The World Cup is well underway with the first round of group games completed.
France and Spain remain 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.
While Spain fell to a shock draw to Cape Verde, France, England, Argentina and Germany all got off to winning starts.
Spain have been dethroned at the top of the World Cup Power Rankings after their stalemate with Cape Verde, but who replaces them? Read on to find out.
10 – Morocco
NEW ENTRY
While they might have won it via the backdoor, Morocco are the reigning AFCON champions and played like it against Brazil. Understandably, they weren't able to sustain their energy levels throughout the second half, but the first-half performance will have given their potential opponents plenty to think about.
Semi-finalists four years ago, the Atlas Lions' start suggests that was no fluke. The 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi was outstanding, and while Morocco aren't littered with household names, they continue to be more than the sum of their parts, with Mohamed Ouahbi picking up where Walid Regragui left off.
9 – Belgium
DOWN 1
Belgium should still have enough to get out of Group G as winners with easier games against Iran and New Zealand to come, but Rudi Garcia won't have been all that impressed with how his side laboured against Egypt.
Jeremy Doku being deployed on the right was a mistake that Garcia will hopefully have learned from, though Kevin De Bruyne still pulling the strings was encouraging, as was Romelu Lukaku's cameo off the bench as he works his way back to full fitness.
Defensively, Belgium don't look strong enough to test the top sides, but they should still top their group and give themselves a decent run to the round of 16 and potentially quarter-finals.
8 – Norway
UP 1
Yes, it was only Iraq, but Norway did what they needed to do: win and put a healthy number in their goal difference column.
Lots of teams have been blessed with a top class striker over the years, only for the supporting cast not to be sufficient to carry the team forwards, but Norway don't seem to have that problem. Erling Haaland got off to a perfect start with two goals, and we'll learn more about them in their trickier ties with Senegal and France.
7 – Brazil
NO CHANGE
It's hard to draw too many firm conclusions from one game, but Brazil have lots of work to do if they're to reach the latter stages of this tournament.
While Morocco are no doubt a strong side, they made Brazil look amateurish in the first half of their opener. Brazil had no answers to their relentless press, with the midfield of Casemiro and Bruno Guimaraes totally overrun.
Carlo Ancelotti rightly hooked Casemiro at the interval, but the introduction of Fabinho -- while an improvement -- hardly inspires.
In Vinicius Junior, Ancelotti has one of the world's best players who can turn games in an instant, but they'll need so much more to go deep in the World Cup
6 – Portugal
DOWN 2
If there's a positive to take from Portugal's draw with DR Congo, it's that the penny might finally be dropping for Roberto Martinez that he cannot win a World Cup with a 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo leading the line.
Fernando Santos belatedly arrived at that conclusion at the 2022 World Cup, dropping Ronaldo for Goncalo Ramos, who scored a hat-trick in his first start at the tournament.
Ronaldo has now scored one goal in his last seven World Cup appearances and none in his last six Euros appearances, all of which would be permissible were his all-round game conducive to positive results for Portugal.
Martinez cannot allow this golden generation of Portuguese talent to be frittered away, and he now needs to make the right call to secure wins against Uzbekistan and Colombia and take top spot in Group K.
5 – Germany
NO CHANGE
Little can be taken from Germany's win over Curacao, as impressive as it was, though they can at least say that, unlike Spain, they put the group's minnows to the sword.
Julian Nagelsmann has always prioritised attacking football; an admirable approach, but there's perhaps a little concern at just how open his side were, leading to Curacao netting the most unlikely equaliser, and the former Bayern boss might need to be a little more cautious in the knockout rounds.
A good start for Germany, but tougher tests await.
4 – Argentina
UP 2
Up two places are Argentina after their impressive win over Algeria. The big question heading into the World Cup was whether the defending champions could lean on Lionel Messi as much as they did four years ago, and the early signs are positive.
La Albiceleste should now cruise through to the knockouts and Lionel Scaloni has the chance to keep his key players fresh for the knockouts. Winning the group should keep Argentina away from Spain and France, and their potential quarter-final with Portugal now looks much more winnable
3 – Spain
DOWN 2
Almost every World Cup has one notable shock and 2026's came in Spain's draw with Cape Verde. The minnows' late corner almost saw them pull off what might have been the tournament's greatest-ever upset, but the draw was enough to reduce goalkeeper Vozinha to tears.
There's no denying the result was an absolute stinker for La Roja, but with a changed team -- something that will no doubt be crucial in this longer World Cup -- there aren't too many reasons to panic. If anything, the introduction of Lamine Yamal and to a lesser extent Dani Olmo and Nico Williams showed what Spain will have to offer as the tournament goes on.
That said, without Yamal Spain's attack looked blunt and for all the technical quality possessed by the likes of Rodri, Pedri, Fabian Ruiz and Gavi, they couldn't unlock an organised Cape Verde defence, and plenty of opposition will have been encouraged by the display.
2 – England
UP 1
The first-half performance against Croatia will have been far from what Thomas Tuchel wanted, and there were suggestions that a stern half-time talking-to was issued by the German. The response will have most certainly been what he was after, with quickly getting their noses back in front.
Conceding two goals in the first half was a little concerning, especially given England's vulnerabilities at the back, but they came from Croatia's only shots on target. Beyond that, the Three Lions never looked like conceding.
More encouragingly was that Tuchel could bring Morgan Rogers, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford off the bench, with the latter two combining for England's fourth. There aren't many managers who'll be able to field a left-winger with electric pace, let him run at his full-back for an hour, and then swap him for an equally electric winger, and Tuchel's bountiful attacking options giving England a real chance of a first World Cup since 1966.
1 – France
UP 1
Didier Deschamps won't have been impressed with France's first-half performance against Senegal. His side were vulnerable to the counter, Michael Olise wasn't involved enough and Ousmane Dembele looked lost.
Those problems were rectified somewhat in the second half, with Olise more involved and setting up Kylian Mbappe to break the deadlock.
Of course, Deschamps has the option of introducing the likes of Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue, Warren Zaire-Emery, Marcus Thuram and even Jean-Philippe Mateta to change games, but ultimately, Les Bleus' best chances of success hinges on the France boss being able to platform Olise and Mbappe.
