Which country has the best attack at the World Cup? | OneFootball

Mikhail Shklover, World Cup correspondent

The action in Group A gets underway tonight when Mexico take on South Africa at the Mexico City Stadium in the 2026 World Cup opener, less than two weeks after the final whistle in the Champions League final.

As is often the case at these tournaments, managers will have little time to implement significant tactical adjustments – making their attacking units all the more important in their bid for glory.

With the expanded format to 48 teams and additional matches, squad depth will play a bigger role than ever before and having game-changing stars on the bench could prove decisive.

Here are the five nations at this year’s World Cup who in FromTheSpot’s view, boast the tournament’s best attacks.

5. Brazil

There is no doubt about the quality in the Brazil national football team’s frontline, yet there are question marks over its ability to deliver on the biggest stage.

Carlo Ancelotti’s main hopes will lie with Vinícius Júnior and Raphinha, who are nailed-on starters this summer. Both have come close to being crowned the best in the world over the past two seasons, but have ultimately fallen short of the Ballon d’Or.

This season, the Barcelona captain has struggled with injuries, while Vinícius continues to be drawn into on- and off-field controversies. In addition, the two wide men have combined for just 19 international goals and will need to raise their level at the World Cup.

Joining them in attack will likely be Igor Thiago, a Premier League Golden Boot contender, although João Pedro will push for a starting role as he looks to build on his form from last year’s FIFA Club World Cup.

The Pentacampeões have not won a major tournament since 2019 and only just secured qualification for the World Cup, but with Ancelotti on the touchline, Seleção fans expect their attacking stars to fire on all cylinders.

With options like Gabriel Martinelli, Estêvão Willian, Matheus Cunha, Endrick and perhaps even Neymar also in the squad, Brazil boast a formidable attack in pursuit of a sixth star.

4. Germany

The in-form Serge Gnabry was prepared to bring experience into Julian Nagelsmann’s side, which is ready to improve on two consecutive World Cup disasters, but a nasty hamstring injury shattered his dream.

With teenage sensation also ruled out with mere days to go before the tournament gets underway, Germany’s attacking force has taken quite the hit.

But the good news is that Jamal Musiala is nearly back to his absolute best after a challenging season of recovery. The young sensation is ready to replace Gnabry not just at Bayern, but at Germany too.

While Karl is still a loss, Florian Wirtz and Kai Havertz have also found form towards the end of the season, with the latter slamming home the opening goal in the Champions League final, and will likely both make the starting eleven.

There is no nailed-on right wing option, but with Sané and Adeyemi both present, Nagelsmann will face a tough selection rather than an absence of choices.

Germany were arguably the second-best team at their home Euros and have since retained their attacking lineup, so there is no doubt they will bring a threatening frontline this summer.

3. Portugal

Portugal’s attacking potential does correlate with the form of Cristiano Ronaldo, but following last year’s fruitful Nations League campaign – which saw Ronaldo score in every playoff game and finish as Division A’s top goalscorer – it is not unreasonable to expect another strong international tournament from one of the best to ever play the game.

And if things don’t go to plan, Gonçalo Ramos will be ready to pounce from the bench, as he does every week for Ligue 1 and Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain.

Back to the starting lineup, Ronaldo will likely look for help from Pedro Neto and Bernardo Silva, though Francisco Conceição and João Félix will have something to say about this. While not Portugal’s strongest unit, Roberto Martínez has attacking options that most dream of.

With Nuno Mendes and Joao Cancelo supporting the wingers throughout the ninety minutes, and Ronaldo always lurking in the penalty area, the 2016 European champions will be incredibly tough to defend against.

2. England

England’s captain and all-time leading goalscorer will be seen as the strongest striker in the competition. Harry Kane has gone from strength to strength at Bayern and will now hunt a second World Cup Golden Boot, should injuries avoid him.

From there, Tuchel has a plethora of attackers to pick from. At the time of writing, Saka, Bellingham and Gordon are most likely to start the first game, but with all three struggling for fitness, Madueke, Palmer, Eze and others will be waiting for their chance.

What the Three Lions certainly have in abundance is pace and creativity, though these qualities weren’t always utilised by former manager Gareth Southgate on the route to the 2018 World Cup semi-final and two Euros finals.

However, after a faultless qualifying campaign that saw England score 22 goals in eight matches, many fans at home will hope for a similar story this summer. When it comes to squad depth, only England can match the 2018 world champions.

Honourable mentions

Many will be surprised by the absence of Spain on the list, but La Furia Roja have been significantly weakened in preparation for the planet’s ultimate tournament.

Lamine Yamal has been ruled out until the end of the season and may even miss the group stage at the World Cup, while Nico Williams has not been at the races ever since the continental victory two years ago.

Spain may have to rely on Mikel Oyarzabal, who, despite scoring in six consecutive finals for club and country, cannot quite match the star power of others on this list.

In the case of Argentina, Martínez and Álvarez are interchangeable but have never played alongside each other up until now, meaning Argentina will likely only have one forward partnering Messi.

Scaloni will have a strong and nearly unchanged side from the 2022 triumph, but when it comes to the attack in particular, other nations seem superior.

Teams like Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands and Turkey, among others, certainly boast big names in attack but fall well short of the other teams on this list when it comes to squad depth.

1. France

Although they’ve reached two consecutive World Cup finals, Les Bleus have been continuously criticised for their excessive pragmatism that failed to fully reflect the quality of their attacking talent in past major tournaments.

This summer they will have no excuse. The Ballon d’Or holder, the most exciting player in Europe’s top five leagues this season, and the man likely to break the World Cup’s all-time goalscoring record – remarkably, these are not the same player.

Those titles each belong to three different ones, all set to lead Didier Deschamps’ side in his final tournament in charge.

Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Kylian Mbappé have all been exceptional, and with Ousmane now converted into a central striker at PSG he is likely to open up space for his former teammate on the left wing.

And if that weren’t enough, Rayan Cherki, Bradley Barcola and Désiré Doué are ready to slot into the starting eleven too.

Hugo Ekitike would have been a perfect addition to this stacked attack after scoring 11 Premier League goals in his debut season, but following a season-ending Achilles rupture, France will instead turn to the experience of Marcus Thuram from the bench.

Which teams did we miss out? Let us know in the comments. For more detailed reports, reaction, and analysis of the World Cup as it happens, head to our website and favourite our on OneFootball.