Both of the finalists from Qatar 2022, holders Argentina and runners-up France, got their tournaments underway on Tuesday and looked the most convincing contenders yet. Can England produce a similarly impressive performance against Croatia on Wednesday?
Day six was all about the star names, with Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland scoring twice each and Messi completing his first World Cup hat-trick.
In contrast to the day before, there were no draws as Argentina, France, Norway and Austria all got off to winning starts. How did it affect our rankings?
1. France
FIFA ranking: 3
➡️ 1 (arrow depicts movement from our previous ranking)
France’s litmus test provided positive results with an opening game 3-1 victory over Senegal. Unlike Spain and Brazil, two of the other fancied teams, they did not underwhelm.
After a stagnant first half, Mbappe clicked into gear despite being denied a penalty, and his long-range second goal took him past Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time top scorer.
Bradley Barcola scored France’s second and proved the team’s strength in depth, scoring off the bench. Against the team that beat Morocco in January’s Africa Cup of Nations final, this was a performance to cement their place at the top of our rankings.
Messi, Mbappe and Haaland put on a show | World Cup Daily Briefing
Megan Feringa and Amitai Winehouse
2. Argentina
FIFA ranking: 1
➡️
At his sixth World Cup, Messi still has magic in his boots. Watching him score his first hat-trick at the tournament at 38 years old was goosebump-inducing.
Could Algeria’s goalkeeper Luca Zidane, the son of France legend Zinedine, have done better on two of the three goals? Yes. Does that matter? No. He probably was not helped by having a fractured jaw, in fairness.
The main doubts about Argentina revolve around them having an ageing squad. It is a longer tournament than ever before and so their staying power will be tested, but what a start this was.
They will be well aware no team has won back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
Lionel Messi lifts the Copa America trophy in 2024 (Miguel Rodriguez/Anadolu via Getty Images)
3. England
FIFA ranking: 4
➡️
It’s game day for the Three Lions, finally.
Having the luxury of leaving Phil Foden and Cole Palmer out of his squad underlines just how much talent Thomas Tuchel has at his disposal, while the form of strikers Harry Kane (successive hat-tricks to end the season) and Ollie Watkins (six goals in five club games) also bodes well. As ever with England, their success or otherwise will be defined by whether they can carry their individual club form onto the international stage.
Tino Livramento withdrew from the squad on Tuesday with a calf injury and was replaced by Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah, but that only impacts squad-depth options rather than the starting XI.
Will being the last top-10 team to get their campaign underway affect England’s chances? We are about to find out.
Harry Kane and England have been beaten finalists at the past two European Championships (Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images)
4. Germany
FIFA ranking: 10
➡️
For a nation like Germany, it’s either win the World Cup or nothing, so in terms of their prospects of achieving their goal in 2026, we didn’t glean much from a 7-1 win over minnows Curacao. However, we were offered evidence that Germany’s imaginative attack will be one of the best to watch at the tournament, but their defending might leave much to be desired.
5. Spain
FIFA ranking: 2
➡️
As Spain proved in 2010 when losing their opening game but going on to win the tournament (see also Argentina in 2022), it’s not how you start but how you finish. Still, a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde was a humiliating and hugely disappointing result for the Euro 2024 champions. Unimaginative, uninspiring, predictable and they certainly didn’t look like World Cup winners in the making. Are they just going to rely on Lamine Yamal? There are worse strategies, but perhaps the unfit 18-year-old can’t do it all himself. Our pre-tournament favourites have work to do.
6. Brazil
FIFA ranking: 6
➡️
Brazil didn’t set the world alight in their opening match.
Carlo Ancelotti made two changes at half-time, an indication they aren’t fine-tuned as yet. Those changes came at full-back and in midfield, two areas of concern for this Brazil team that were not dispelled by the 1-1 draw against Morocco.
They can still go on to top Group C, with games against Haiti and Scotland to follow. A silver lining was Vinicius Jr’s emphatic finish, an encouraging start to the tournament for one of their key players.
7. Netherlands
FIFA ranking: 8
➡️
A decent showing against Japan that showcased their physicality, strength from attacking set pieces and occasional brilliance from forward players, but also highlighted weaknesses in the depth of their squad (their levels noticeably dropped after five substitutions were made). Ronald Koeman’s decision to throw on an extra defender for the last 10 minutes didn’t pay off when they succumbed to a late equaliser.
8. Portugal
FIFA ranking: 5
➡️
As ever, the conversation around Portugal will be focused on you know who: Cristiano Ronaldo should in theory be suspended for the first two games of the tournament, but his magical reprieve means he will almost certainly start. Will he finally make a mark on a World Cup, having never before scored a knockout goal at one? Having Joao Neves, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva probably gives Portugal the best midfield in the tournament.
