Guardian writers have laid out their World Cup teams for 2026, and the early consensus is clear enough to feel like a warning shot: France and Spain keep coming up, with England, Portugal and Argentina also drawn into the mix. The range of picks does not settle the argument so much as show how open the 48-team tournament in North America still looks from the outside.
That matters now because the predictions arrive before a ball has been kicked at the 2026 World Cup, when the bracket is still a thought experiment and every route can still be imagined. For readers checking the strongest contenders and the likely finalists, the spread of choices offers an early map of how some of the game’s sharpest eyes see the field. One internal marker of that thinking is the schedule itself: England are among the World Cup teams due at Gillette Stadium in June, while other contenders will already be testing themselves in international friendlies before the tournament begins.
Among the clearest calls, Alexander Abnos backed Spain to beat Portugal in the final, while Jeff Rueter also went for Spain over Portugal. Ella Brockway picked Spain to beat Argentina, and Paul MacInnes saw Spain beating England for the trophy. France drew even more support. Nick Ames chose France over Argentina in a rematch, Ben Fisher had France beating Portugal, David Hytner went for France over Argentina, Ewan Murray selected France to beat Argentina and lift the trophy, Leander Schaerlaeckens also predicted France would beat Argentina and win it all, and Jonathan Wilson had France beating Spain in the final. Barry Glendenning pushed France to meet Spain with France prevailing, while Osasu Obayiuwana said France could reach a third title and might face Argentina in the final.
Argentina remained the other steady thread. Nick Ames, David Hytner, Ewan Murray and Leander Schaerlaeckens all put France past Argentina, while Jacob Steinberg saw Argentina losing to Spain in the final and Bryan Armen Graham had England beating France. Max Rushden, after running his simulation, said he had France beating Argentina and then added: “So Spain. Or France. Or, no I won’t say it … could we?” That line captures the one fact no bracket can erase: these are rival routes, not fixed outcomes, and even the sharpest predictions can bend toward different endings while still landing on Spain or France.
AA took a more player-specific route, backing Mikel Oyarzabal to rack up goals against Cape Verde in the group stage and to go deep into the tournament, even if Spain did not make the final. Oyarzabal, 29, sits at the heart of Spain’s attacking case, and Cape Verde gives the kind of early matchup that can turn a prediction into a headline before the knockout rounds even begin. In 2007, a photograph was said to have already captured the future of Lamine Yamal and Spain against Lionel Messi and Argentina; in 2026, the debate has been brought down to the present tense, with writers choosing between France, Spain, England, Portugal and Argentina and leaving the trophy itself where it belongs for now: still unclaimed.
