The expanded 48-team format will complicate matters. More teams mean more unfamiliar opponents and greater potential for disruption | Photo Credit: Kirby Lee

For much of the past year, the FIFA World Cup has felt like a supporting character in its own story. The conversation around the tournament has been dominated by politics, immigration rules, border tensions, climate concerns and questions over whether a 48-team competition is a step forward or simply a bigger commercial enterprise for football’s global governing body.

However, once the opening whistle blows at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, where Diego Maradona inspired one of the World Cup’s most iconic triumphs in 1986, attention will quickly turn to what unfolds on the pitch. The central question of this World Cup is whether the game’s established powers can still hold off an increasingly ambitious chasing pack. Europe and South America have shared every world title, yet the events of Qatar four years ago suggest that football’s traditional hierarchy may not be as secure as it once appeared. Morocco became the first African nation to reach a World Cup semifinal, defeating Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Japan topped a group containing Spain and Germany, while Saudi Arabia stunned eventual champion Argentina in its opening group match. Those results, taken together, suggest that the line separating the contender and outsider is becoming increasingly blurred. Nowhere is that shift more apparent than in Africa. Morocco’s run to the semifinals in 2022 was hailed as a breakthrough, and four years later, the Atlas Lions return with much of the core that made history in Qatar. Senegal, led by Kalidou Koulibaly, Sadio Mane, and Ismaila Sarr, and Egypt, spearheaded by Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush, also arrive with aspirations of making deep runs.

The old guard, however, remains as formidable as ever. Argentina will look to become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the World Cup, with Lionel Messi potentially making one final appearance on football’s grandest stage. France possesses extraordinary depth, with Kylian Mbappe leading another generation capable of dominating international football. Spain’s young stars, spearheaded by Lamine Yamal, are rapidly maturing, while England continues its search for a title since 1966. Yet none can assume the superiority that previous generations enjoyed. The expanded 48-team format will further complicate matters. More teams mean more unfamiliar opponents and greater potential for disruption.

But all contenders must first overcome obstacles unlike any seen in previous World Cups. Played across three countries, teams may move within days from the altitude of Mexico to the humidity of the American South. Several venues are also expected to experience demanding temperatures during June and July, making player management over a month-long campaign as decisive as any tactical innovation. Perhaps that is why predictions look unusually difficult. The favourites are obvious, but certainty is not. The 2026 Cup may still be won by Argentina, France, Spain, or one of the game’s other established powers. Yet it feels increasingly plausible that football’s next great breakthrough could come from elsewhere. For long, the World Cup has asked whether outsiders can challenge the elite. Now, the question is whether the elite can keep outsiders at bay.

Published on June 11, 2026