You can only imagine what Messi’s hat-trick in his opening game did for Ronaldo’s motivation levels.
Could Cristiano Ronaldo win the World Cup, a trophy that has eluded him, at 41? (Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
9. Morocco
FIFA ranking: 7
➡️
Morocco’s draw with Brazil proved they remain one of football’s heavyweights after their semi-final run at Qatar 2022. They looked comfortable going toe-to-toe with the World Cup’s most successful nation.
The team has new talent since their historic run four years ago. Eighteen-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi, who committed to Morocco after appearing for the French under-21s, had a standout game in midfield. Bouaddi demanded the ball and controlled the tempo.
10. Colombia
FIFA ranking: 14
➡️
The 2024 Copa America finalists finished third in South American qualifying but go to the tournament with high hopes, led by talisman James Rodriguez in what will probably be his last World Cup. Ahead of him, Jhon Arias and Richard Rios are key players but in Luis Diaz, one-third of the most prolific attack in Europe at Bayern Munich, Colombia possess someone who could be one of the tournament’s standout players. They won’t be dull.
11. Croatia
FIFA ranking: 11
➡️
If this ranking was being compiled a month or so ago, Croatia might have slipped down a few places due to injury concerns around a couple of key players. But both Luka Modric and Josko Gvardiol appear to be fit and ready to go, so it’s difficult to ignore their recent tournament pedigree, with the experienced core of their team supplemented by a couple of very promising youngsters. Their opener against England should give us a good indication of what kind of tournament we can expect from the 2018 finalists.
12. Mexico
FIFA ranking: 13
➡️
An accomplished, drama-free opening victory against South Africa was pretty much everything Mexico hoped it would be. The excellent Julian Quinones’ early goal settled any nerves and then came the emotive, heart-rending second from talisman Raul Jimenez in the second half. With potentially more to come from Edson Alvarez (left out as he builds up his fitness) and wonderkid Gilberto Mora, Mexico may feel the benefit of home advantage more than anyone, what with that unbelievably passionate Azteca crowd.
13. South Korea
FIFA ranking: 22
➡️
Well, they certainly had a wobble against the Czech Republic, going 1-0 down in the second half and relying on goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu to make a couple of excellent saves, but South Korea’s comeback victory on the opening day gives them one foot in the knockout stages already. They were good value for the win and if Son Heung-min had his shooting boots on, it could have been a straightforward evening.
14. Uruguay
FIFA ranking: 16
➡️
A real mixed bag against Saudi Arabia in their opening game; dreadful in the first half when they played within themselves and barely offered a threat with Darwin Nunez ineffective (and subbed off at half-time), but much better after the break and deserved their late equaliser from Maxi Araujo, amassing 27 shots. With only six goals in their past eight matches, goalscoring remains a problem.
15. Senegal
FIFA ranking: 15
➡️
It would be harsh to drop Senegal out of the top 15 after a loss to France, the expected outcome.
Coming into the tournament after winning AFCON (sort of) earlier this year, Senegal can be encouraged by their first-half performance and substitute Ibrahim Mbaye’s nice late goal, even if it was quickly overshadowed by Mbappe.
16. Egypt
FIFA ranking: 29
➡️
Still searching for their first World Cup victory, 92 years after their first appearance. Egypt were well backed in the stands against Belgium and looked set to end their drought after taking the lead through Emam Ashour’s thunderous strike, but a poor second half left them hanging on for a creditable point. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush looked sprightly and it’s New Zealand next up on Monday. If Egypt can’t finally win then, perhaps they never will.
Mohamed Salah was carrying an injury going into the 2022 World Cup (Monirul Bhuiyan/AFP via Getty Images)
17. United States
FIFA ranking: 17
➡️
The USMNT’s stunning 4-1 victory over Paraguay suggested their ceiling may be higher than many of us thought.
Most encouragingly, though, Folarin Balogun looked every inch the top-class No 9 that the U.S. have been searching for (for generations), scoring twice — including a ridiculously good curled finish on his weaker left foot into the top corner for his second.
What’s more, long-vaunted talent Gio Reyna demonstrated his gifts on the world stage with a beautiful trivela strike in second-half stoppage time. Christian Pulisic was taken off at half-time over a potential calf problem with the U.S. 3-0 up, though both he and manager Mauricio Pochettino suggested it was precautionary.
Did we see USA’s best ever performance at a World Cup?
