Ranking the World Cup’s 20 maddest moments
Headbutts, spitting, diving, biting, crying, cheating and thieving all feature in the wild history of football's biggest tournament
World Cup Power Rankings: New No. 1 Emerges After Day Five
When you’ve just drawn 0-0 against a country ranked 64th in the world and with a population of around 500,000, you can no longer be considered favorites to win the World Cup.
Spain will surely improve, but they deservedly drop down Tuesday’s rankings. But where do Cape Verde land after shocking the world? And what about Belgium and Egypt after their opening draw?
1. France
FIFA ranking: 3
⬆️ 1 (arrow depicts movement from our previous ranking)
We have a new No. 1! We will find out later on Tuesday, when France face Senegal, whether they are as good as we think they ought to be.
Think of it this way: at least one of Kylian Mbappe, Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Rayan Cherki won’t be in their first-choice team. The depth of their attacking options is incredible, and while other elements of their team don’t look quite as strong, they have so many options going forward that they will be difficult to stop. A warm-up defeat by the Ivory Coast was a slight concern but, we’ll say again, just look at that forward line. They move up to top spot owing to Spain only mustering a draw against Cape Verde.
2. Argentina
FIFA ranking: 1
⬆️ 1
The reigning champions from Qatar in 2022, who also won back-to-back Copa America titles in 2021 and 2024, have the same manager in Lionel Scaloni and the same GOAT in Lionel Messi, albeit the latter is getting on a bit and will turn 39 during the tournament. Argentina have the quality and the experience to retain their crown, but do they have the desire? They kick off their campaign later on day six, against Algeria.
Lionel Messi lifts the Copa America trophy in 2024 (Miguel Rodriguez/Anadolu via Getty Images)
What You Should Read Next
3. England
FIFA ranking: 4
⬆️ 1
Having the luxury of being able to leave the likes of Phil Foden and Cole Palmer out of his squad underlines just how much talent Thomas Tuchel has at his disposal, while the form of strikers Harry Kane (successive hat-tricks to end the season) and Ollie Watkins (six goals in five club games) also bodes well. As ever with England, their success or otherwise will be defined by whether they can carry their individual club form onto the international stage. They looked impressive in their final tournament warm-up game, a 3-0 win against Costa Rica.
Harry Kane and England have been beaten finalists at the past two European Championships (Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images)
4. Germany
FIFA ranking: 10
⬆️ 1
For a nation like Germany, it’s either win the World Cup or nothing, so in terms of their prospects of achieving their goal in 2026, we didn’t glean much from a 7-1 win over minnows Curacao. However, we were offered evidence that Germany’s imaginative attack will be one of the best to watch at the tournament, but their defending might leave much to be desired.
5. Spain
FIFA ranking: 2
⬇️ 4
As Spain proved in 2010 when losing their opening game but going on to win the tournament (see also Argentina in 2022), it’s not how you start but how you finish. Still, a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde was a humiliating and hugely disappointing result for the Euro 2024 champions. Unimaginative, uninspiring, predictable and they certainly didn’t look like World Cup winners in the making. Are they just going to rely on Lamine Yamal? There are worse strategies, but perhaps the unfit teenager can’t do it all himself. Our pre-tournament favorites have work to do.
6. Brazil
FIFA ranking: 6
➡️
Brazil didn’t set the world alight in their opening match.
Carlo Ancelotti made two changes at half-time, an indication they aren’t fine-tuned as yet. Those changes came at full-back and in midfield, two areas of concern for this Brazil team that were not dispelled by the 1-1 draw against Morocco.
They can still go on to top Group C, with games against Haiti and Scotland to follow. A silver lining was Vinicius Jr’s emphatic finish, an encouraging start to the tournament for one of their key players.
7. Netherlands
FIFA ranking: 8
➡️
A decent showing against Japan which showcased their physicality, strength from attacking set pieces and occasional brilliance from forward players, but also highlighted weaknesses in the depth of their squad (their levels noticeably dropped after five substitutions were made). Ronald Koeman’s decision to throw on an extra defender for the last 10 minutes didn’t pay off when they succumbed to a late equalizer.
8. Portugal
FIFA ranking: 5
➡️
As ever, the conversation around Portugal will be focused on you know who: Cristiano Ronaldo should in theory be suspended for the first two games of the tournament, but his magical reprieve means he will almost certainly start. Will he finally make a mark on a World Cup, having never before scored a knockout goal at one? Having Joao Neves, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva probably gives Portugal the best midfield in the tournament.
Could Cristiano Ronaldo win the World Cup, a trophy that has eluded him, at 41? (Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
9. Morocco
FIFA ranking: 7
➡️
Morocco’s draw with Brazil proved they remain one of football’s heavyweights after their semi-final run at Qatar 2022. They looked comfortable going toe-to-toe with the World Cup’s most successful nation.
The team has new talent since their historic run four years ago. Eighteen-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi, who committed to Morocco after appearing for the French under-21s, had a standout game in midfield. Bouaddi demanded the ball and controlled the tempo.
10. Colombia
FIFA ranking: 14
➡️
The 2024 Copa America finalists finished third in South American qualifying but go to the tournament with high hopes, led by talisman James Rodriguez in what will probably be his last World Cup. Ahead of him, Jhon Arias and Richard Rios are key players but in Luis Diaz, one-third of the most prolific attack in Europe at Bayern Munich, Colombia possess someone who could be one of the tournament’s standout players. They won’t be dull.
11. Croatia
FIFA ranking: 11
➡️
If this ranking was being compiled a month or so ago, Croatia might have slipped down a few places due to injury concerns around a couple of key players. But both Luka Modric and Josko Gvardiol appear to be fit and ready to go, so it’s difficult to ignore their recent tournament pedigree, with the experienced core of their team supplemented by a couple of very promising youngsters.
12. Mexico
FIFA ranking: 13
⬆️ 1
An accomplished, drama-free opening victory against South Africa was pretty much everything Mexico hoped it would be. The excellent Julian Quinones’ early goal settled any nerves and then came the emotive, heart-rending second from talisman Raul Jimenez in the second half. With potentially more to come from Edson Alvarez (left out as he builds up his fitness) and wonderkid Gilberto Mora, Mexico may feel the benefit of home advantage more than anyone, what with that unbelievably passionate Azteca crowd.
13. South Korea
FIFA ranking: 22
⬆️ 1
Well, they certainly had a wobble against the Czech Republic, going 1-0 down in the second half and relying on goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu to make a couple of excellent saves, but South Korea’s comeback victory on the opening day gives them one foot in the knockout stages already. They were good value for the win and if Son Heung-min had his shooting boots on, it could have been a straightforward evening.
14. Uruguay
FIFA ranking: 16
⬇️ 2
A real mixed bag against Saudi Arabia in their opening game; dreadful in the first half when they played within themselves and barely offered a threat with Darwin Nunez ineffective (and subbed off at half-time), but much better after the break and deserved their late equalizer from Maxi Araujo, amassing 27 shots. With only six goals in their past eight matches, goalscoring remains a problem.