Power Ranking The Top 9 Teams In The World Cup After The First Round Of Matches

The first round of group stage games at the 2026 World Cup is in the books, meaning every team in the tournament has played at least once. And while one game isn’t enough to make or break a team’s World Cup journey, it’s enough to give us an idea of where they may be headed.

Here are the teams that are looking like the biggest threat to make a deep run in the tournament.

Honorable mention: United States
Result of first group stage match: 4-1 win over Paraguay

Paraguay are far from the scrubs the USMNT made them out to be in the first World Cup group stage match.

They beat both Brazil and Argentina in qualifying in 2024, and Uruguay in 2025, while conceding just one goal in those three games. Only Ecuador conceded less than Paraguay in South American qualifying, who gave up just 10 goals in 18 games.

Though important not to get swept up in the excitement of the USMNT after just one game, two things are undeniable: the USMNT played better than they ever had under Mauricio Pochettino, and the home-field advantage for World Cup host nations is a very real thing.

With their second match against Australia coming on Friday, the United States find themselves in a position where they could book their ticket into the knockout rounds with a win, and virtually guarantee it with a draw.

Questions will remain about the USMNT until they face off against European opposition, though, as their last win over a European opponent was back in December 2021 — a 1-0 friendly win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. They’ve also lost five straight matches against European opposition.

The USMNT showed enough that they’re worth getting excited about. Truly believing in them to pull off something special is a different story entirely.

Honorable mention: Sweden
Result of first group stage match: 5-1 win over Tunisia

There are a handful of unshakeable truths when it comes to international soccer. One of them is that it’s a lower scoring game compared to the club level, meaning scoring chances that were already a premium in the sport are now even more valuable. So if you’re going to run, you need to have a striker you can count on to bag goals. Sweden have two of them.

Although Viktor Gyokeres was widely ridiculed on social media following his move to Arsenal last summer, he finished his debut campaign with 14 Premier League goals and five Champions League goals, and scored in Sweden’s opening match.

Then there’s Alexander Isak, who, just a year ago, was widely touted as one of the best strikers in the world. Isak had a disappointing and injury-riddled debut campaign with Liverpool this year but looked as sharp as ever in Sweden’s 5-1 win over Tunisia, bagging two assists and a goal in the process.

In a tournament known for its tight games, Sweden have a strike partnership that could decide matches.

Honorable mention: Norway
Result of first group stage match: 4-1 win over Iraq

Norway’s case is similar to Swedens — virtually a “mid-table” European team that boasts game-changing goalscoring talent. But while Sweden’s is a two-headed monster, Norway’s is just one: Erling Haaland.

Not only is Haaland widely considered to be one of the world’s best strikers, but he’s also something far more effective: he’s a unique threat in the sport. There are plenty of soccer players with goal scoring prowess, but virtually none of them boast the physical gifts that Haaland does. And with that uniqueness, Haaland posseses something that few other players in the world do, and that’s the ability to influence the outcome of a match all by himself.

These are the top nine teams at the 2026 World Cup after the first round of group stage matches

9. Colombia
Result of first group stage match: 3-1 win over Uzbekistan

Colombia, as usual, are one of the more intriguing teams in the tournament, as they’re a side with genuine star power and the kind of attacking depth that can trouble any defense in the world. They’ve also shown they can compete with the best teams in the world, as they gave Argentina all they could handle in the 2024 Copa America final, which ended in a 1-0 win for Argentina after extra time.

Luis Díaz, coming off a stellar debut season with Bayern Munich, got on the scoresheet against Uzbekistan and looks sharp heading into the tournament, while Daniel Muñoz and late substitute Jaminton Campaz — who scored in stoppage time — gave Colombia a solid 3-1 victory to open their Group K campaign.

8. Portugal
Result of first group stage match: 1-1 draw against D.R. Congo

Portugal have a problem. Winning World Cup matches with 11 players is difficult enough in and of itself. Winning with ten players is even harder. And that’s where Portugal currently find themselves with 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo at striker.

Ronaldo has now gone 10 consecutive major tournament games without scoring for Portugal, having failed to net at the 2022 World Cup, the 2024 Euros, and now the first game of the 2026 tournament. In their 1-1 draw against DR Congo, he barely touched the ball yet played the full 90 minutes.

