The 16 countries that could win the 2026 World Cup

Only South American and European nations have won the men’s World Cup. However, in 2022 Morocco made history in making a run to the semifinals. Is Africa getting closer in terms of footballing talent? Speaking of talent, Egypt just barely makes the cut owing to one particular talent. Mohamed Salah just had one of the best club seasons in history. He also now has Omar Marmoush joining him on the attack. The concern is so much of the nation’s talent pool plays domestically, and that doesn’t speak well to overall talent. Still…Salah.

If this tournament was being hosted anywhere else in the world, the United States likely wouldn’t make the cut. Home-pitch advantage means something, though. Mauricio Pochettino, one of the best managers in the world, is now managing the national team for America. They have more talent than back in the day as well. The problem, of course, is that they have never even come close to winning the men’s World Cup. They have more talent than when they hosted in 1994, though. What matters is getting in form over the next year.

Argentina has mopped the floor with the opposition in CONMEBOL qualifying, but arguably the second-best team of the bunch has been Ecuador. To play as well, or better, than Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and the like is remarkable. This is the third time in four World Cups that Ecuador has qualified. Ecuador is set up well defensively, but the attack is questionable. Even the country’s best player, Moises Caicedo, is a midfielder known for his defensive skill.

Denmark has enough young talent coming in to mix with the veterans who have established themselves as Danish greats to possibly make some noise. Yes, this will be the last major tournament where Christian Eriksen or Kasper Schmeichel will contribute. However, Denmark has several Premier League defenders and midfielders available to them aside from Eriksen. Plus, as polarizing as Rasmus Holjund is at Manchester United, he’s still a guy United wanted, and that club's track record of making the most use of talented players has nosedived since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Denmark is an under-the-radar choice to make some noise.

We know. Erling Haaland and Norway couldn’t get into Euro 2024, so how are they going to win the 2026 World Cup? Well, one, they have Haaland, the best goal scorer in the world, and he isn’t even 25 yet. Also, he’s not as much a one-man team as Salah, even if Salah is a better player. Midfielder Martin Odegaard is better than any other Egyptian, to stick with that frame of reference. Jorgen Strand Larsen broke through with Wolves in the 2024-25 season. Oscar Bobb is only 21 and has broken into the Manchester City lineup. By the time of the 2026 World Cup, Norway is going to have significant talent either in their prime or entering it.

Maybe we’re overreacting to Austria’s performance at Euro 2024, and it didn’t even go deep into that tournament, but there is talent on this team, and this is Austria’s best chance to make a splash in a major tournament in decades. Austria is loaded with Bundesliga talent, and it also still has David Alaba. The Real Madrid defender was injured and couldn’t play in Euro 2024, and adding him into the mix makes Austria that much more imposing.

Making the semifinals last time around allows Morocco to crack the top 10. On top of that, the Morocco under-23 team won bronze at the 2024 Olympics. Moroccan football is having a moment. Unlike Egypt, Morocco is packed with talent that plays in Europe. There’s Achraf Hakimi, of course, but outside of goalkeeper, Morocco has players all over Europe’s best leagues, including some burgeoning talent in their early 20s, like Bilal El Khannouss. We don’t think this country was a one-hit wonder like, say, host nation South Korea in 2002.

Yes, James Rodriguez and longtime goalkeeper David Ospina are past their primes. Neither even plays in Europe at this point. However, we see Colombia set up to be the third-best team from South America, and that’s not an easy level to rise to. Daniel Munoz popped for FA Cup winner Crystal Palace. Luis Diaz is a force on the attack. Also, while Jhon Duran left Aston Villa for Saudi Arabia for reason$, he’s still only 21 and is headed toward being a top-level scorer himself.

This may be too high for Italy, if only because Italy has been the most-erratic of the top footballing nations. Italy has missed the last two World Cups, but it won Euro 2020 and won the 2006 World Cup. Its goalkeeper is in his prime and helped lead PSG to the Champions League. Italy is loaded with guys in their twenties. Literally every member of the 2026 World Cup team for Italy could be in their absolute prime… if Italy qualifies.

Well, Liverpool just easily won the best football league in the world. The spine of The Netherlands could be built around Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, and Cody Gakpo, three key players for that Liverpool team. Liverpool just signed Jeremie Frimpong. Manchester City just signed Tijjani Reijnders. Our conceit is that these 16 teams could win the World Cup, but this is a ranking, and obviously rankings all have tiers. The Dutch and the six teams above are the countries we can plausibly, unsurprisingly envision winning the World Cup.

Yes, Lionel Messi is past his prime, he plays in MLS, and he will not be able to drive the action for Argentina in 2026. Argentina was not bothered during World Cup qualifying. This country is so much more than Messi. So your all-time legend is going to be almost 40? Then turn to Lautaro Martinez, or Julian Alvarez, or Enzo Fernandez. Of course, Argentina is sixth, and not, you know, first or second, so Messi’s age does mean something to us.

The guard is changing. Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, and Ilkay Gundogan have all retired from international duty. It doesn’t matter. This is Germany. The best teams in the Bundesliga are laden with German talent in their primes. There’s also Jamal Musiala and Liverpool-bound Florian Wirtz, who are two of the best midfielders in the world and not even in their primes yet. Germany doesn’t do Golden Generations. It just generates talent tournament after tournament.

We know. It’s easy as an English football fan to be cynical. Football is never coming home. Even after making the semis and the quarters in the last two World Cups. Even after finishing runners up in the last two Euros. It’ll just never happen for England, right? C’mon. Look beyond the doom and gloom to the actual talent the country has. In addition to the long-standing talents, and the young-but-experienced guys like Jude Bellingham, the country is adding more and more talent. Rico Lewis. Myles Lewis-Skelly. Lewis Hall. Okay, so we only mentioned Lewis Hall to work in another Lewis, but he is actually pretty good for a 20-year-old! England will assuredly be one of the three-or-four most-talented teams at the 2026 World Cup. It’s just a matter of getting it done this time.

Brazil hired Carlos Ancelotti, who isn’t Brazilian, as manager. That’s how you know it isn’t messing around for 2026. Brazil hasn’t won a World Cup since 2002, which is incredible for this country. Alisson is there in goal, but the talent on the attack is getting better. Vinicius Junior, Rafinha, and Gabriel Martinelli will all be there. Oh, and Joao Pedro, Savinho, Rodrygo, and maybe even Endrick will actually be something by that point. We’d go as far as to say Brazil will have the best set of attacking options in 2026. The only issue is that, you know, only 11 guys can play at once, and it can’t be Alisson and 10 attacking players. Although, if Brazil did that, we’d root for them with all our hearts.

Maybe Kylian Mbappe at Real Madrid proved flawed, but the French national team is a different story. They were runners up at the last World Cup and won the World Cup before that. France made the semis at Euro 2024. International football is different from team football. Schematics mean less and talent means more. Mbappe wants to attack and dominate a certain area of space while playing no defense? It can work out in a way it may not when, say, Real Madrid is playing Barcelona. France is maybe a tier down in goal compared to other top contenders, but that is a quibble, not a concern.

Lamine Yamal. We can just leave it there, right? Here is something that might be true: Yamal will be the best player at the 2026 World Cup. Here is something that will definitely be true: Yamal will be 18 years old when the 2026 World Cup starts. He is ascendant, and he is transcendent. There’s plenty of other talent for Spain as well, of course. They won Euro 2024, after all. One year out, Spain is the favorite to win the 2026 World Cup.