Spain is the popular pick to go deep at World Cup 2026 this summer. But who they face in the final in New Jersey July 19 is hotly debated. Our contributors use their heads and hearts to predict how World Cup 2026 will unfold, including finalists, surprise teams and how Canada will perform.
Which teams will reach the final?
Spain vs Brazil: Few could argue that Spain were the best team when they won Euro 2024 two years ago. And they again have a squad, which includes Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Pedri, Rodri and Fabián Ruiz, to rival any at the World Cup. This may not be the best Brazil team ever. But the romantic in me thinks (or rather hopes from a narrative perspective) manager Carlo Ancelotti’s enigmatic calmness and raised eyebrow could be enough to help 2026’s Seleção conjure the magic of past triumphs. – Stuart Gradon, Total Soccer News editor
England vs. France: With England lifting the trophy. I probably don’t need to sell France because they just have too much of a video game cheat-code depth to them, which is hard to ignore. They’re most certainly making it to their third successive final. England, however, is a different story. The hopeless fanatic in me wants it to come home. Desperately. But I’m not letting my ridiculous bias influence my decision. After a fourth-place and a quarterfinal finish in the last two editions, the Three Lions are mathematically and culturally due for a big result. Plus, back-to-back Euro finals prove that they have the tournament DNA to survive the bracket. They just need to avoid Germany in a pesky round of 32 penalty shootout. – Ankur Pramod, Total Soccer News writer
Spain vs Argentina: European champions Spain went unbeaten in their World Cup qualifying group (which included Turkey, Bulgaria and Georgia) to secure automatic qualification. They were dominant at both ends of the pitch, scoring 21 goals and only conceding twice in six games. Spain have an easy group, which includes Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia, with only Uruguay expected to pose a serious challenge. I’m anticipating they’ll get off to a strong start and go from there. Argentina are the defending world champs and also won the last two Copa Americas , so are clearly in the midst of a dynasty. They easily won the CONMEBOL qualifiers with a 12-2-4 record, well ahead of second-place Ecuador. I predict they’ll narrowly top their group, which includes Algeria, Austria and Jordan, setting themselves up for an easier path through the knockout stages. However, there is a chance they play each other in the semi-finals instead. – Scott Strasser, YYC Soccer podcast
France vs Spain. Both squads could field a B-team that would progress from the group stage. They’re both loaded with talent and depth at every position. Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, Gavi, Pedri, Rodri, Fabián Ruiz, Martin Zubimendi, and David Raya for Spain. Kylian Mbappé, Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembélé, Rayane Cherki, Michael Olise, William Saliba, Jules Koundé and Mike Maignan for France. Spain are unbeaten in 31 competitive matches. And in Didier Deschamps’ final tournament in charge, France has high expectations and won’t require any extra motivation, having come so close in that epic final in Doha four years ago. – Adamo Marinelli, Total Soccer News writer
Loading ...Who will win the Golden Boot?
Lautaro Martinez: Harry Kane may have scored an astonishing 61 goals for for his club this season. But I don’t see England getting past the quarterfinals. Argentina will make the semifinals, securing Lautaro Martinez the Golden Boot over the likes of Kane. Argentina play Algeria, Austria, and Jordan in the group stage. No disrespect, but for me that’s an easier schedule than England’s. With Messi providing quality service, the Inter Milan forward’s pace and technical ability will trouble most defenses he faces. – AM
Harry Kane: England’s captain scored 61 goals for his club Bayern Munich this season. 61 goals! He’s in good form, it’s fair to say. One thing that could hinder his goal count is that he tends to fall deeper in the formation when playing for his national side. –SG
Kylian Mbappe: I’m not going to overthink this. Mbappe is in his absolute prime, loves the big stage, and France is going to go deep. Plus, with 48 teams this time, there are going to be a couple of group-stage stat-padding sessions that might lead him to easily bag four or five goals before the knockouts even begin. The French forward might even surpass his countryman Just Fontaine’s record of 13 goals in a single tournament (Sweden, 1958) and script history. – AP
Lamine Yamal: I’m predicting another breakout World Cup for Yamal, who showed in the 2024 Euros that he can perform in international tournaments. While he “only” scored 16 in La Liga this season, he did so in just 28 matches and still did enough to be named the Spanish league’s player of the year. He scored 16 despite Barcelona having other strikers to share the goal load, such as Robert Lewandowski. But for Spain, I think Lamal will be the main man this World Cup and will get a lot of service. – SS
Who will be the star player?