Perhaps most worrying of all for Portugal fans is that head coach Roberto Martinez has not shown any willingness to make a change when it comes to Ronaldo’s role in the team and looks set to continue starting him.

7. Brazil
Result of first group stage match: 1-1 draw against Morocco

Brazil’s performance was a whole bunch of “meh,” which has largely been their M.O. on the international stage since finishing four at the 2014 World Cup. Brazil entered the tournament with questions about the quality of their roster — aging midfield, anonymous fullbacks, no world class striker — that have only been amplified following their performance against Morocco.

6. Germany
Result of first group stage match: 7-1 win over Curaçao

Although World Cup debutants Curaçao were clearly overmatched, scoring seven goals in a World Cup game is something worth noticing all the same, and actually continues a recent trend of high-octane offense from the Germans.

They put four past Finland in a late May friendly, four against Switzerland in March and six against Slovakia in their final WC qualifier last November.

If striker Kai Havertz can remain clinical, the Germans have two World Class forwards behind him in Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala that can unlock any defense in the world, plus backline experience thanks to the likes of Joshua Kimmich and Manuel Neuer.

5. Spain
Result of first group stage match: 0-0 draw against Cape Verde

Like their neighbors Portugal, Spain’s opening match tie against opposition that was considered to be far inferior is not the disaster that it’s made out to be. But it also wasn’t a good sign.

Getting off to a slow start at an international tournament is far from out of the ordinary. But it was the nature of Spain’s 0-0 draw that sparked concerns, particularly when it comes to the question of who will score their goals.

Winger Ferran Torres put up a dreadful and widely-panned performance, striker Mikel Oyarzabal became the first player on record since 1966 to go the first 30 minutes of a World Cup match without a single touch, and wunderkind Lamine Yamal still isn’t fit enough to play a full 90 minutes.

As defending European champions and the betting favorites entering the tournament, though, the benefit of the doubt is what finds them slotted in at #5 and not lower. If they look similarly uninspiring against a sneakily difficult Saudi Arabia side, then it’ll truly be panic stations for the Spanish.

4. Netherlands
Result of first group stage match: 2-2 draw against Japan

The Dutch are the greatest soccer nation to have never won a World Cup. And although they didn’t enter the tournament as one of the betting favorites, they have all the tools to pull it off.

While their opening match was draw, the context is important, as their opponents Japan are a far better side than the casual soccer fan realizes. With their 2-2 tie against the Netherlands, Japan extended their unbeaten streak against European opponents to nine, with wins over Spain, Germany, Turkiye, Scotland, and England in that time.

The Dutch have as solid of a defense and midfield as any of the top dogs in the tournament. The questions were focused on their attack. But Crysencio Summerville dazzled on the wing, Donyell Malen is coming off an in-form season for Roma, and Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo, although much maligned recently, proved in 2022 that he can score goals at the World Cup.

3. England
Result of first group stage match: 4-2 win over Croatia

Similar to the USMNT, the Three Lions delivered a performance that their fans had been wanting to see throughout the qualifying matches.

While manager Thomas Tuchel’s team selection and tactics were question in the lead up to the World Cup, the proof was in the pudding in their opening group stage match as they beat a solid Croatia side — runners-up in 2018, third place in 2022 — and put four goals past them in the process.

England have been knocking at the door in recent major tournaments — particularly when they reached the finals of the 2020 and 2024 Euros — and have the tools required to get over the line, particularly if Harry Kane can continue has form as perhaps the world’s most effective goal scorer.

2. Argentina
Result of first group stage match: 3-0 win over Algeria

Lionel Messi will turn 39 years old this week. Luckily that means nothing for Argentina, as the legendary forward remains timeless. Argentina are the defending World Cup champions, play as a complete unit and not a concoction of random parts, and still have the best player in the world in Messi who’s not only as lethal as ever but is also playing with a weight off his shoulders now that he has a World Cup title already under his belt.

1. France
Result of first group stage match: 3-1 win over Senegal

Argentina may have put forth a more complete and dazzling performance in their 3-0 win over Algeria. But France’s win over Senegal was more of a mile-marker, as the African nation — touted as a dark horse in the tournament — is ranked #16 in the world by FIFA compared to Algeria at #31.

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