{"id":786208,"date":"2026-07-08T04:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T04:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/786208\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T04:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T04:27:13","slug":"ranking-all-eight-teams-left-in-the-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/786208\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranking All Eight Teams Left in the 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Less than two weeks away from the 2026 World Cup final, only the cream of the crop remains. <\/p>\n

40 nations have already passed through the exit door, including all three tournament co-hosts, and it took no shortage of sobbing, bitter words and pure miracles to whittle down to the final eight.<\/p>\n

Soccer\u2019s showpiece event will continue to be headlined by the sport\u2019s greatest stars, including Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi, France\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, England\u2019s Harry Kane and Spain\u2019s Lamine Yamal, and there is certainly more drama waiting in the wings.<\/p>\n

Here, Sports Illustrated ranks the nations still standing.<\/p>\n

Ranking CriteriaThe goal: The first point of business is establishing which teams will likely make the deepest run this summer.Quality: The teams that have put together the most impressive performances will naturally climb highest.Fixtures: It would be a derelicition of duty to ignore the run to the final facing each side.8. Switzerland\"switzerland<\/p>\n

Switzerland defeated Colombia on penalty kicks. | Maja Hitij\/FIFA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Switzerland has been a side historically marred by mediocrity on soccer\u2019s grandest stage, yet intent on rewriting that narrative this summer. After a scoreless draw through extra time, the Swiss defeated South American powerhouse Colombia in a penalty shootout to earn a place in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1954. <\/p>\n

Argentina\u2014principally Messi\u2014will prove much harder to keep off the scoreboard, though.<\/p>\n

7. Belgium\"Romelu<\/p>\n

Romelu Lukaku\u2019s goal in stoppage time sealed the victory for Belgium. | Kohjiro Kinno\/Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n

The Red Devils may have pounded the U.S. men\u2019s national team to a pulp<\/a>, but that doesn\u2019t entirely make up for the lackluster performance they had put together en route to that affair.<\/p>\n

Floundering in draws with Egypt and Iran in the group stage before relying on a pure miracle to get past Senegal in the round of 32, Belgium is nothing if not inconsistent. It will not like its chances against a Spanish powerhouse come Friday.<\/p>\n

6. Norway\"Erling<\/p>\n

Erling Haaland (right) bagged a brace to send Norway to the quarterfinals. | Erick W. Rasco\/Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n

Reaching the quarterfinals after a 28-year tournament absence<\/a> is already an incredible feat. Norway will feel content to take its final bow at any point now, especially considering star striker Erling Haaland thought his side only had a \u201cvery small\u201d chance of beating five-time world champion Brazil in the round of 16.<\/p>\n

Despite his overt pessimism, it was Haaland himself who secured passage to the last eight. Success against England entirely depends on how long Haaland\u2019s tournament heroics can last.<\/a> He is already at seven goals this summer and, fortunately for the Vikings, isn\u2019t showing any sign of slowing down.<\/p>\n

5. Morocco\"Achraf<\/p>\n

Morocco handled business in Houston. | Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Atlas Lions took care of business in the round of 16, thumping Canada, and should feel confident heading into the last eight, especially considering their World Cup history. They will be seeking a second-consecutive place in the tournament semifinals, but must first battle France, the same team that ended their dreams of making a historic World Cup final appearance in 2022 Qatar.<\/p>\n

Anything less than perfection against a purring French side will spell defeat for Morocco.<\/p>\n

WIN FIFA WORLD CUP 2026\u2122 FINAL TICKETS & OTHER PRIZES\"World<\/p>\n

Compete against the world. | Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n

<\/a>4. Argentina\"Lionel<\/p>\n

Lionel Messi hasn\u2019t taken off his superhero cape once this summer. | Patrick Smith\/FIFA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

There is no skin left on Argentina\u2019s teeth. La Albiceleste, who had narrowly routed Cabo Verde in the round of 32, once again experienced a miracle in the round of 16. With 12 minutes left, the Argentinians held just a 0.6% chance of winning the match<\/a>; however, they then scored three unanswered goals to walk away with victory at the final whistle.<\/p>\n

Per usual, Messi played the hero. He assisted the title-holder\u2019s first goal to surge momentum and then scored the equalizer. The team celebrated by tossing its 39-year-old talisman repeatedly into the air.<\/p>\n

When will this team\u2019s luck run out? Perhaps never, if Messi keeps performing this way.<\/p>\n

3. England\"England<\/p>\n

England\u2019s triumph won\u2019t be forgotten in a hurry. | Julian Finney\/FIFA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

England survived the thunderous Estadio Azteca, something very few teams can say, and it will give them confidence heading into the quarterfinal against Norway. <\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the Three Lions will have their hands full. Center backs Ezri Konsa and Marc Gu\u00e9hi struggled to contain Mexico\u2019s Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez and Juli\u00e1n Qui\u00f1ones<\/a> all night. One can only imagine the havoc Haaland will wreak. <\/p>\n

2. Spain\"Mikel<\/p>\n

Spain needed a late winner to beat Portugal. | Juan Luis Diaz\/Quality Sport Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Spain dashed Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s World Cup dreams<\/a> with a late victory over Portugal and will like its chances of doing the same to Belgium.<\/p>\n

La Roja is firing on all cylinders and has yet to concede a goal in North America this summer, but it will need a greater impact from its young X-factor Yamal<\/a> to see the tournament through.<\/p>\n

1. France\"Kylian<\/p>\n

Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 has now scored seven goals at the 2026 World Cup. | Erick W. Rasco\/Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n

There appears to be nothing strong enough to blow this French ship off course, destined to reach its third-consecutive World Cup final appearance. <\/p>\n

Morocco should prove to be yet another surmountable storm.<\/p>\n

READ THE LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FC\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Less than two weeks away from the 2026 World Cup final, only the cream of the crop remains.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-786208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}