World Cup 2026 power rankings: Rating all four nations ahead of the semi-finals

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The Independent

14 July 2026

The 2026

World Cup

is down to its

final four

with the cream of the crop now so close to global glory that they can almost taste it.

With dark horses now banished, the semi-finals are made up the world’s top four seeds according to Fifa’s world rankings - though it could have very easily not come to that.

England and holders

Argentina

were both forced to extra time by Norway and Switzerland respectively, required to dig deep to keep their

dreams alive. They now

reignite their storied rivalry

in a seismic semi-final clash, 40 years on from the ‘Hand of God’.

And on the other side of the draw, it’s a battle of the favourites as

Spain and France meet

in a match many feel could be looked back on as the “real” final. Both have stormed through the tournament so far - who will be the one to stumble?

open image in gallery

Kylian Mbappe celebrates after

France

overcame Paraguay’s dirty tactics (Getty)

France are the team to beat at this

. That’s been the case since they hit 10 across the group stage to breeze to the top of the standings, and it’s stayed that way through the knockouts. It’s not been

completely

plain-sailing - their

last-16 clash with Paraguay proved tricky

due to underhanded tactics of the South American side - but if there were any doubts from that slender 1-0 win, they were banished in a convincing quarter-final triumph over dark horses Morocco.

Didier Deschamps has put together a so far

untouchable unit

Kylian Mbappe its greatest weapon

. The Frenchman is the second to completely blow Miroslav Klose’s all-time scoring record out of the water this tournament, netting his 20th against Morocco. However, he is shaking off an injury from that last-eight clash going into the semis -

Spain

will be praying that his powers have waned as a result...

Spain are into the quarter-finals after beating Portugal (Getty)

Spain came into this tournament as the favourites but didn’t exactly show that right from the outset, unlike their semi-final opponents. That

frustrating opening 0-0 draw with Cape Verde in Group H

delivered one of the early shocks of the

, though with Lamine Yamal back fit in the side they managed build up some steam - first with the

thrashing of Saudi Arabia

(as they were expected to do) before sealing top spot in the group by

overcoming Uruguay

in a fiery clash. In the knockouts, however,

began to really look like potential winners.

After

brushing Austria aside

in a 3-0 last-32 win,

broke first Portuguese hearts (

including Cristiano Ronaldo’s

) courtesy of a last-gasp Mikel Merino winner, and then Belgian hearts (

especially Senne Lammens’

) thanks to the same clutch Gooner. At the heart of Spain’s knockouts success has been their

rock-solid defence

- they’ve only conceded one goal this entire tournament, which has made up for the odd imperfect performance. However, their resolve will now face its greatest test against the free-scoring French.

England have stoked belief after eliminating Mexico on enemy soil (PA Wire)

They’ve only gone and got us dreaming again. After

nearly

succumbing to another “Iceland moment” in a

narrow, late comeback win over DR Congo

in the last-32, many had

England

pegged to go out to co-hosts Mexico at the

Estadio Azteca (did you know it’s quite high up?)

, a fortress of Mexican football where only two away teams had ever won in a competitive match. What ensued was one of the best

performances in

history.

Triumph in Mexico City

was then followed by a more uncomfortable outing in Miami. Norway took

to their limits, with

Jude Bellingham coming to the rescue in a 2-1 comeback victory

to seal their place in the last-four. They could have done with not going to extra time and Thomas Tuchel was

anything but pleased

with the performance - but by quelling Erling Haaland, this team get some props and avoid a drop in our rankings.

Next up, it’s

, the champions. Memories of ‘86 and ‘98 will burn brightly, with

out for revenge. But of course, there is

much more than football to this rivalry

. A place in the final on the line, this should be box office.

Lionel Messi was in tears after

controversially scraped past Egypt (Getty)

This

has been a tale of two halves for the holders.

looked on a par with

in the groups, with Lionel Messi’s stunning seven goals - which saw him

pass Klose’s record before Mbappe

- seeing

La Albiceleste

make an early statement of intent. But the Messi show has become something of a subplot in a turbulent knockout stage.

A narrow

extra-time win over an admirable Cape Verde

side chipped away at their mystique in the round of 32, before their

became embroiled by

refereeing controversy

after coming from two down to

scrape past Egypt

. Unsavoury allegations of the

tournament being “fixed”

in Argentina’s favour emerged from that game, primarily from Pharaohs striker Mostafa Ziko who had a goal very contentiously chalked off.

They were then

again

forced to extra time

in their eventual 3-1 win against Switzerland, and while some may reignite the “VARgentina” claims after

Breel Embolo’s mistaken identity red card

, there wasn’t much weight to this particular grievance - the Swiss striker chucked himself to the ground and was rightly shown a second yellow. Still,

haven’t looked imperious in for a couple of weeks now and after being involved in a pair of two-hour slogs in the knockouts,

will back themselves.

Switzerland

Norway

Belgium

Morocco

Colombia

Egypt

USA

Portugal

Mexico

Brazil

Paraguay

Canada

Ghana

Cape Verde

Australia

Algeria

Croatia

Austria

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Senegal

DR Congo

Ecuador

Sweden

Ivory Coast

Netherlands

Germany

Japan

South Africa

Czech Republic

Qatar

Haiti

Turkey

Curacao

Tunisia

New Zealand

Uruguay

Saudi Arabia

Iraq

Jordan

Panama

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