Ranking the 2018 World Cup Teams from 1 to 32
By Jason Lisk
The 2018 World Cup starts this week. We’ve previewed each Group, which you can see below. Now, to power ranking the individual teams regardless of draw, from the favorites to the outsiders.
Group A: Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, Saudi Arabia
Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran
Group C: France, Denmark, Peru, Australia
Group D: Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia
Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea
Group G: Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama
Group H: Poland, Colombia, Japan, Senegal
#1 GERMANY
The Germans are a machine, and the sum is often much better than its parts. That’s how, when other talented nations have an occasional early hiccup, the Germans always seem to be there in the end. They have made the final game in half of the World Cups since 1954. They’ve been to at least the semis in every tournament since 2002, and the last time they failed to reach at least a quarterfinal was in 1978.
That’s not to say they don’t have good parts as well, though, as its the combination of collective spirit and fight and talent that sees them always in the mix. With Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil, and Thomas Muller they still have the midfield and attacking talent. Timo Werner could be the breakout player up top. The defense has veterans in the middle in Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng. Manuel Neuer will have to answer health questions, but is expected to be back in goal after a lengthy layoff due to injury this past season.
#2 BRAZIL
The last time (and only time) a non-European team won a World Cup in Europe? 1958 when Brazil won its first World Cup title with a teenager named Pelé. This year’s Brazilian side has as good a chance as any to end that drought. It’s a better side than when they hosted four years ago, deeper behind Neymar.
21-year-old Gabriel Jesus will form a potentially devastating attacking combo with Neymar up top, and Philippe Coutinho and Casemiro give them midfield heft and they have veterans on the back with Thiago Silva and Marcelo.
The Brazilians always bring flair and excitement to the tournament, and they should be on the short list of teams capable of winning the entire thing.
#3 FRANCE
On talent, the French are right there at the top of this list. They’ve got top players from big professional teams who may not crack the starting lineup, and have an embarrassment of riches in attack. Kylian Mbappe is only 19 and may be the young star of the tournament, playing up front with Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud.
The concern is one of chemistry and coming together to match that talent. We’ve seen some dominant French sides over the last forty years (four have reached the World Cup semis or further) but we’ve seen other talented teams implode or fail at the key moment (missing qualification in 1994, finishing bottom of the group in both 2002 and 2010) under the pressure. Either way, expect some Napoleonic references as France heads into Russia.
#4 BELGIUM
The highest-rated country to not have a World Cup title, Belgium is the best bet for a newcomer to hold the trophy. They have quality at every position, are loaded in the attack with Romelu Lukaku (still somehow only 25), Eden Hazard, and Dries Mertens, with Kevin DeBruyne behind them. They rolled through the group stage and dominated the USA in shots before losing a close game to eventual finalist Argentina in the quarterfinals four years ago, and will be ready to go further this time around.
#5 SPAIN
Spain is here, instead of higher, because of a couple of concerns. One is whether they will get the scoring up front and finish the build up, as you never know which Diego Costa will show up. The other is age, as many of the top players who have been part of the great run are getting on the other side of 30. But you know that you are going to get great midfield play and control and possession with Spain. They also will want to avenge a poor Cup defense in 2014 when they failed to get out of the group stage after breaking through to get their World Cup title.
#6 ARGENTINA
As always, Argentina has an embarrassment of riches in attack, led by Lionel Messi. They are certainly capable of getting back to the final, where they lost four years ago. That was the first final they had reached since the days of Diego Maradona, despite frequently entering tournaments since with high expectations. The biggest concerns, and why they are lower on the list, is questions about central defense, and their lack of quality form in qualification, where they went into the final game still needing results and finished behind Uruguay, and 13 points behind Brazil.
#7 ENGLAND
It’s not been England’s year since 1966. They’ve often come in to the tournament with expectations only to crash out in disappointment. Four years ago, they faltered in the heat of Brazil and didn’t advance out of the group stage.
Expectations are somewhat muted this time around, if that’s possible. It might be one tournament too soon with the younger players, though they could grow up in a hurry. Harry Kane is the clear star. They *should* advance along with Belgium out of their group, and they probably have the easiest draw of any potential 2nd-place matchup if that’s where they finish. So things are setting up for a quarterfinal run, or disappointment when that fails to happen.
#8 PORTUGAL
Portugal went from an indifferent group result in Euro 2014 to winning the whole tournament once elimination play started. It still required three extra time wins after drawing all three group stage games, so while plucky, it’s not a huge indicator of a dominant team. They will rise and fall with talents of Cristiano Ronaldo and always have a chance, though, to beat one of the teams ahead of them on this list, and they will be keyed up to play Spain in the opener.
#9 URUGUAY
Uruguay still has Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez up front and plenty of quality in the midfield, and a veteran group of defenders. This is a core that has seen success at the last two World Cups, and they got a pretty sweet draw getting paired with host Russia (rather than one of the traditional powers).
#10 CROATIA
Croatia is a darkhorse to advance deep into the tournament, but they don’t have an easy draw. They are in Group D with Argentina, Nigeria, and Iceland, and a 2nd place finish could put them up against France if the French live up to expectations. Croatia is one of the oldest teams in the tournament by age of the top players. They will be led by two players who star on the top Spanish clubs: Luka Modric of Real Madrid and Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona.
#11 COLOMBIA
James Rodriguez was a breakout player at the last World Cup, and now veteran star striker Radamel Falcao will join him (Falcao missed 2014 with a knee injury). Colombia will battle with Poland for Group H supremacy, and will again be a team capable of getting to the quarterfinals.
