Back by popular demand! You know them, you love them: My 2026 FIFA World Cup Power Rankings, featuring the top 10 in this tournament as of Wednesday.<\/p>\n
And I’ve got a new No. 1.<\/p>\n
As a reminder: These are my<\/i> power rankings. You want some power rankings? Go get your own! These are mine, and they’re a work in progress throughout the tournament.<\/p>\n
I might get up and say, “Wow, this team is really turning me on!” Or, I might get up and say, “This team is not turning me on.”<\/p>\n
Netherlands, Croatia, Norway, Mexico and Brazil aren’t in my top 10, but things can change. But keep in mind, just as you go up, you can come down as the tournament goes along.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let’s dive into it:<\/p>\n
10.<\/p>\n
Photo by Wu Xiaoling\/Xinhua via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Odds to win the World Cup<\/strong>: +5500 (15th) Japan impressed with a 2-2 draw against Netherlands on Sunday in the teams’ Group F opener, and the Samurai Blue hope to carry their momentum into their Tunisia match. But it could be challenging if Kubo’s status is questionable after he was injured against the Dutch.<\/p>\n Group F opponents: <\/strong>Netherlands (2-2 D), Tunisia (June 20), Sweden (June 25)<\/p>\n 9.<\/p>\n (Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Odds to win the World Cup<\/strong>: +5500 (13th) I see the heat and environment in the United States favoring South American teams this summer. Colombia has shown it can compete with the best at these big tournaments, and it has a star in attack (winger Luis D\u00edaz) who could lead it to the promised land.<\/p>\n Group K opponents: <\/strong>Uzbekistan (June 17), DR Congo (June 23), Portugal (June 27)<\/p>\n 7.<\/p>\n (Photo by Ayman Aref\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Odds to win the World Cup<\/strong>: +1400 (7th) Even a mediocre German team is still German. While manager Julian Nagelsmann’s squad lacks truly elite players, it will still be a force to be reckoned with this summer.<\/p>\n Group E opponents: <\/strong>Cura\u00e7ao (7-1 W), Ivory Coast (June 20), Ecuador (June 25)<\/p>\n 5.<\/p>\n (Photo by Gualter Fatia\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Odds to win the World Cup<\/strong>: +700 (3rd) It pains me to say this, but this is the best England team in decades. With striker Harry Kane leading the attack and Bellingham and Declan Rice in midfield, this could be the year that England breaks through and wins a major international trophy.<\/p>\n Group L opponents: <\/strong>Croatia (June 17), Ghana (June 23), Panama (June 27)<\/p>\n 3.<\/p>\n (Photo by Xavi Bonilla\/DeFodi Images\/DeFodi via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Odds to win the World Cup<\/strong>: +400 (1st) The combination of talent, depth and arrogance in this square \u2026 it’s like a lethal French perfume. Mbapp\u00e9 was in preak form against Senegal, and manager Didier Deschamps’ team has everything needed to send him off with a win this summer in his final major tournament in charge.<\/p>\n Group I opponents: <\/strong>Senegal (3-1 W), Iraq (June 22), Norway (June 26)<\/p>\n 1.<\/p>\n (Photo by Omar Vega\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Back by popular demand! You know them, you love them: My 2026 FIFA World Cup Power Rankings, featuring the top 10 in this tournament as of Wednesday. And I’ve got a new No. 1. As a reminder: These are my power rankings. You want some power rankings? Go get your own! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Key player<\/strong>: Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)<\/p>\n
Key player<\/strong>: Midfielder James Rodr\u00edguez (No club)<\/p>\n
Key player<\/strong>: Midfielder Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)<\/p>\n
Key player<\/strong>: Midfielder Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)<\/p>\n
Key player<\/strong>: Striker Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 (Real Madrid)<\/p>\n