Lamine Yamal: For all the reasons above, I think Lamal is set to be the player of the tournament. In addition to being the top scorer, I think he’ll chip in with a few key assists. – SS
Lamine Yamal: Again, pretty straightforward. The World Cup hasn’t even started and there has already been hype around him. He took over Euro 2024 as a teenager, and this is the tournament where he officially cements himself on the global stage. Expect a tournament full of jaw-dropping highlights, decisive assists, and full-backs universally questioning their career choices. – AP
Lamine Yamal: The 18-year-old Spanish winger earned the Euro 2024 Young Player of the Tournament award two summers ago in Germany. And he’s going to pick up where he left off, helping Spain go deep in 2026. –SG
Lamine Yamal: The 18-year-old winger was an integral part in Spain’s 2024 Euro triumph, and a crucial piece to Barcelona’s 29th La Liga title, recording a whopping 27 goal contributions in 28 league matches, adding 10 goal contributions in 10 UCL matches in 2025-26. It’s not hard to envision his creativity, agility, playmaking, and dribbling abilities leading Spain to another final. – AM
Which team(s) will be the surprise team/dark horse?
Norway: They might be in the group of death and have missed out on major tournaments for what feels like an eternity, but with Erling Haaland leading the line and Martin Odegaard pulling the strings, Norway have the high-end quality to completely wreck a heavy hitter’s bracket in the knockout rounds. The duo is fresh off an absolute war of a Premier League season. Both players have that competitive sharpness, which will be contagious to the rest of the team, and will help the Scandinavians become the ultimate wild card. – AP
Japan: Few teams have had as good a run up to this World Cup as Japan. They’ve won six straight friendlies, including victories over heavy hitters Brazil and England. Japan have a well-balanced squad made up of talent plying their trade across tier-one European leagues. Hajime Moriyasu’s team beat Germany and Spain in Qatar four years ago but were disappointed to fall in the second round to Croatia on penalties. Don’t be too surprised if Japan tops their group, of Netherlands, Tunisia and Sweden, and works their way to the round of 16 or a quarterfinal. Honourable mentions: Ecuador and Columbia –SG
Ecuador: The South Americans are in a pretty tough group that includes Germany, Ivory Coast and Curacao, but I’m predicting a run to the quarterfinals or even semifinals for the team that finished second in CONMEBOL. Coached by Sebastián Beccacece, Ecuador boasted the best defense in South America, conceding just five goals in 18 qualifiers – five goals fewer than any other team. They have experience in the form of veteran Enner Valencia, who was Ecuador’s top scorer in qualifying (with six goals) and will be playing at his third World Cup, and then strong players like Moises Caicedo and Piero Hincapie. I didn’t watch any of their games but as the saying goes, defence wins championships, and Ecuador’s defensive quality is impossible to ignore. – SS
Ecuador: La Tri finished 2nd in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying behind only defending champion Argentina, after only conceding 5 goals in 18 matches. They are well structured, organized, composed and physical. And their patience and comfort out of possession will make it tough for any opponent to break them down, especially with defensive stars such as Piero Hincapié (Arsenal) and Willian Pacho (PSG) leading their backline. Honourable mention: Norway has the offensive threat to dismantle many defenses with Erling Haaland and Alex Sorloth leading the line and Martin Odegaard pulling the strings. – AM
Which team will disappoint?
