Ranking the 6 World Cup favourites by how they’ve played so far: Portugal 6th, England 5th… | OneFootball

We’ve arrived at the last 16 of the 2o26 World Cup and there have already been some shocks, with Germany and the Netherlands among the big names going home early.

But all of the pre-tournament favourites – Portugal, England, Argentina, Spain, France and Brazil – remain in the tournament and will be hoping to make history over the coming weeks.

The opening four matches have provided enough evidence to start separating the genuine contenders from the rest. Some of the big guns have lived up to the hype and laid down an early marker, while others have shown vulnerabilities that could prove costly.

We’ve ranked and graded the six biggest World Cup favourites based on how they’ve played up to the Round of 16.

6. Portugal – D

The only one of the six that failed to top their group, and they’ve been given an immensely difficult route as a result of failing to beat DR Congo and Colombia.

Croatia wasn’t easy. Spain will be tougher. There’s also France or Morocco, as well as the hosts USA, on their side of the bracket before they can even start thinking about the final.

Portugal were uninspiring in the group and didn’t deserve any better. Playing in service of a 41-year-old who looks as though he’s playing walking football does an immense disservice to arguably the most talented squad they’ve ever sent to a major tournament, including three key cogs from the back-to-back reigning European champions and Premier League Player of the Year.

Still, like England and Brazil, they showed mettle to come from behind and win 2-1 at the first knockout hurdle.

5. England – C-

Elton John’s ‘I’m Still Standing’ might’ve been a more apt soundtrack to England’s campaign so far than ‘Wonderwall’.

Save for half an hour against Croatia, it’s rarely been pretty. But they remain in the mix.

The defence has looked shaky, the wingers have struggled, and it’s been a slog breaking down teams that defend deep. Key man Declan Rice already doesn’t look in great nick, and the next game (or two) being in punishing conditions isn’t ideal.

But in Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, they boast two £100million marquee names at massive European clubs who are delivering moments worthy of their status.

They have better players than Mexico, and ought to back themselves to overpower Brazil’s unconvincing midfield or Norway’s relatively uneven squad. Every chance they grow into the tournament to make it as far as the final four. With momentum behind them at that point – who knows?

4. Brazil – C

The Selecao looked downright shambolic at times when they went behind against Morocco and Japan. Casemiro, in particular, offered a reminder of his “leave the football before the football leaves you” Manchester United nadir as he painfully struggled to keep up with the intensity of two teams that simply outplayed them for a concerning chunk of time.

And yet, here are they are: in the last sixteen, with Casemiro ending up with a man-of-the-match trophy last time out. They battled to get a draw against Morocco, topping the group at their expense. They eliminated Japan. Two very good teams, and two tough tests passed, which is more than you can say about the vast majority of the opposition faced by the other teams in this list.

The manner of Brazil’s results recalls Real Madrid under Carlo Ancelotti. They find a way. Vinicius Junior, in particular, looks like the absolute superstar he was before Kylian Mbappe arrived to step on his toes.

Brazil haven’t beaten European opposition in a World Cup knockout game since the 2002 final. They’ve fallen at the first European hurdle in each of the last five World Cups: France, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Croatia.

Erling Haaland’s Norway up next. Gulp. We’re about to find out if they really are a different beast under Don Carlo.

3. Argentina – C

We’d have given Argentina an A when they were one-nil up against Cape Verde, but we have to revise our marking considerably after they were the only team of these six to be pushed to extra time in the Round of 32.

We ought to remember the reigning champions coasted through the group stage, barely needing to get out of second gear. It looked like easy mode, and – contrary to our doubts – they looked just as good as the side that lifted the trophy in Qatar last time out, 39-year-old Lionel Messi included.

Now we’ve seen them deal with adversity, as they did with setbacks and scares against Australia and Netherlands in the knockouts last time out, and ultimately make it through. But they looked supremely rattled as Cape Verde came from behind twice, producing one of the all-time great underdog performances to push Lionel Scaloni’s men hard.

We’ll have to see whether this game was an aberration or a sign Argentina can be got at. They ought to beat Egypt, but they’ll surely have to raise their game if they’re to make it past Colombia or Switzerland in the quarters. Let alone whatever awaits after that.

2. Spain – B+

No World Cup winner since Brazil in 2002 has won all three group games.

Spain will be hoping that their 0-0 hiccup in their opener against Cape Verde is a good omen, in contrast to Argentina and France, for them growing into the tournament and peaking at the right time.

The 3-0 win over Austria was certainly evidence of that. Total control. Utter domination. Lamine Yamal is looking sharper and Mikel Oryazabal is now up to four goals. You can see why it’s so long since their last competitive defeat.

They don’t look quite as dynamic and exciting as the side that won Euro 2024, with Nico Williams a big miss, but they’re yet to concede a goal and their underlying stats suggest they’ve got by far the best defence at the tournament, notching just 0.9xG against across the four games so far.

La Roja kept a clean sheet in every single knockout match at the 2010 World Cup and it looks as though they might be gearing up for something similar. Their first knockout win since the final in South Africa shows they’ll take some stopping this year.

1. France – A+

When people start wheeling out comparisons to Brazil’s epochal 1970 team, you must be doing something right.

We’ll hang fire on the “best World Cup team of all time” shouts until Les Bleus turn it on against someone that’s not Norway B or Graham Potter’s snuck-in-through-the-backdoor Sweden. But you can only beat who’s in front of you, as the cliche goes, and they’ve passed every test so far with impeccable style.

This France team are making us question everything we thought we knew about Didier Deschamps and football in general. PSG before Luis Enrique and multiple failed Galacticos projects have taught us that you can’t just cram a team full of attacking superstars and expect it to cohere.

Except… Apparently you can? This is a forward line that features Real Madrid’s biggest star, the current Ballon d’Or holder and the greatest creative force in European football, with immensely talented players like Rayan Cherki and Desire Doue serving in back-up roles.

That could’ve been an almighty mess, like a 13-year-old let loose on Football Manager, but somehow this team looks the sum of their illustrious parts – and then some.

If France come unstuck somewhere, they’re at least destined to go down alongside the Netherlands in 1974 and Brazil in 1978 as a side that captured hearts and minds. At this stage, though, they look every inch a team capable of turning admiration into immortality.