Phil Hay
18. Belgium
FIFA ranking: 9
➡️
In the list of pre-tournament favourites, Belgium were at the very lower end of the fancied sides, with their squad generally considered to be a bit one-paced and lacking in match-winning stars. Their opener against Egypt did nothing to dispel those thoughts. Jeremy Doku tried his best, but otherwise Belgium looked pretty ordinary — at least in terms of pinpointing teams that can go far in this competition — when claiming a 1-1 draw against the North Africans.
19. Ivory Coast
FIFA ranking: 33
➡️
Got their World Cup off to a dream start when Manchester United’s Amad Diallo scored a late winner against Ecuador. Having never progressed from the group stage of a World Cup, Ivory Coast now have a 95 per cent chance of getting to the knockout stage, needing to beat Curacao to guarantee progression to the last-32 stage.
20. Japan
FIFA ranking: 18
➡️
Probably underperformed against the Netherlands and yet still claimed a notable result.
Having beaten Brazil and England in the past year, they are clearly a very dangerous, technically gifted and compact team, but injuries to key players Kaoru Mitoma, Takumi Minamino and Wataru Endo lessen their chances of doing something special in the coming weeks. A convincing victory against Tunisia next time out would really get their tournament going.
21. Sweden
FIFA ranking: 38
➡️
Blimey. We didn’t quite know what to expect from Sweden, who lost twice to Kosovo during qualification but clearly have a very talented side… well, judging by their clinical 5-1 thrashing of Tunisia (13 shots, 1.37xG, five goals), Graham Potter has got the team working well together, especially the front two of Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres. A dark horse?
22. Norway
FIFA ranking: 31
➡️
Norway were always going to score goals with Erling Haaland up front. The Manchester City striker netted twice as they beat Iraq 4-1. From set pieces, Norway looked giant, with Leo Ostigard nodding in their third goal from a Martin Odegaard corner.
Games against the higher-ranked Senegal and France should show how high their ceiling can be. It’s hard to move them up in the rankings, as the teams directly above them had strong performances against better opposition, so they stay where they are for now.
Erling Haaland’s goals secured Norway’s place at a World Cup for the first time in 28 years (Image Photo Agency/Getty Images)
23. Australia
FIFA ranking: 27
➡️
Australia only managed 28 per cent possession against Turkey, but that was all they needed for a 2-0 win.
Pragmatic coach Tony Popovic has made them hard to break down, and this is a side that could exceed expectations. While Turkey have star names in attack, it was Australia’s 20-year-old Nestory Irankunda who produced the game’s magic moment for the opening goal.
Nestory Irankunda celebrates his opener for Australia against Turkey (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
24. Switzerland
FIFA ranking: 19
➡️
Switzerland’s casual display against Qatar cost them a winning start as they dominated, only to concede a late equaliser.
Group B remains wide open after Canada and Bosnia & Herzegovina also drew 1-1. But Qatar is considered the best opportunity to secure three points, and the Swiss result could look worse in retrospect if Qatar are beaten in their other fixtures.
It looked like a comfortable game for Switzerland, who enjoyed 68 per cent possession and accumulated an xG of 3.2, but expectations for their team have to decrease after they could not win a game in which they were heavy favourites.
25. Ecuador
FIFA ranking: 24
➡️
Their fans created a sea of yellow in Philadelphia but the result was an almighty damp squib, with a 1-0 defeat by Ivory Coast bringing an unbeaten run which lasted 19 matches and almost two years to an abrupt end. They were incredibly unlucky in hitting the woodwork three times but now may require a draw against Germany if they’re to get out of the group.
26. Austria
FIFA ranking: 25
⬆️ 2
Job done for Austria with a 3-1 victory over World Cup debutants Jordan in their first game. Despite it being their first World Cup since 1998, they have a team with plenty of experience of playing high-level European club football.
It helps when you win with a bit of pizzazz, and Romano Schmid’s opener was a goal to remember. Striker Marko Arnautovic, 37, showed some sharpness and scored a penalty. They should now be in a battle with Algeria for second place in Group J.
27. Algeria
FIFA ranking: 28
⬇️ 1
It’s not much of a crime to succumb to Argentina and Messi, arguably the greatest player of all time, so only a small decrease in the rankings here to move below Austria, who sit above them in Group J.
Fans might be encouraged to know that head coach Vladimir Petkovic has faith in the new guard, starting 24-year-old Anis Hadj Moussa over the older Riyad Mahrez in their opener. For Algeria, games against Jordan and Austria look far more winnable.
28. Ghana
FIFA ranking: 73
⬇️ 1
Ghana sacked manager Otto Addo in March, which doesn’t scream ‘steady ship’, plus the absence of Mohamed Kudus will be quite a blow. Plenty of attacking hopes will rest on the shoulders of Antoine Semenyo, and how quickly Addo’s replacement Carlos Queiroz will be able to get the team pointing in the right direction.
