How the World Cup favourites are looking — and who has the best chance to win
Since England has secured their spot at the 2026 World Cup, all eyes will be on how they perform in North America the following summer and how some of their opponents seem.
The feeling has been that England has worked extremely hard to get to this point, and Thomas Tuchel’s contract expires at the end of the tournament.
However, Tuchel thinks that because “we haven’t won it for decades,” England will be “underdogs” at the World Cup.
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Brazil and Argentina, both of whom qualified, will be hoping that the venue helps them. A South American team has won seven of the eight World Cups held in the Americas.
European teams have also won 10 of the 11 World Cups that have been hosted in Europe. WANDERLUSTSport examines how some of the favourites for the World Cup are developing.
France
France is trying to make it to their third consecutive World Cup final under the management of Didier Deschamps, who took over in 2012 but will stand down after the competition.
Before losing to Argentina on penalties following a 3-3 draw in what was likely the best final ever in 2022, they defeated Croatia in 2018.
Kylian Mbappe, who has scored 17 goals in 13 games for Real Madrid and France this season, will be crucial to their aspirations.
After a painful 2-2 draw with Iceland on Monday, they lead Ukraine by three points in Group D.
Brazil
Brazil, who won their fifth championship in 2002, was formerly the nation most associated with World Cup success. Since then, however, they have failed to make it to any of the five finals.
They therefore took a risk by hiring Carlo Ancelotti, a multiple winner, as their first foreign head coach since 1965.
After Dorival Junior was fired after a 4-1 loss to bitter rivals Argentina in World Cup qualifying, he took over in May.
Brazil is far from flying as they qualified in fifth position in the South American group with six losses from 18 games.
Spain
With good reason, Spain is the early favourite to win the World Cup according to bookies. They defeated England in the final and were well-deserved winners in Euro 2024.
They also have one of the top players in the world in Lamine Yamal, a young winger for Barcelona.
They haven’t lost a competitive match since playing Scotland in March 2023, excluding a penalty shootout loss to Portugal in the June Nations League final.
Despite having the most points in Group E, they have not yet qualified.
Portugal
Portugal, who have not yet qualified for the World Cup, will be optimistic about their prospects because they are dominating Group F, even if they drew with Hungary on Tuesday.
At Euro 2024, there was a sense that they were being held back by national hero Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the all-time top scorer in international football.
Ronaldo, who will turn 41 next summer, has since scored 13 goals in 13 Portugal games. Portugal appears to be in fine form after defeating Spain on penalties in the summer’s Nations League final.
England
After a number of close calls under Gareth Southgate, there is genuine optimism that this could be England’s year.
The Football Association’s commitment to winning this event is demonstrated by the fact that they signed the highly decorated German to a contract specifically for it.
Fortunately for Tuchel, Harry Kane is fully fired. In 11 games, the 32-year-old has scored 20 goals for England and Bayern Munich.
The only European team to win nine of their last ten games is England, who will also be the first to earn a spot in the tournament next summer.
Argentina
In the most recent World Cup final in Qatar, Argentina, the reigning champions, defeated France on penalties. And somehow, they finished nine points ahead of Ecuador in second place, winning the South American qualifying group.
The greatest football player of all time Although Lionel Messi has not yet made a commitment to compete in the World Cup, his absence would be shocking.
However, manager Lionel Scaloni wanted to see Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez play together, so the 38-year-old was rested for a recent friendly.
Italy
Although it seems normal to list Italy as a World Cup favourite, the statistics do not support this claim. Since winning the World Cup in 2006, they have not participated in a single knockout match.
They didn’t even make it to the next two World Cups after losing in the groups in 2010 and 2014. And although they trail Group I leaders Norway by three points and still need to qualify for the playoffs, that might still be their third consecutive win.
They perform well at the Euros and defeated England in the 2021 final.
Netherland
Since losing to England in the Euro 2024 semifinal, Netherlands has been playing well and has only suffered one defeat.
They have 16 points from six games in qualifying, scoring 22 goals and giving up just three goals.
Memphis Depay has become the nation’s all-time top goal scorer (54) and assist maker (35), both of which have occurred during this qualifying campaign.
Germany
If Germany wants to compete in North America, they will need to significantly improve on their recent performance in big events.
They have lost twice in the group stage and have not advanced past the quarterfinals of a European Championship since winning the 2014 World Cup.
With a goal differential advantage over Slovakia in Group A, they are working hard to qualify for the World Cup at all.
Last month, they suffered just their fourth World Cup qualification loss against Slovakia.
