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Ranking All 48 World Cup Teams in Order of Who We Want to See Lift the Trophy

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: May 26th, 2026 · 1:53 PM EDT

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The World Cup begins on June 11th and it’s time to start making #content that will hopefully rank in Google search.

There are 48 teams taking part in this year’s expanded tournament, which will be played in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. We’ll have five group stage games at Lincoln Financial Field, errr, excuse me, “Philadelphia Stadium,” and then one of the knockout round games in South Philly on the 4th of July. It should be a nice moment for a busy summer that also includes the MLB All-Star Game and assorted Semiquincentennial celebrations.

With the groups set and the squad announcements almost final, it’s time to rank every single team from #1 to #48 in terms who we want to see lift the trophy:

1. United States – We’re not gonna win it all, maybe not in our lifetimes, but it would be nice if we did. Preferably, we’d have Pennsylvania native Christian Pulisic leading the way with 9 goals in the tournament. Union academy products Auston Trusty, Matt Freese, Mark McKenzie, and Brenden Aaronson all start and finish the final, a 4-0 defeat of France. Then we become the greatest footballing nation the world has ever known.
2. Haiti – Haiti is a minnow, a poor, underdog type of country that got stuck in a group with Brazil and Morocco. But they have two local connections in Union midfield Danley Jean-Jacques and Penn alum Duke Lacroix, so if the U.S. can’t win it, we’d like the Haitians to lift the trophy.
3. Scotland – The Scottish national team isn’t very good, but their fans are funny as hell and they have a cheeky outlook on the World Cup. The Scotland vs. Brazil pregame scene in Miami is gonna be hilarious.
4. Canada – Canada is coached by an American in Jesse Marsch and has MLS players and alumni on the team. They are not Mexico. I think we should all cheer for Canada.
5. Ivory Coast – The Ivorians play two games in Philadelphia and they’re making Wilmington and Chester their home base. So we’re going to adopt them as one of the teams we support. We’re gonna take Franck Kessie to Trolley Square after the game.
6. Curacao – It’s a small Dutch Caribbean island. It would be a cool story if they go on a run.
7. Cape Verde – See above. Small island nation off the coast of Africa. They also have former Philadelphia midfielder Jamiro Monteiro on their squad.
8. South Africa – The fans seem cool and the players do great goal celebrations. We could use some South African flair in the tournament.
9. New Zealand – They have zero chance, but these underdog stories are quality.
10. Uzbekistan – Couldn’t tell you a single thing about their team, and that’s what makes them interesting. This is their first time playing in a World Cup.
11. Iraq – Not to get geopolitical or whatever, but the Iraqis have been through a lot. They came through the playoff to qualify, and it’s a good story to see Iraq in the tournament.
12. Iran – See above. There’s a huge population of Iranians in Los Angeles, where the national team is playing its first two games, and it’s gonna be really interesting to see how they’re received.
13. Jordan – Another newcomer, so they go high on the list.
14. Panama – They’re technically a CONCACAF rival, but the theme is that we wanna see the underdogs do well. Specifically, we want them to beat England at MetLife.
15. South Korea – They just seem like a group you can get behind. They’re captained by the affable Son Heung-min, who now plays for LAFC in Major League Soccer.
16. Morocco – Fun team. They went to the semifinals in 2022. The best African nation at this tournament.
17. Australia – The Aussies I think are in the same boat as Scotland. They ain’t winning shit in 2026, but they seem like they’d be fun to drink with in the parking lot. They’re in the United States’ group, but I don’t think they’re much of a threat, so we’ll put them at 17.
18. Japan – They’re sort of in that underdog group as well, even though they are one of the better Asian teams. We could get behind the Japanese winning their first Copa Mundial.
19. Brazil – Brazil is not the team that it used to be. These aren’t the days of Cafu and Ronaldo and Garrincha and whatnot. But they won the whole thing in 1994 in the U.S. and it would be a cool storyline if Brazil got back to being Brazil on U.S. soil.