29. Canada
FIFA ranking: 30
➡️
Canada should still have enough to go through, and will no doubt be targeting the game against Qatar to pick up a first World Cup win in their history, but they were disappointing in front of a home crowd in Toronto on Friday.
Star forward and Canada’s all-time leading goalscorer Jonathan David was utterly ineffective before he was substituted by head coach Jesse Marsch just after the hour mark, leaving questions about whether he can find his best form at the World Cup after a difficult debut club season at Juventus.
In the end it was Ontario-born Cyle Larin, who may have expected to start after ending the club season strongly with Southampton in the English Championship, who saved their peameal bacon with a deflected shot that sent his hometown crowd wild and secured an important 1-1 draw.
30. Turkey
FIFA ranking: 23
➡️
Dubbed one of the tournament’s dark horses, Turkey were shocked in their opening game. After losing to Australia, if they progress from Group D, it now looks likely to be in third place unless they trouble the United States. This would mean a tougher knockout draw.
This team does have quality, creating nice moments with their 72 per cent possession, but they will need their key players Baris Alper Yilmaz and Arda Guler to deliver some much-needed end product.
31. Scotland
FIFA ranking: 41
➡️
Scotland now lead Group C, which contains two top-10 ranked FIFA teams — Brazil and Morocco — after beating Haiti. Not bad going.
Haiti were able to trouble Scotland at times, but John McGinn provided a first World Cup goal since 1998 and a 1-0 win, their first at the finals since 1990, which moves them a step towards progression to the knockout stage.
32. Iran
FIFA ranking: 20
➡️
After an unfathomably difficult build-up, Iran could finally concentrate on football with their opening match against New Zealand. Given the difference in experience and quality between the two teams, a 2-2 draw was a disappointment despite twice coming from behind. It leaves Iran needing a result against either Belgium or Egypt (or both) to progress.
33. Saudi Arabia
FIFA ranking: 60
➡️
Organised, well-coached and clearly playing to a plan, Saudi Arabia almost caused a big shock at the start of their second successive World Cup, having beaten Argentina in 2022. A point against Uruguay, despite taking the lead, was still a great result and means victory against Cape Verde in their final match almost certainly gets them out of the group. But before then, can they trouble Spain?
34. Panama
FIFA ranking: 34
➡️
Maybe it doesn’t quite qualify as a ‘group of death’, but Panama being drawn against England, Ghana and Croatia isn’t going to help their prospects. With a kinder draw, it’s possible they might have been able to get through to the knockouts as one of the best third-placed teams, but that’s a long shot at best.
35. Paraguay
FIFA ranking: 40
➡️
Their opening match against the U.S. made for a very disappointing return to the World Cup after a 16-year wait. Paraguay were played off the park, seemingly lacking the organisation and structure that propelled them to a sixth-placed finish in South American qualifying, where they ended level on points with Brazil and beat reigning continental and world champions Argentina.
Playing against the hosts is never easy, but now their chances of qualification for the knockout stages is in peril.
36. New Zealand
FIFA ranking: 85
➡️
Still without a World Cup win but they belied their pre-tournament expectations by claiming an impressive 2-2 draw against Iran in their opening match. Elijah Just had millions Googling his name (and clubs no doubt checking his availability) after scoring twice, both expertly set up by Chris Wood, as New Zealand extended their unbeaten World Cup run to four matches (they drew all three games in their last appearance in 2010).
37. Qatar
FIFA ranking: 56
➡️
A draw against Switzerland, many people’s predicted group winners, shifted them up the rankings from where we had them at the start of the tournament. Admittedly, it was a result born of Swiss complacency as much as Qatar’s courage, but a first World Cup point is worthy of significant movement.
They showed more in their first game than they did during their three as hosts in 2022, when they conceded seven goals and scored just once. But they drop down a couple of places given other teams’ performances.
38. Bosnia and Herzegovina
FIFA ranking: 64
➡️
Bosnia and Herzegovina can hold their heads high after a spirited and competitive return to football’s grandest stage, particularly against a host nation in Canada with a 1-1 draw. They had to withstand a fair bit of pressure in the second half as Canada grew into the game, but as anyone who followed their run through the qualifying stages, beating Italy in a play-off to book their spot this summer, Bosnia aren’t the types to crumble. Canada eventually got their goal, but only after a stroke of luck due to a pretty hefty deflection.
Edin Dzeko played no part as he is still recovering from a shoulder injury that has sidelined him since the March internationals. Having their star striker back, dubbed the Bosnian diamond, would significantly boost their chances of progression.
