He's a Real Madrid midfielder who scores, defends, drives and dominates a game all at once, and he showed it instantly — a solo strike right after the break that broke a 2-2 deadlock. Kane gets the records, but Bellingham is the one who decides matches with sheer force of will.
Spain
ArgentinaHe too often lets the theatrics and the temper run the show, and Brazil sitting third in their group with a 24-year drought is partly the story of a star chasing the referee instead of the game. Spectacle isn't the same as a result.
Brazil looked anxious and ordinary until he manufactured a goal out of nothing against the run of play — which is the entire argument. A five-time champion chasing a sixth star has the one player who can win a knockout game by himself on a quiet night.
When his body holds up he is unguardable from either foot — France's second engine, the man who unlocks defenses that have keyed entirely on Mbappe.
His forward bombing leaves space behind him that better teams will exploit — and now that Morocco are favored rather than plucky underdogs, the 'expected to go deep' burden is exactly what's cracked sides like this before. The romance that powered 2022 is gone.
Morocco are no longer a fairy-tale, they're the 7th-ranked side that just held Brazil and expect to go deep — and Hakimi is the engine, the man whose overlapping runs turn a stubborn defensive team into a genuine threat the moment they win the ball.
| # | Team | PTS | ADV | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States | 6 | 97% | |
| 2 |  Australia | 4 | 87% | |
| 3 |  Paraguay | 4 | 39% | |
| 4 |  Turkey | 3 | — |
Favorites who "keep knocking on destiny’s door" is the polite phrase for not getting over the line since 2018. The arrogance is real; so is the locker-room combustibility that has detonated every campaign since.
The deepest, most arrogant attack on the planet, perennial favorites with a record-breaking Mbappe and the reigning Ballon d’Or winner — watching them is a highlight reel assembling itself in real time.
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He limped off at halftime of the opener with a calf knock and has trained alone for two straight days since — 'the one genuine star' is the giveaway. A host nation leaning this hard on one breakable attacker is precisely how host-nation hype evaporates at the first real test.
He assisted the opener in the most prolific World Cup match in U.S. history, and if America has a defining moment this summer it runs through him — a fragile but elite attacker, in front of home crowds, is the highest-ceiling story the tournament's host has.
A relentless, two-footed winger who beats his man and delivers — the redemption arc is real, and so is the production.
He couldn't rescue Turkey off the bench in the shock loss to Australia — no goal, no spark. 'Exciting young duo' already reads as all promise and zero points, and two unproven kids carrying a tournament is a gamble, not a plan.
He's a boom-or-bust talent with a real club pedigree, and Turkey's group cracked open the moment of that Australia upset — a 21-year-old No. 10 with this much raw ceiling only needs one game to click to swing Turkey's fate.
He hit 58 to pass Giroud as France's record scorer AND moved ahead of Messi on the all-time World Cup list in the same night — the rare superstar whose peak is happening right now, on the biggest stage, with a stacked France behind him.
Tournament favorites who opened with a 0-0 against an island of 500,000. All that possession, all that pedigree, and they could not break down a second-division keeper — the "favorite" tag is already cracking.
Reigning European champions and a genuine title favorite, with 18-year-old Lamine Yamal in the #10 and Rodri back from injury holding it together — the redemption arc is loaded and inevitable.
The vertical threat France lacks elsewhere; when opponents push up to contain the rest, he is the one who runs in behind them.
He was 'the tamest German attacker on the pitch' in a 7-1 win — when your team scores seven and you barely register, the slump you brought from Anfield came with you.
On a Germany side bursting with attackers, he's the one who unlocks the final third: give him a settled role and space to roam and the No. 10 who carved up the Bundesliga reappears overnight.
He got subbed at 64 minutes with a thigh twinge in the opener — a body that broke in half last summer is being asked to carry a tournament, and 'managing his minutes' is one bad landing from disaster.
His coach says even at 95% he's one of the best players alive, and he came out of a horror injury more physically robust — the dribbler who glides through three men is fully back, with the highlight reel to prove it.
Hasn’t won since 1966 and broke hearts a shootout at a time for a reason. The 4-2 win came with a defense that leaked TWICE against Croatia — the longest-running tragedy in sport rarely changes its ending.
