World Cup 2026: Power ranking before the start – DFB team at the top, Spain favorites

Morocco was the big surprise in 2022, and fourth place in the World Cup can be expected again this year. The confident qualification with eight wins in eight games was followed by triumph at the Africa Cup at the Green Table. In the most recent test matches (4-0 against Madagascar, 1-1 against Norway) there was no international exclamation mark.

Only tenth in the world rankings, perhaps even further down in the perception of an entire nation: The DFB team is actually one of the strongest teams in the world. The Nagelsmann team goes into the tournament with nine wins in a row, but hasn’t beaten any major nations along the way. The Final Four of the Nations League last year showed that something is still missing at the top.

The European runner-up in 2021 and 2024 is also one of the big favorites this year because national coach Thomas Tuchel has a large selection of stars, especially Harry Kane. England kept a clean sheet in qualifying and won all eight games. Recently there has been criticism on the island: staid performances and narrow results (1:1 against Uruguay, 0:1 against Japan, 1:0 against New Zealand) have dampened hopes of the first World Cup title since 1966.

Portugal once again marched confidently through qualification, leaving Ireland and Hungary behind. On the way to triumph in the Nations League, the Iberians, who had excellent quality and quantity, prevailed against Germany and Spain. However, the test matches this year were no longer as convincing (0-0 against Mexico, 2-0 against the USA, 2-1 against Chile, 2-1 against Nigeria).

Argentina enters the tournament as reigning world champions and first in the world rankings. They are there mainly thanks to the good World Cup qualification, which Lionel Messi and Co. finished as by far the best team in South America. Even in the most recent test matches, the “Albiceleste” showed no weaknesses. The opponents this year were only Mauritania, Zambia, Honduras and Iceland.