Team Profile
Czechia are in Group A with Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. They are the most underrated side at World Cup 2026. Patrik Schick leads them. They are quietly capable of the quarter-finals.
Team Profile
Sweden missed the 2022 World Cup. They spent four years making sure it would not happen again. Isak and Gyökeres lead the most complete Swedish squad in two decades.
Team Profile
Bosnia & Herzegovina eliminated Italy from World Cup 2026 qualifying. Italy will watch from home. Bosnia will play. The story of how they got here is worth every word.
Team Profile
Norway are at their first World Cup since 1998. Erling Haaland leads them. The best striker in the world at a tournament his nation has no right to be at — and that tension is exactly what makes this story unmissable.
World Cup 2026
Portugal have back-to-back Champions League winners, a generational midfielder in João Neves, and Bruno Fernandes pulling the strings. They are a genuine World Cup contender. The Ronaldo question is real — and so is the talent around him.
World Cup 2026
Arda Güler plays for Real Madrid and starts for Turkey at 20 years old. He has the vision of a seasoned playmaker and the nerve of someone who has never found a big stage frightening. Turkey's World Cup depends on how far his creativity can carry them.
World Cup 2026
Erling Haaland is the best striker in the world. Norway are not expected to go far. These two facts coexist at World Cup 2026 and the tension between them is one of the tournament's most compelling storylines.
Germany
Under-21 Players to Watch — No.7: Lennart Karl, Viva's wildcard — the 18-year-old Germany cannot stop picking Viva's wildcard. Every countdown needs one — the pick that raises eyebrows, that makes people check the name, that requires a genuine argument rather than consensus validation. Lennart Karl is that
France
There is a version of this countdown that only rewards the spectacular. The technicolour dribbler, the teenage goal machine, the player who makes the crowd gasp. Warren Zaïre-Emery does not belong in that version. He belongs in the version that reflects how football actually works — how matches are won and
Spain
Everyone watches Lamine Yamal. Pedri is the reason the system works. Spain's midfield metronome is 23 years old and has already played two major tournaments. At this one he is the engine behind the favourites. The conversation about Spain always starts with Yamal. It should — Yamal is extraordinary
World Cup 2026
Pau Cubarsí is 19 years old and is already Spain's first-choice centre-back. The Barcelona defender plays with a composure and tactical intelligence that makes opponents — and analysts — do a double take at his age. He is the best young defender at this tournament. It is not close.
Team Profile
Scotland are back at a World Cup for the first time since 1998. They earned it in the most dramatic fashion imaginable. Now comes the harder part.