Six decades of heartbreak and Harry Kane just equalled the England World Cup scoring record in a chaotic 4-2 win — if he breaks it and lifts the trophy it is the most poetic ending in the sport.
His big numbers came against soft qualifying defenses and a Tunisia side that fell apart — the step up from 'flat-track bully' to genuine elite striker still hasn't been proven against a back line that bites back.
He scored again in a 5-1 rout and arrived with 15 goals in 16 games — a relentless, bullying No. 9 who simply does not stop scoring when Sweden need it most.
France
EnglandThe invisible scaffolding — the work nobody notices until it's missing; the platform that lets Bellingham and Saka gamble.
EnglandArgentinaWhile everyone watches Messi, Lautaro is the one in career-best form: he won the 2025-26 Serie A Golden Boot and captained Inter to the title. Argentina don't just have a fairy tale — they have a ruthless, in-his-prime No. 9 who can win games Messi can't conjure.
FranceSpainA World Cup winner at 21 and Chelsea's midfield axis — the deep-lying passer who sets the champions' rhythm and arrives late in the box for goals. Already done it on the biggest stage.
Argentina
Switzerland
NorwayEnglandSpain
BelgiumAn Arsenal midfielder who moonlit as an emergency striker and kept scoring — the late-arriving runner and aerial threat who gives Spain's technical side a different, uglier way to win.
France
MoroccoSwitzerland
ColombiaThe relentless, versatile forward who presses, links and scores — the bridge from the Messi era to the next one.
Argentina
EgyptUnited StatesBelgiumLiverpool's do-everything midfielder — wins it back, plays the clever pass, chips in with goals. The quiet engine that lets Argentina's stars shine without doing the dirty work.
PortugalSpain
MexicoEngland
BrazilNorwayParaguayFrance
CanadaMoroccoAn Atalanta forward who flopped at Milan then reinvented himself — tall, technical, and finally delivering on the long-promised talent. Belgium's bridge past the golden generation.
Colombia
GhanaArgentina
Cape VerdeAustraliaEgyptSwitzerland
AlgeriaPortugal
CroatiaSpain
AustriaAt 38 he's the defending champion AND just became the joint-highest scorer in World Cup history (16, level with Klose) and the oldest man ever to score multiple goals in a match — you are watching the literal final chapter of the greatest career in the sport, and it's still producing magic.
Belgium
SenegalSpurs' aggressive, front-foot centre-back — wins it high, talks nonstop, and brings the nasty edge every title-winning defense needs. The snarl behind Argentina's crown.
England
DR CongoMexico
EcuadorFrance
Sweden
Ivory CoastNorway
NetherlandsMorocco
GermanyParaguayBrazil
Japan
South AfricaCanadaMexico's No. 2 scorer of all time, with the experience and aerial nous to change a tight knockout game off the bench.
AlgeriaAustriaArgentina
JordanNorway hadn't qualified in 28 years, so this isn't a pressured veteran — it's a 25-year-old goal machine arriving loose, hungry and with everything to prove, scoring twice in his very first World Cup match. A debutant team plays with a joy the heavyweights can't access.
PortugalColombiaSkill, pace, and a willingness to shoot; on a defensive underdog, he's the rare spark who could nick the goal that writes Cape Verdean history.
DR Congo
UzbekistanCroatiaGhanaEngland
PanamaBelgium
New ZealandEgypt
IranHe's in ruthless form off a Bayern season and just matched Gary Lineker's 10 England World Cup goals while becoming only the second Englishman after Beckham to score at three World Cups — if he breaks the record AND ends 60 years of hurt, it's the most poetic ending in the sport.
Saudi ArabiaCape VerdeSpain
UruguayArsenal's aerial monster — dominant in both boxes, a set-piece threat one end and an immovable object the other. The defender who gives a glamour side an actual spine.
FranceNorwaySenegal
IraqParaguayAustraliaUnited StatesTurkeyJapanSwedenHaiti's best and only real hope of a goal against the giants of Group C — a genuine top-flight finisher.
Netherlands
TunisiaHe's one of only two men ever to appear at six World Cups, and Portugal are loaded with elite young talent around him — adopt them and you're watching whether the most relentless winner of his era can finally crack the one prize he's never lifted, while a successor generation waits in the wings.
