📈 World Cup Power Rankings: France unstoppable, England unconvincing | OneFootball

The FIFA World Cup 2026 has been whittled down to 16 teams after a dramatic and entertaining round of 32 in North America. 

We’ve ranked all of the remaining nations ahead of the next batch of games based on rolling performance and results.

World Cup Power Rankings:

16. Paraguay 🆕

Paraguay’s reward for completing the shock of the round of 32 by beating four-time champions Germany is a meeting with France. La Albirroja are easily the weakest team remaining in the competition and will be lucky to avoid a hammering at the hands of Didier Deschamps’ men.

15. Canada 🆕

Realistically, Canada are probably on par with Paraguay, maybe even a little worse, but the difference is they have Alphonso Davies. The Bayern Munich full-back made a huge impact when he came off the bench against South Africa, but is he fit enough to play significant minutes against Morocco? If the answer is no, their hopes of advancing fall to zero.

14. Egypt 🆕

This Egypt team continue the long tradition of being the most boring team to watch in international football. Perhaps they can reach the quarter-finals by lulling Argentina to sleep.

13. Belgium 🆕

Well, this was unexpected. Belgium’s comeback from two goals down against Senegal was truly incredible, but Rudi Garcia’s side benefited from a couple of poor goalkeeping errors. Their aging squad is lucky to still be alive in the competition, but probably not for much longer.

12. Switzerland 🆕

Switzerland have come a long way from that turgid opening draw with Qatar in which they squandered a heap of opportunities before conceding a late equaliser. Inspired by the youthful exuberance of Johan Manzambi, they have now won three games on the trot, including their first World Cup knockout win in 88 years.

11. England ⬇️ (9)

On paper, England have one of the best squads at the World Cup. In practice, they don’t play like it. After failing to beat Ghana and struggling to victory over Panama, they required the individual brilliance of Harry Kane to get them over the line against DR Congo.

It was the first time the Three Lions have come from behind to win a World Cup match since 1966. Now they head into the cauldron that is the Azteca to face co-hosts Mexico at altitude with storms overhead.

Read – The only players to score 5+ goals at two World Cups

10. Portugal 🆕

Portugal have played their way into this tournament. They played poorly against Congo before stomping on Uzbekistan, and were probably a tad fortunate to come away with a point against Colombia.

After a strong first-half against Croatia, they allowed their opponents back into the game after the break. But they burst back into life to secure a dramatic late comeback win.

9. Mexico ⬆️ (11)

Four games, four wins, no goals conceded. Mexico are yet to face a stern test at the World Cup, but they have done a professional job in each of their matches. They will feel they have it in them to pull off a shock win over England and reach the quarter-finals for the first time in 40 years.

8. United States ⬆️ (10)

This might be the best USA team we have ever seen at a major tournament. Like Mexico, we have yet to see face a major challenge, but Mauricio Pochettino has them playing like one of the top ten sides in the world.

Folarin Balogun’s suspension is a massive blow after scoring three goals this summer, but they will be confident enough in their ability to create chances against Belgium that his absence hopefully won’t matter.

Read – The players to score and be red carded in a World Cup knockout match

7. Colombia ⬆️ (14)

Colombia are all gas, no brakes. They play a fun brand of football that puts the opposition under real pressure. The one concern you would have about them is the lack of a clinical edge. After beating Uzbekistan 3-1 in the opening week, they have found the net just twice in the following three games.

If this team had a lethal striker, there’s no telling how far they could go.

6. Norway ⬇️ (4)

Despite winning a knockout match at a World Cup for the first time ever, Norway drop a couple of places in our rankings. That is partly due to the performances of other nations, but it’s also down to the fact that their defence is not convincing.

Their star power in attack means they can hurt any team on any given day, but their liabilities at the back mean they might have to come out on top of a straight shootout with the biggest teams.

5. Morocco ⬆️ (11)

In retrospect, Morocco were ranked far too low last week. Netherlands will be kicking themselves because they had victory in sight, but the Moroccans were worthy of the win via penalty shootout. Substitute Chemsdine Talbi’s cross for Issa Diop’s equaliser was absolutely perfect and he might have played his way into the starting lineup against Canada.

Read – World Cup 2026 Round of 16 fixtures, kick off times and TV channels

4. Brazil ⬆️ (7)

Brazil are gradually coming together with every passing game as Carlo Ancelotti figures out how best to configure his lineup. They came through a big test against Japan and will need to go up another level against Norway.

Vinicius Junior remains the focal point of everything they do in attack and their full-back situation is a huge concern. While I’m confident in saying they are one of the five best teams at the World Cup, I am unsure they have what it takes to reach the final.

3. Argentina ⬇️ (2)

What are we. meant to make of Argentina after just squeaking past Cape Verde in the round of 32? Firstly, it has to be recognised that the Blues Sharks were brilliant against the reigning champions, as they have been throughout the tournament.

Secondly, Argentina seemingly did not take their opponents seriously, and that complacency led to them needing extra-time to advance to the next round. Their lack of width is startling and will be a real problem when they face better teams.

2. Spain ⬆️ (3)

Spain have finally arrived. Following a sleepy group stage from which they progressed by doing the bare minimum, they put in a strong showing against Austria to win 3-0 in Los Angeles.

La Roja now face a tricky tests against Portugal and, if they both get through, co-hosts USA, but I do believe it will be Luis de la Fuente’s side who face France in the semi-finals.

1. France ↔️

Speaking of, France put in arguably the most complete performance we have seen this summer, beating Sweden 3-0 in New Jersey. Their forward line is frankly terrifying. Kylian Mbappe is the star of the show, but he is surrounded by a cadre of superstars. Michael Olise is possibly the best footballer on the planet right now, too.

Who can stop them? No one. Not a single team in the world can stem the blue tide.

Read – It took Cristiano Ronaldo 20 years to score this World Cup goal

See Also – Every record broken in the 2026 World Cup group stage

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