2026 FIFA World Cup Power Rankings: France, Argentina Remain Strong Contenders

The 2026 World Cup is entering its first crucial part of the tournament as the 48 teams involved are now set to play their last match of the group phase. We still had some big surprises with some incredibly exciting matches.The big stars stole the slow: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland all scored a brace while England were stopped by Ghana on Tuesday with a draw. We also had our first five eliminations of the tournament with Panama, Tunisia, Jordan, Haiti and most notably Turkiye all eliminated before the last game of the group stages. Let's take a look at our latest power rankings entering the last match of the first phase:

Biggest Movers 11 Algeria 30 Turkiye Rk Teams   Chg Rcrd 1 France France have looked like the team to beat so far. Kylian Mbappe looks in great shape and seems driven by the memory of the 2022 final, when his hat trick wasn't enough to prevent defeat. With his current form, even Messi's newly set World Cup scoring record may not be out of reach. -- 2 Argentina What more can be said about Messi? Five goals in two games, a new World Cup record with 18 goals, and another masterclass on the biggest stage. He's carrying Argentina once again, but as the tournament progresses, they'll need his teammates to start contributing more as well. -- 3 Spain After the disappointing draw against Cabo Verde in their opening match, they showed exactly why they are considered one of the favorites to win the World Cup. Scoring four goals against Saudi Arabia was a statement of intent. Now, they face a tougher challenge against Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay. -- 4 Portugal We were waiting for Cristiano Ronaldo and he finally delivered two goals that led Portugal to their first World Cup win this summer. He also became the first player to score in six different editions of the World Cup. 1 5 England Such a disappointing performance and 0-0 result against Ghana on Tuesday. There are already some questions about Thomas Tuchel and his decisions ahead of the tournament, such not including Cole Palmer in the squad traveling to the World Cup. 1 6 Brazil Beating Haiti is exactly what we expected from them after their opening draw against Morocco. Now comes the real test: Scotland. -- 7 Norway If some people were confused by their position in the rankings, those doubts may start to fade after the first two games. Now they face France, and we'll get a much clearer picture of their true potential in this tournament. 1 8 Morocco What a team and what a World Cup so far! Ismael Saibari needs to be considered among the best players of the tournament so far. 1 9 Netherlands Winning 5-1 against Sweden was a big statement from them and they needed it after a disappointing debut against Japan. -- 10 Germany They won both matches against Ivory Coast and Curacao. They also won the group stage, but I'm still not 100% convinced about their performances so far. -- 11 Colombia Two games, two wins, Round of 32 clinched and Luis Diaz is one of the best players of the tournament. They are a dangerous underdog. -- 12 United States Despite the absence of Christian Pulisic, Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT delivered another convincing performance. Surprising? Not really. This is why they are still in the position I ranked them ahead of the World Cup. -- 13 Japan I'm in love with this team. After drawing against Netherlands, they won 4-0 against Tunisia. They play incredibly well and this is only helping. 1 14 Mexico Another solid performance and clinched round of 32 qualification with one game to go. Their dream continues. 3 15 Sweden Won 5-1 against Tunisia and lost 5-1 to Netherlands: Which is the real version of this team? We will figure it out against Japan. -- 16 Uruguay One of the biggest disappointments so far. Two games, two draws against Saudi Arabia and Cabo Verde. Things might get tricky now, considering they need to face Spain in the last match. 3 17 Switzerland They are back. After drawing the first match against Qatar, they bounced back and won against Bosnia-Herzegovina pretty easily. 2 18 Ivory Coast They lost against Germany, but they showed why they are a strong team and now they need a win against Curacao. 4 19 Egypt Mo Salah scored, because of course he did, this is the World Cup of stars. Up next: Iran. 6 20 Croatia Winning against Panama was what we expected from them: It's now time to show what they are capable of against Ghana, who drew against England. Maybe we overestimated their experience, but facing England, this team especially, was a big task. It was sad to see a legend like Luka Modric making a crucial mistake that led to the first goal. -- 21 Senegal Disappointing. Yes, they were drawn into a tough group with France and Norway, but coming away with zero points is still a disappointing return for the 2025 AFCON finalists. Now, everything comes down to the final match against Iraq. 5 22 Scotland Everything will be decided in the last match against Brazil after losing to Morocco in the second game of the group. 4 23 Ecuador The draw against Curacao was a historic result for the other team and now they need to beat Germany in their final group match to have a chance of advancing. That's a very tough task. -- 24 Iran Despite all their struggles and the tensions between their country and the United States, they've handled enormous pressure extremely well. It's possible, though unlikely they could end up facing the U.S. in a round of 16 match. -- 25 Belgium What is going on here? I wasn't expecting this roster to set the world on fire, but I figured they could at least manage one win.Belgium's golden generation is nearing its end, and it showed in their opening match. While Romelu Lukaku made a difference off the bench and played a key role in Egypt's own goal, a draw is simply not the statement Belgium needed to make. 4 26 Canada We should praise them and Jesse Marsch. Now it's time to make history and qualify for knockout phase for the first time ever. 3 27 Korea Republic They are where we expected to be, in contention for a second place in the group with Mexico, Czechia and South Africa. 