Thursday, October 1, 2026
73 ° Clear
73 ° Clear
With the World Cup about to kick off in North America, the hype is reaching an all-time high. Every four years, we see the world's best play in this tournament, but this time around, things will look a little different. For the first time in 2026, the World Cup will have 48 nations giving their all to win the title as World Champions.
With so many countries competing, it can be difficult to know who's legit. Who are the favorites, who can contend for the title of best in the world? At any tournament, there are teams that come out of nowhere. Who could run as a dark horse at the 2026 World Cup, and who are the scrappy underdog stories to watch for? On the flip side, who will be the worst four teams, and be the only nations not to get out of the group stage?
That's a lot of questions, but fear not — the team at Philly Sports Network has come together to help clarify things by placing all 48 teams into a tiered system with categories: Favorites, Contenders, Dark Horses, Underdogs, and Bottom Dwellers.
Only eight nations have ever won a World Cup in the 22 tournaments before this one: Brazil (5), Germany (4), Italy (4), Argentina (3), France (2), Uruguay (2), England (1), and Spain (1). With that being said, three of the four favorites to win the 2026 World Cup have won one before.
Spain has one of the most well-rounded teams in the tournament. France could submit two teams at the World Cup and have both make far runs in the knockout round. England has been so close yet so far away; could it truly be coming home in 2026? Portugal is the only team that hasn't won a World Cup in this tier; they have superstars at every position and could just give Cristiano Ronaldo his swan-song World Title.
There are other nations that have a legitimate shot at winning the World Cup that fall just short of being considered favorites. They include nations with real firepower and defensive organization, but one thing to remember is that no nation has ever won a World Cup with a manager who is not from the country they coach. That is good news to some of the countries in this tier.
Four of the six contenders (Argentina, Germany, the Netherlands, and Morocco) are all coached by fellow countrymen. This could give them a leg up on some of the other contenders or dark horses ready to rise up the ranks. Brazil and Colombia have incredibly talented sides and will look to make history as the first nation to win a World Cup with a foreign manager. Any of these six sides has the star power and grit to make deep tournament runs, but can they actually win? We'll have to wait and see.
In any World Cup, there is always talk about who the dark horses are. With an expanded 2026 World Cup, there are 12 nations that could fit into that category, but what does dark horse actually mean? The term originated in the 19th century in horse racing; it referred to a relatively unknown horse that made it hard to set betting odds. In the world of soccer, this has been attributed to teams that punch above their weight as underdogs, but are not as talented as the main contenders.
After researching all 48 teams, these 12 stand out as ones that aren't true contenders, but aren't underdogs either. They are teams with talented players, effective coaching tactics, or momentum on their side. If they get hot at the right time in this tournament, they could all make deep runs. Some have championship pedigrees, some have golden generations of players, and some are the hosts of the World Cup. Expect a few of this grouping to make some noise at this tournament in an unexpected fashion.
Everyone loves a good underdog story, and the World Cup is now in a position to give us those in abundance. With the tournament expanding to 48 teams and an extended bracket, all but four nations will advance from the group stage. This means there is a large group of nations that are underdogs in the tournament and will advance from their group as either a top-two team or one of the eight best third-place finishers. Here's a look at the 22 underdogs at the 2026 World Cup.
None of these teams is a world-beater. Not one of them is expected to make a run to the quarterfinals. However, these will likely be the teams who make it to a win-or-go-home match. Anything can happen in those matches, and who's to say one of these teams won't shock the world and win one of them to make it to the Round of 16 or even further?
There is also a flipside to so many teams making it to the knockout rounds in this tournament: the worst four teams at this World Cup will be eliminated and could be seen as the worst-ever teams on the world stage. Before a ball is kicked, this is who we are thinking will enter that realm.
Qatar has not impressed in World Cup qualifying, and was the worst team in the last World Cup, one they hosted. Jordan is one of four debutants at this World Cup and the only one in this category. Saudi Arabia and New Zealand are very underwhelming teams and are in difficult groups; they're not expected to win a game.
Jordan's Ehsan Haddad celebrates after the match.
Ibraheem Al Omari
Well, there we have it! All 48 teams are put in tiers. Will we see some movement where a favorite falls, a contender shows they're for real, a dark horse goes far, or an underdog becomes a dark horse? Matches kick off on Thursday! The World Cup is finally here!
For more information on all 48 nations, we have previewed every team in detail in our 12 group previews! There's that and so much more from Philly Sports Network's coverage of the tournament; take a look and get ready for the month-long party that is the World Cup!