39. Czech Republic
FIFA ranking: 43
➡️
Lost their opening match against South Korea but their Group A prospects look stronger than they might have done because of the ineptitude of South Africa. Captain Ladislav Krejci’s header from Vladimir Coufal’s long throw briefly had them in the lead against the Koreans and, were it not for a couple of spurned late chances, they may have got a decent opening result. Defeat was a serious blow, but they’re favourites to beat South Africa in their next match on Thursday, which could be enough to sneak them through in third place.
40. Cape Verde
FIFA ranking: 67
➡️
A point against Uruguay or Saudi Arabia in Group H would have been a glorious achievement, but to hold 2010 winners and reigning European champions Spain to a 0-0 draw was Cape Verde’s equivalent of winning the World Cup. It was an extraordinary result and one they fully merited for a gutsy, organised display of 100 per cent, wholehearted commitment, backed up by magnificent 40-year-old ’keeper Vozinha, who used to play in the Angolan league. Proper World Cup.
41. Uzbekistan
FIFA ranking: 50
➡️
Winning a friendly FIFA Series tournament in March may not have meant a huge amount on paper, given the opponents were Gabon and Venezuela, but it kept Uzbekistan’s momentum going ahead of the country’s first World Cup appearance. Their prospects of escaping Group K (which also contains Portugal, Colombia and DR Congo) may rest on striker and captain Eldor Shomurodov continuing his excellent club form with Istanbul Basaksehir, where he shared the Turkish Super Lig golden boot having scored 22 goals, making it the most prolific season of his career. In a warm-up against the Netherlands, they only lost to a 98th-minute goal.
42. Tunisia
FIFA ranking: 45
➡️
Didn’t concede a single goal in their 10 qualifiers but were trounced 5-1 by Sweden in their opening match, in what was supposed to be their least difficult game in Group F. Head coach Sabri Lamouchi’s decision to cast aside several experienced players amid a raft of changes since taking over in January didn’t pay off and he has, incredibly, been sacked, with ex-Saudi Arabia manager Herve Renard parachuted in as his replacement.
43. South Africa
FIFA ranking: 61
➡️
Two red cards really did not help but South Africa were comfortably second-best with 11 men against Mexico in the opening game of the tournament, with coach Hugo Broos’ decision to deploy a new five-at-the-back formation not paying off at all. They were occasionally calamitous at playing it out from the back and never looked like scoring. Can they fix that, with two suspended players, against the Czech Republic on Thursday? In their first World Cup appearance since hosting the tournament in 2010, it was a shame to see South Africa barely show any adventure or intent, which will dismay their fans back home.
44. Jordan
FIFA ranking: 63
➡️
A first World Cup game, and a first World Cup goal for Jordan. Plenty to celebrate despite losing 3-1 to Austria.
Manager Jamal Sellami told his staff to calm down after their goal, to act like they’ve been here before. But they haven’t, so every game is a learning curve. Jordan will need to collect some points in Group J to move up our rankings.
45. Curacao
FIFA ranking: 82
➡️
Livano Comenencia produced one of the best moments of the tournament so far, firing the smallest World Cup nation ever level for 17 minutes against four-time winners Germany and who knows what else they would have done without that pesky hydration break. They managed eight shots and, despite the scoreline, didn’t embarrass themselves. Having caused the mighty Germany problems, they deserve to move up a place. Will fancy their chances of more shock moments against Ecuador and Ivory Coast.
46. DR Congo
FIFA ranking: 46
➡️
The casual fan would be forgiven for not knowing a huge amount about the DR Congo side, but they do actually have half a sniff of progressing, given they’re in a group with first-timers Uzbekistan: beat them in the final group game and they might go through as one of the best third-place teams. What an achievement that would be.
47. Iraq
FIFA ranking: 57
➡️
Iraq imposed themselves physically against Norway in the first half, and Aymen Hussein, who was held for hours by U.S. immigration officials when he arrived in the country, scored a towering header. But a sloppy backpass and slow reaction from goalkeeper Jalal Hassan gifted Haaland his second goal and restored Norway’s lead before half-time, and confidence was depleted with Norway’s third and fourth goals.
They will do well to earn a point in Group I, with remaining games against France and Senegal.
48. Haiti
FIFA ranking: 83
➡️
Haiti’s best chance of a result in Group C was likely going to be against Scotland, with their other opponents Morocco and Brazil.
As the lowest-ranking team, they produced a spirited performance that was more encouraging than the manner in which other teams lost. But succumbing 1-0 does not justify a move up our rankings, and they will need to keep a competitive spirit in their tough remaining group games.