The Athletic updated its World Cup rankings 2026 after day two of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the first sweep of the 48-team field again puts Spain and France at the top. The list moved fast because the tournament is already testing reputations, and the early order shows how quickly one result can lift a team or knock it back.
That matters now because this World Cup is being staged across Canada, Mexico and the U.S., and the race to define the contenders has started before the group stage has really settled. Spain and France are still viewed as the leading favourites, while Argentina, the reigning champions from Qatar in 2022, remain close enough to the front to matter even with Lionel Messi, who will turn 39 during the tournament, still in the side.
Spain’s case is strong but not spotless. Lamine Yamal is the only stated concern, though he is expected to feature during the group stage and perhaps even in Spain’s opening match. France look just as formidable on paper, but their strength comes with a twist: at least one of Kylian Mbappe, Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Rayan Cherki is outside the first-choice team, a sign of attacking depth so large it can absorb a setback.
Elsewhere, the early ranking shifts underline how narrow the margins are in a 48-team World Cup. Brazil’s discussion still circles around Neymar, with Carlo Ancelotti now the coach, while England are being judged through Thomas Tuchel’s decisions after he left Phil Foden and Cole Palmer out of the squad. Harry Kane finished the season with successive hat-tricks, and Ollie Watkins scored six goals in five club games, but England’s position in the list reflects as much about selection as it does about form.
There were also sharper movements lower down. Paraguay slipped after a 4-1 loss to the U.S. team on Friday, a result that mattered because it followed a first World Cup appearance in 16 years that did not go as planned. Bosnia and Herzegovina moved in the opposite direction after impressing against Canada. Those changes are the point of the ranking: it is built from results, form, injuries and the rest, and it will keep changing as the tournament changes around it.
For now, the strongest read is that Spain and France have separated themselves from the field, but the gap between certainty and doubt is still small. If Yamal’s fitness becomes a bigger issue or France’s depth is tested by a real setback, the top of the list could change quickly. Until then, the ranking leaves Messi chasing one last title from a familiar place near the front, and everyone else trying to close the gap before the next update.