1 28 Austria Yes, they could have done better against Argentina, but let's be honest: What can you do against this version of Lionel Messi? 1 29 Ghana What a performance against England. They looked solid against one of the favorites to win the tournament. 2 30 Paraguay If people thought they'd roll over against Turkiye, they were all wrong. Paraguay is now in a good spot for a place in the round of 32. 6 31 Czechia Despite having a pretty solid team, they will probably just be able to play one round of the knockouts before getting sent home by better opposition. 1 32 Algeria By far, one of the most impressive performances of the second round. After losing to Argentina at the debut, they bounced back and made a comeback against Jordan. 11 33 Cabo Verde If we thought that the first draw against Spain was a miracle, the second one against Uruguay told us much more about this national team and their impressive debut at the World Cup. 5 34 Bosnia-Herzegovina After a convincing debut against Canada, they lost to Switzerland in the second game, but they still can make it to the round of 32 in the last game against Qatar. Advance and the USMNT likely awaits. 2 35 DR Congo Their first time at the World Cup since 1974. After a historic draw against Portugal, they only lost by one goal to Colombia, one of the best teams of the tournament. They can actually make history and advance with a result vs. Uzbekistan. 4 36 Saudi Arabia Their opening draw against Uruguay means they're alive ahead of the last game of the group against Cabo Verde. They have a chance to play in the knockout stages despite a heavy loss against Spain. 1 37 Qatar After their last-minute draw against Switzerland we couldn't expect such a downfall, but a horrible leg-breaking tackle and two red cards contributed to a 6-0 loss to Canada. 4 38 Australia We probably had too many expectations after their win against Turkiye, but the United States exposed them in the second game of the group phase. 4 39 Curacao What a story! They might be eliminated this week when they face Ivory Coast, but who cares? First goal at the World Cup against Germany, first draw against Ecuador. They made history. 9 40 New Zealand Losing to Egypt in their second match of the group stage makes it much more difficult to hope for a historic qualification to the knockouts. -- 41 South Africa They started off badly and lost to Mexico in the opening match of the tournament but bounced back and drew 1-1 against Czechia. They still have a little chance to advance. 5 42 Iraq Conceded seven goals in two games against France and Norway, but aren't technically eliminated. Next up: Senegal. -- 43 Uzbekistan They don't have much chance to play in the round of 32. The side coached by 2006 World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro had their tournament all but ended by losing 5-0 to Portugal. 4 44 Panama ELIMINATED -- Despite playing against Ghana and Croatia, not easy opponents, they were able to show why they were back at the World Cup for a second time since 2018. 1 45 Tunisia ELIMINATED -- They made history at this World Cup by sacking Sabri Lamouchi after the defeat against Sweden and replacing him with Herve Renard in the middle of the tournament. Didn't help much 8 46 Haiti ELIMINATED -- They were just unlucky to meet Brazil, Morocco and Scotland in what was probably the most challenging group of the World Cup. 5 47 Jordan ELIMINATED --They played their first ever World Cup and they have already made history. At least they will have a chance to face Lionel Messi'Argentina in their last match of the group phase. 3 48 Turkiye ELIMINATED -- I'll be completely honest: I thought they could become one of the surprises of this tournament, with so many talented players. They registered 62 shots in two games and failed to score a single goal: The most shots without a goal by a team in a single World Cup since 1966. 30 1 France France have looked like the team to beat so far. Kylian Mbappe looks in great shape and seems driven by the memory of the 2022 final, when his hat trick wasn't enough to prevent defeat. With his current form, even Messi's newly set World Cup scoring record may not be out of reach.  -- 2 Argentina What more can be said about Messi? Five goals in two games, a new World Cup record with 18 goals, and another masterclass on the biggest stage. He's carrying Argentina once again, but as the tournament progresses, they'll need his teammates to start contributing more as well.  -- 3 Spain  After the disappointing draw against Cabo Verde in their opening match, they showed exactly why they are considered one of the favorites to win the World Cup. Scoring four goals against Saudi Arabia was a statement of intent. Now, they face a tougher challenge against Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay. -- 4 Portugal  We were waiting for Cristiano Ronaldo and he finally delivered two goals that led Portugal to their first World Cup win this summer. He also became the first player to score in six different editions of the World Cup.  +1 5 England Such a disappointing performance and 0-0 result against Ghana on Tuesday. There are already some questions about Thomas Tuchel and his decisions ahead of the tournament, such not including Cole Palmer in the squad trav

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/fifa-world-cup-2026-power-rankings-france-argentina-top-two/)._