#12 POLAND
Poland gets to play a World Cup relatively close to their home country, which should give them a boost. Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich is the clear star and the all-time leading scorer for his country. There are questions in defense, but they got a pretty good draw into Group H, and a quarterfinal run isn’t out of the question.
#13 MEXICO
Can Mexico break a 32-year drought of winning a Round of 16 game at the World Cup? They seem to always play well in the group stage only to have hearts broken once the bracket is settled. This time around, they are in a tough group with Germany and Sweden and if they advance out of 2nd place, maybe a matchup with Brazil. Expect El Tri to be led by Chicharito and Hirving Lozano in attack.
#14 DENMARK
Denmark will have a chance to make some noise thanks to all-around star midfielder Christian Eriksen, and the team is built around Eriksen. He has scored 15 times in 19 matches played under current national team coach Age Hareide. The Danes will play direct, attacking soccer and are slight favorites ahead of Peru and Australia to advance along with France.
#15 SWITZERLAND
Switzerland are very organized defensively and got through qualification on that defense, but finished 2nd to Portugal with a 9-0-1 record thanks to fewer goals. Granit Xhaka and the diminutive but powerful Xherdan Shaqiri are the best players in the attack. Switzerland has had success in the World Cup in getting out of the group stage, but have not advanced further than the Round of 16, finishing there three times since 1994.
#16 SWEDEN
Sweden were giant killers, taking out both the Netherlands and Italy to qualify for the World Cup. They are defensive and organized, but there are questions about whether they can muster the offense necessary to advance deeper in the tournament, and have no easy task in the group with Germany, Mexico, and South Korea.
#17 RUSSIA
Russia has advantages in that it is the host nation, and they got a pretty favorable draw out of Group A. But there are plenty of concerns. Very few of the players play professionally outside Russia and are not involved in matches with the bigger European sides, nor have they faced the pressure of qualification. There are questions on the backline, and one of their best forwards, Alexander Kokorin, suffered a knee injury last season and will miss the tournament.
#18 NIGERIA
The Super Eagles look like Africa’s top hope, and as always, will be a fast, powerful team. They are led by Mikel Jon Obi, and Victor Moses of Chelsea, who gets to play in more of an attacking role than with his club.
#19 EGYPT
All of Egypt awaits news of Mo Saleh’s health, but if he can play, he provides an exciting element that will give them a chance to advance to the knockout rounds. Saleh has been nothing short of a magician this year and we should all hope that he is able to play in the World Cup.
#20 PERU
Peru came through the difficult South American qualifying to reach their first World Cup since 1982, finishing ahead of Chile and then defeating New Zealand in a playoff. 34-year-old national star Paolo Guerrero had been suspended for a year for a positive cocaine test, but had it shortened and won his appeal in the last month, and will be playing. Jefferson Farfan, who plays professionally in Russia, and Edison Flores will also feature in the attack.
#21 SERBIA
The Serbs have some attacking talent with Nemanja Matic of Manchester United and Sergej Malinkovic-Matic of Lazio. The questions are in an aging back four and whether they can hold up. Serbia is capable of advancing out of a group where there will be a three-way fight for second behind Brazil.
#22 ICELAND
The best story of Euro 2016 is in the World Cup for the first time ever, as Iceland will no doubt be the Cinderella everyone is rooting for. The chances may hinge on the match readiness of Gylfi Sigurdsson of Everton, who has not played in a full match since a March knee injury.
#23 SENEGAL
Senegal were one of the great stories of the 2002 World Cup but have not returned to the final tournament again until now. They will be lead by star forward Sadio Mané of Liverpool and are pretty strong up the middle.
#24 JAPAN
Japan made a late coaching change this spring before the World Cup, because of conflicts with star players and the previous coach. They have talented players such as Shinji Kogawa (Borussia Dortmund), Maya Yoshida (Southampton), and Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City).
#25 COSTA RICA
Costa Rica will have a hard time duplicating the success of 2014, when they came out of a group instead of England and Italy and reached the quarterfinals. If they advance, it will be in low-scoring games where they can counterattack successfully for decisive goals.
#26 MOROCCO
This Moroccan side, making the first World Cup appearance since 1998, has an influx of players born in Europe of Moroccan ancestry, led by Hakim Ziyech, who chose to play for Morocco over the Netherlands. They’ll have a tall task advancing out of a group with Spain and Portugal.
#27 IRAN
Iran could surprise in attack, and does have the experience of being competitive in the group games in 2014. They still face a long task that requires beating Morocco and then getting a result against either Spain or Portugal.
#28 AUSTRALIA
This probably isn’t the best squad Australia has sent to a World Cup, and they will need to play a more defensive style that relies on counterattacks to prevail in a tough group with quality attackers on France, Denmark, and Peru.
#29 SOUTH KOREA
South Korea relatively struggled in qualifying in the much easier Asian group, finishing well behind Iran. The clear class of the team is Son Heung-min, and it will take some major heroics to emerge past Mexico and Sweden.
#30 PANAMA
Panama made their first World Cup (sorry, folks) qualifying out of CONCACAF but their chances took a hit when Roman Torres was ruled out of the squad due to injury.
#31 TUNISIA
Their best player, Wahbi Khazri, was loaned out by Sunderland and played for Rennes in France this past year. They qualified for the World Cup but advancement expectations should be tempered.
#32 SAUDI ARABIA
Since surprising in 1994 and reaching the Round of 16, Saudi Arabia has gone 0 wins, 2 draws, and 7 losses in the World Cup, getting outscored 26-4. They don’t play any of the tournament favorites but are still rank outsiders to advance.