20. Germany – The Germans are just good. Machine-like on the field and pragmatic off of it. Can’t think of any reason to dislike them, so they round out the top 20.
21. Tunisia – They’ve never been out of the group stage before, so it would be exciting to see them go on a run.
22. Senegal – They had a good run in 2002 and it would be cool to see them get out of a group that includes France.
23. DR Congo – Only their second World Cup ever. Last time they qualified, they were Zaire. They’re a good under-the-radar team to follow.
24. Czech Republic – There’s an entire group of European teams at the tournament who are somewhere in the middle. They aren’t contenders but they’re good squads and they can win some games. I think we’ll just clump them up in the middle here. Not the most exciting but not the most boring when we think about them lifting the trophy.
25. Bosnia and Herzegovina – see above
26. Switzerland – see above
27. Sweden – see above
28. Norway – see above
29. Austria – see above
30. Croatia – see above
31. Turkiye – Nothing against the Turks, but they’re in the United States’ group, so they’re the enemy for the time being.
32. Paraguay – Same thing as Turkiye. They’re gonna be a tough opener in Los Angeles.
33. Algeria – No strong opinions on Algeria, which used to feature legendary Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Rais M’Bolhi.
34. Ghana – The Ghanaians have been a pain in the ass against the U.S. at various World Cups, so we’re gonna stick ’em here.
35. Ecuador – Kind of neutral on Ecuador, honestly. They’re a solid CONMEBOL team and they’ve had some players in MLS before.
36. Saudi Arabia – Dunno. The upset of Argentina in 2022 was cool.
37. Qatar – I don’t have any strong feelings one way or another on Qatar.
38. Spain – They’re one of the favorites to win it, but they always are, so it makes Spain relatively uninteresting from a storyline perspective.
39. France – Same thing as Spain. Great team, I just don’t see anything compelling from a neutral perspective other than likely excellent play on the field.
40. Colombia – Their former coach screwed with the Philadelphia Union 10 years ago (the Carlos Valdes loan) so Colombia remains on the shitlist.
41. Belgium – Belgium hit a ceiling and they’re a little passé now. They can drop down the list.
42. Netherlands – Dunno. Feels like I’ve seen enough of the Dutch over the years.
43. Argentina – Just kind of bored with Argentina. Awesome team of course, and they’ve got Lionel Messi, etc, but we just watched them win it and it would be nice to see someone else win it this time.
44. Portugal – Same as Argentina. They’ve got some great players and will be a contender, but whatever. Ronaldo will probably score a penalty or two and whine to the refs.
45. Egypt – They complained about the pride stuff going on in Seattle, which is dumb. It’s not that big of a deal. Get over yourselves. When you host the World Cup you can set the cultural terms.
46. Uruguay – Head coach Marcelo Bielsa is kind of an ass. He always has something to say about the United States and U.S. Soccer. He was disrespectful when the U.S. beat Uruguay 5-1 in a friendly. He’s derided the quality of Major League Soccer despite guys like Diego Rossi and Mathias Laborda and Facundo Torres doing well here. He’s also overrated as a coach. Oh, he got Leeds into the Premier League? Woop dee fuckin’ doo! Bielsa is annoying.
47. Mexico – Our biggest rival. They can’t be allowed to win it all.
48. England – It would be the worst thing ever, and it’s not about the players; it’s about their fans and media. “It’s coming home!” They’re insufferable, the greatest footballing nation the world has ever known, greatest domestic league and all of that. We’re shite, the Yanks don’t know football, blah blah etc. The last thing we need is for them to win the World Cup on our turf. It would ruin the memory of the tournament now and forever.

Thoughts? If the United States can’t win it all, we want a March Madness Cinderella run. We want Haiti or Scotland or Cape Verde to reach the top. It’s probably gonna be the cream rising to the top like it always is, i.e. Spain, France, Argentina, etc, but there’s usually at least one surprise team that makes things fun. It was Morocco in 2022, Croatia in 2018, Costa Rica in 2014, and Uruguay in 2010. Good teams, no doubt, but those squads weren’t expected to go as far as they did. We’re hoping for a Cameroon 1990 type of thing here.