’s all-out-attack formation reflects their lack of quality and depth in the middle of the park.

There are plenty of attacking options despite long-term injuries to Rodrygo and Estevao with the likes of Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Neymar, Matheus Cunha, Rayan, Gabriel Martinelli, Endrick, and Igor Thiago, but Brazil look a much weaker version of their former selves.

6 – Argentina

It’s not unfair to say that the 2022 World Cup was Lionel Messi’s World Cup. Four years later, can he be relied upon to have that same level of impact?

Manager Lionel Scaloni has kept much of his 2022 squad together which provides continuity and calmer heads in those big moments, but that may well count against them as the tournament wears on. There’s a chance Scaloni has to call upon the 38-year-old Nicolas Otemandi, while much still rests on the shoulders of Messi, who turns 39 during the tournament.

Argentina have solid midfield options in Rodrigo de Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Guido Rodriguez and Leandro Paredes but their attacking options are limited beyond Messi, Julain Alvarez and Thiago Almada, with Lautaro Martinez keen to make up for an underwhelming showing in 2022.

Many of Argentina’s recent friendlies have been against minnows so it’s hard to know exactly what their form is like heading into the summer, but with so much hinging on Messi’s form and fitness, it’s hard to make a case for the champions defending their crown.

5 – Germany

It’s tricky to work out exactly where Germany are after their last couple of years. There was promise in their Euro 2024 campaign and had they held on for another minute against Spain, they’d have been a penalty shoot-out away from knocking out the side who went on to win the tournament. More recently, however, they’ve fallen to home defeats to Portugal and France in the Nations League and lost their opening World Cup qualifier to Slovakia.

They’ve since won nine on the bounce, albeit to sides they were expected to beat and there are far more concerns than they’d like heading into a World Cup. Using a core of Bayern Munich players feels a safe bet for Julian Nagelsmann, but Joshua Kimmich will be deployed at right-back rather than central midfield, and the injuries to Serge Gnabry and now Lennart Karl leave Die Mannschaft a little light in attack.

Jamal Musiala will kope to recapture his best form while Florian Wirtz is moving on from a difficult maiden season in the Premier League.

The lack of a traditional goalscorer may count against them, but Kai Havertz can be relied upon to score goals in big games, and few would be surprised to see Germany reach the latter stages in North America.

4 – Portugal

If there are any concerns around the Portugal national team heading into the World Cup, they are perhaps around their manager Roberto Martinez and their captain Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo is now 41 years old and a decade removed from his peak but there are other concerns, namely that he still insists on taking free-kicks despite never being particularly good at them. If the captain isn’t willing to stand down, you’d hope the manager was strong enough to take him off them. Instead, Martinez’s job seems to be placating an ego while ensuring the rest of the outfit are in a position to win a World Cup.

And beyond Ronaldo, Portugal have plenty of talent. The midfield duo of Paris Saint-Germain stars Vitinha and Joao Neves spearheaded by creative maestro Bruno Fernandes. Even defensively, there’s Nuno Mendes, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Matheus Nunes, Goncalo Inacio, Tomas Araujo and Diogo Dalot to pick from, with Diogo Costa between the sticks.

There’s so much technical talent throughout the Portugal team, with a simple group that shouldn’t prove too taxing, that Martinez’s side rightly should be harbouring ambitions of going all the way, especially after last year’s UEFA Nations League win

There’s also Rafael Leao and Pedro Neto on the wings, while Roberto Martinez will hope Goncalo Ramos sees more gametime in the run-up to next year’s World Cup.

The question is whether Portugal's player quality is enough to overcome the shortcomings of their manager, who's not quite at the level of his international contemporaries, while not allowing Ronaldo to be too detrimental throughout the tournament.

3 – England

Football fans have notoriously short memories and England fans are no different. The Three Lions were becoming accustomed to disgraceful exits from tournaments prior to Gareth Southgate’s arrival, when their fortunes immediately changes. With that, came added pressure and expectation that ultimately went unfulfilled.

The player quality couldn’t be blamed, and the finger was pointed at the dugout, with the FA appointing a winner in Thomas Tuchel. The German is one of the best tournament managers in world football, leading Paris Saint-Germain to a first UEFA Champions League final and Chelsea to a second UEFA Champions League win.

The questions around England are largely around the players available. Tuchel’s biggest weakness as a manager is knowing what good players look like, and the likes of Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Adam Wharton, Morgan-Gibbs White, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Maguire will all be watching the World Cup from home.

Tuchel isn’t helped by many of his best players being so out of form they’ve dropped out of his plans altogether, but he does have arguably the world’s best player in Harry Kane at his disposal.

England’s back line doesn’t look particularly formidable, but the midfield duo of Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson certainly does, while Bukayo Suka, Noni Madueke, Anthony Gordon, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney, Eberechi Eze, Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rogers and Harry Kane provide an excellent blend of attacking options.

With a Tuchel in the dugout for any of the recent tournaments, England would likely have got over the line. This, however, is a squad that’s weaker than it has been, and Tuchel will need to use all his tactical nous to deliver a first World Cup since 1966.

2 – France

It feels like France have been riding their luck on and off since Euro 2024. Les Bleus were distinctly unimpressive at that tournament, scoring just four goals in five games, two of which were own goals and one of which was a penalty.

France then topped their Nations League group, but needed penalties to get past Croatia after a 2-2 aggregate draw.

Didier Deschamps’ side then lost the 5-4 thriller to Spain in the semi-finals, beating Germany 2-0 in the third-place play-off.

Deschamps’ cautious tactics hasn’t won many admirers but it has led France to two World Cup finals and while he still has a litany of world-class players at his disposal, can he lead them to a third straight World Cup final?

Deschamps has always prioritised a defensive base, though they look a little less resolute than they have in previous years. En route to victory in 2018, Deschamps deployed the industrious Blaise Matuidi as a winger to give his side more balance. Out of Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, Desire Doue and Kylian Mbappe, who’s doing the dirty work to allow the others to flourish? It may be that Marcus Thuram plays a key role with one of the star names left on the bench.

The bountiful attacking options including can cause any team plenty of problems, but the squad looks less well rounded than it did eight years ago.

1 – Spain

European champions Spain have been imperious over the last two years, losing just one match – a friendly with Colombia in which several key players were rested.

Since that defeat, Spain won all seven Euro 2024 games, beating Germany, France and England en route to the trophy.

La Roja then won five of their six Nations League group games, requiring penalties to beat Netherlands after a thrilling 5-5 aggregate draw.

They then played out a scintillating semi-final with France where they led 4-0 and 5-1 before France launched a late fightback to go down 5-4, and despite twice leading against Portugal in the final, Spain lost on penalties.

The current Spain side isn’t quite like the all-conquerers of the late 2000s and early 2010s, so blessed with midfielders that they were starting games with six of them, but the midfield ranks do boast Pedri, Gavi, Martin Zubimendi, Rodri and Fabian Ruiz.

Then there’s Lamine Yamal, and while question marks surround the Barcelona man’s fitness, he can be eased into the tournament with Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia up first.

If there’s anything manager Luis de la Fuente can be criticised for during his time in charge, it’s his substitutions that have let sides back in to games and in the instance of the Nations League final, cost them a win, but with so much quality at his disposal, De La Fuente’s Spain remain the team to beat.