Brazil: I’ve come to expect Brazil to flounder, so I will go with them. They barely qualified, only finishing fifth in the 10-team CONMEBOL qualifiers with an 8-4-6 record. Brazil is synonymous with the World Cup, but haven’t been able to field a competitive team with a realistic chance of winning since 2014. And we know how that finished for them. – SS
Germany: I might actually be disappointing my fellow predictor and die-hard Bundesliga fan Scott Strasser with this opinion here but I think despite a squad overflowing with technical brilliance and an exceptional international winning streak of eight consecutive matches, Germany will struggle to adjust to the intense travel and atmospheric shifts of a North American summer. Plus, they’ve been in a sustained long-term period of turmoil, largely defined by the trauma of consecutive group-stage exits at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. – AP
Argentina: It would take a brave soul, or misguided fool, to bet against the reigning world champions heading into the summer. But here’s my other big shout, along with Brazil reaching the final. Argentina will progress no further than the round of 16. Every World Cup winner requires an element of good fortune. But Argentina had more than their fair share on their way to lifting the trophy in 2022. I think the law of averages may balance themselves out this time around. But then again, Messi is Messi. And with Emi Martinez in goal, penalty shoutouts are virtually guaranteed. I could proved to be the misguided fool. –SG
Brazil: This is arguably the least talented Brazil squad I have seen in my lifetime –a far cry from the 1998 and 2002 teams that made 2 straight finals. No amount of Carlo Ancelotti eyebrow raises will fix their looming issues, including a lack of overall talent, an identity crisis, and a soft underbelly. Brazil finished 5th in qualifying and I would only consider four players on Brazil’s roster as world-class: Vinicius Junior, Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhães, and Raphinha. They play Morocco and an emerging Scotland in the group stage, which won’t be a cakewalk. They’ll make the knockouts but won’t advance beyond the round of 16. – AM
How far will Canada progress?
Round of 16: Dreaming big here. The Canadian team, riding an absolute wave of national euphoria, will top Group B, win a historic and chaotic round of 32 knockout match on home soil, and finally march all the way to the round of 16. There. I said it. It will be the single greatest summer in Canadian soccer history before they finally bow out to an elite tier-one heavyweight. – AP
Round of 32: I’m being practical by hoping we finish second in our group. While I don’t see us getting a positive result against Switzerland (who are always a strong and competent tournament team) I’m predicting a draw against Bosnia and a narrow win over Qatar. With four points, I’m hoping that’s enough to either finish second or as one of the eight third-place teams that advance to the round of 32. I think that’s as far as we’ll go. But if we don’t get out of the group, I’d consider it a disappointment, even if we get our first World Cup win. – SS
Quarterfinals: Sure, Canada has never won a World Cup match and has only scored two goals, both in 2022. But with this young, accomplished squad, including stars Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David, Canada will win their first match. They’ll finish second behind Switzerland and will play the Group A runner-up (I suspect it will be Mexico, as South Korea will place first). Canada can beat Mexico. – AM
Round of 32: Canada should advance from the group stage in second or third place. But they will likely face superior opposition in the second round. –SG
Loading ...What storyline or crazy moment would you like to see?
FIFA president Gianni Infantino being led away in handcuffs by New Jersey State Police immediately following the trophy presentation after the final at MetLife Stadium on June 19. It would almost make it all worthwhile. Honourable mention: Messi vs Ronaldo. Argentina and Portugal could meet in the quarterfinals if they both top their groups. It would be the only time the best players of their generation faced each other at a World Cup. –SG
USA vs Iran, on US soil. Nothing would be as poetic as something like this happening. Decades of geopolitical weight, atmospheric tension, current global chaos, and some scintillating football, all mixed into one evening of epic madness. Of course, for this to happen, both teams would need to finish as runners-up in their respective groups, which could then set up an enticing round of 32 clash in Dallas, Texas. – AP
As much as I’d like to see Infantino taken away in handcuffs, I’m going to predict that this tournament will have the highest per-game scoring average of any World Cup. I base this prediction on the fact so many “minnows” will be playing at this year’s tournament and will likely get clobbered by the big teams. I think we’ll see our first double-digit victory in a World Cup game since 1954. – SS
I’d love to see Canada play in the semifinals or final. It would be great if a small debutant nation like Cape Verde or Curacao could win a match. Conversely, it’s always fun to see a perennial powerhouse eliminated in the group stage. – AM