Ivory Coast
CuraçaoGermanyEcuadorMexico
Czech Republic
South KoreaSouth AfricaBrazil
ScotlandA direct, fearless forward with a point to prove; an in-form Rashford gives England a devastating Plan B from the bench.
Morocco
HaitiSwitzerlandCanadaA sharp Premier League forward leading the line for the tournament's great romance; that goal proved this team can hurt anyone.
DR CongoColombiaCroatiaPanamaEnglandGhanaThe unglamorous, hard-running type who quietly swings matches while nobody's watching him.
PortugalUzbekistanExactly the breakout star this 48-team format is built to create — raw speed and a goal already on the board.
AlgeriaJordanNorwaySenegalFranceIraqArgentinaAustriaVintage hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Algeria (June 16) — his FIRST-ever World Cup hat-trick at age 38, drawing level with Miroslav Klose on 16 career WC goals, the all-time record. One more goal makes it his outright. Argentina top Group J.
The defending champion and the greatest player of his generation is at his record SIXTH and certainly final World Cup, age 38.
Read the storyline →EgyptNew ZealandFrustrating start: Portugal held to a 1-1 draw by debutants DR Congo (June 17). Ronaldo played the full 90 but was goalless and missed two clear chances, visibly disgusted. He and Messi are now the only men to play six World Cups.
Messi's eternal rival, also at his sixth and final World Cup, age 41 — the only thing missing from his career is a World Cup.
Read the storyline →UruguayCape VerdeBoth exploded on matchday 1. Mbappé scored a brace in France's 3-1 win over Senegal — his 2nd goal made him France's all-time top scorer (58). Haaland scored a brace on his World Cup debut in Norway's 4-1 win over Iraq. Norway top the group on goal difference; France 2nd. They meet June 26.
The two best forwards of the post-Messi/Ronaldo era are DRAWN IN THE SAME GROUP (Group I) and will meet head-to-head.
Read the storyline →BelgiumIranDream start: USA 4-1 Paraguay (June 12) — the most goals the USMNT has ever scored in a World Cup match, and their first-ever 3-0 halftime lead. Balogun brace, Gio Reyna golazo. Top of Group D. Wrinkle: Pulisic subbed at halftime with a calf knock, day-to-day for June 19 vs Australia.
It's America's World Cup. The USMNT carries home-soil expectation under Argentine super-coach Mauricio Pochettino — can a young American side ride a…
Read the storyline →SpainSaudi ArabiaHeld Spain to a stunning 0-0 (June 15). Spain had ~27 shots; 40-year-old keeper Vozinha and a wall of bodies kept the clean sheet. Cape Verde became just the 7th team ever to avoid defeat on its World Cup debut. Coach: 'It means everything for our country.'
A volcanic island chain of ~500,000 people, making its first-ever World Cup, walked out against reigning European champions Spain.
Read the storyline →JapanTunisiaReality bit hard: lost 7-1 to Germany on debut (June 14) — but scored their historic first-ever World Cup goal (Comenencia). Bottom of Group E. The dream now is one more goal, one more moment.
A Caribbean island of ~156,000 people — the smallest nation BY POPULATION ever to reach a World Cup, breaking Iceland's record — built from the Dutch diaspora…
Read the storyline →EcuadorCuraçaoGermanyIvory CoastNetherlandsSwedenParaguayTurkeyBrazilHaitiMoroccoScotlandUnited StatesAustraliaMexicoSouth KoreaCanada
QatarSwitzerland
Bosnia and HerzegovinaCzech RepublicSouth AfricaColombiaUzbekistanGhanaPanamaEnglandCroatiaPortugalDR CongoAustriaJordanArgentinaAlgeriaNorwayIraqFranceSenegalIranNew ZealandUruguaySaudi ArabiaBelgiumEgyptSpainCape VerdeSwedenTunisiaIvory CoastEcuadorNetherlandsJapanGermanyCuraçaoAustraliaTurkeyScotlandHaitiBrazilMoroccoSwitzerlandQatarUnited StatesParaguayCanadaBosnia and HerzegovinaSouth KoreaCzech RepublicMexicoSouth Africa
