For the first time in 30 years, the FIFA World Cup is coming to the United States. After an eventful international window, the road to the final is looking as muddy as ever.
This year’s World Cup will be a heavy lift for a lot of squads, mostly due to the amount of games and the USA’s recent reputation of extreme summer heat. This year’s tournament will feature a new 48-team format, a 16-squad increase and a 40-game increase for the entire tournament.
While this may be exciting for fans, players complained at the FIFA Club World Cup last summer about the extreme heat conditions; it was also in the USA. Teams looking to go far in this tournament will need depth.
There are 12 groups in the tournament, each group containing four teams. The winner and runner-up of each group will automatically advance to the Round of 32, and the eight best performing third-place teams will advance as well.
While some groups have more talented teams than others, here are the teams to watch:
United States
Following a rough period of unsatisfactory play from the United States, their performance in the World Cup was a step up from their disastrous 2018 World Cup Qualifying campaign.
Under new manager Mauricio Pochettino, the American squad has had its ups and downs. Although there are Americans playing high-level soccer in the best leagues in the world, they fall short for the international team.
It’s uncertain if the average American soccer fan will make it to this World Cup, where it would cost almost $6,000 to go to all of the USA group stage matches.
France
France has made the last two World Cup finals, and it’s likely they’ll do it again.
Led by a lethal attack consisting of Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid), Désiré Doué (PSG) and Hugo Ekitke (Liverpool), the depth in each position on the field is too good for any team to combat.
Spain
Fresh off winning the UEFA Euro 2024, Spain looks to continue their domination internationally. Although the team lost the 2025 UEFA Nations League on penalties to Portugal, Spain has the talent to go deep into the tournament; however, I have them losing to France in the semifinals.
Portugal
If Cristiano Ronaldo was ever going to win a World Cup, this is his year.
Portugal’s impenetrable backline of Nuno Mendes (PSG), Ruben Dias (Manchester City) Renato Veiga (Villareal) and Diogo Dalot (Manchester United) will be hard to score on. They usually play with a 4-2-3-1 formation, so their strong midfield group will have to play at the top of their game, due to their midfield reliant playstyle.
Portugal has what it takes to make it to their first-ever final, but it’s uncertain if they can beat France.
Argentina
Like fellow CONMEBOL member Brazil, Argentina is in a large transitional period. Following their historic 2022 World Cup win, Argentina will have a tall task this time around. Their team consists of many high-performing talents all across Europe, including Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) and Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea).
While soccer legend Leo Messi still starts for Argentina, it is no longer “his” team. It will be hard for Argentina to overcome Fernandez’s recent club struggles at Chelsea and central defensive midfielder Alexis Macallister’s lack of quality performances at Liverpool.
England
England is a historic soccer country but has struggled to find success outside their fourth-place finish in 2018 and their only World Cup win in 1966.
While England has a roster full of individual talent, striker Harry Kane is their only player who can score consistently for club and country.
At the World Cup, there are numerous teams who are candidates to win it all. To do so, they’ll need to be well-adjusted to the heat. As of now, I think France has the best chance to win it all.
