2026 World Cup Quarterfinal Power Rankings

The 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 brought epic moments and exciting football. We have started to see some upsets and close situations, as we now head into the quarterfinals of the tournament.

So, with only eight teams remaining, who are the best nations still in the tournament? The FOX Sports World Cup NOW team of Melissa Ortiz, Maurice Edu, Brad Guzan and Sacha Kljestan took a look at the field to reveal their power rankings of the eight remaining teams in the quarterfinals.

“I think Switzerland, who put us to sleep, can be number 8,” Kljestan said.

Edu agreed with the assessment, noting that Belgium should advance after Switzerland needed penalties to beat Colombia to advance. Belgium thus gained a place.

However, Switzerland is now 3-2-0 in this tournament.

Belgium, who were initially seeded eighth, moved up one place after a 4-1 loss to co-hosts the United States in the round of 16. Belgium showed their ability to score in batches, but looked vulnerable early against Senegal in the round of 16, having to stage a comeback to advance. This also happened after Belgium went 1-2-0 in the group stage, but they have now won three matches in a row.

Norway moved into sixth place by unanimous consent of the NOW World Cup crew, with Edu even leading a quick argument with his teammates. Norway advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time in their association’s history after Erling Haaland scored twice in their round of 16 victory over Brazil on Sunday. Norway have also won all four matches played by Haaland in this tournament as he fights for the Golden Boot.

For fifth place, the crew chose Morocco to finalize the bottom half of the power rankings. Ortiz added that Morocco should not be taken lightly, something the rest of the crew agreed with.

Morocco qualified for the quarter-finals after their 3-0 victory over Canada on Saturday. But his most impressive match might have been against the Netherlands in the round of 16. After battling to a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, Morocco progressed on penalties as they will now face France in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

The debate shifted as the panel looked at the top four teams, starting with a close comparison between England, ranked No. 4, and the team ranked third on that list.

“Our decision between number three and number four was difficult, because I think England have also shown quality in the league, and so I think there is a little difference between teams one and two and teams three and four,” Kljestan said.

Edu highlighted England’s recent performance with their 3-2 win over Mexico to show how close the gap was between the two teams.

“The biggest for me, between Argentina and England, because I was at that match in Mexico, England was impressive to be able to do what hadn’t been done since 2013 in a competitive match at the Azteca, which was to win, it was impressive,” Edu said. “Their stars came through, Jude Bellingham gets a brace, Harry Kane scores a goal and assists in that one too.”

Despite England’s heroic performance, the team gave Argentina the edge at No. 3 due to their history and handling of the tournament.

“What makes Argentina different? Obviously it’s Messi, but they’ve done it before,” Edu said.

“They come here as defending champions, so they know that pedigree to win, they know what it takes, and when you talk about their last two games against Cape Verde and then today against Egypt, yes, they were heartbreaking.

“If you are a Messi fan, if you are an Argentina fan, you sweat, you are nervous, but there is a certain character that this group has, the manager too, because they already crossed that line in the last World Cup.

Argentina has won all five matches it has played at this World Cup. However, his last two victories have been dramatic. More was needed

once to defeat Cape Verde in the round of 16 before having to come back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Egypt in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

“You guys, they made the fans suffer, they made the football fans suffer, but they always got it done,” Ortiz said.

Guzan added that it was “the Messi show” and indicated that the rest of the team needed to contribute more as the tournament progressed.

“They’re going to need help from others,” Guzan said. “There are other guys on this team, they’re going to have to step up.”

Spain secured second place in the power rankings, largely thanks to their defensive efficiency throughout the competition.

“I think Spain was amazing,” Edu said. “There’s still more, there’s still more to see from this team, but they were incredibly effective. The fact that they’re in the quarter-final without conceding a goal, that’s where [I say] It’s impressive.”

As Spain is yet to concede a goal in this tournament, they have dominated their opponents 9-0 in this tournament.

France took first place in the ranking, thus maintaining its status as tournament favorite.

“And they lived up to everyone’s expectations of them,” Kljestan said. “They were the favorites. They were the team that I think all of us at this little round table picked to win the tournament, and they were the best offensive team. So they’re No. 1 – best offensive team, number two, best defensive team in this tournament.”

Just like Argentina, France has also won all five matches it has played in this tournament. They had to win 1-0 against Paraguay in the round of 16, but France dominated their opponents 14-2 in this tournament.

Once the rankings were established, analysts wondered whether any of the lower-ranked teams could challenge the top four for the title. Kljestan expressed skepticism about the lower tier’s chances of success in the remaining rounds.

“Personally, I don’t think any team outside the top four can win this World Cup,” Kljestan said. “From now on, you have to win three more games, and I don’t see any of these teams knocking out the top four teams, let alone knocking them out once and then having to do two more.”

Guzan agreed, noting the difficulty of stringing together consecutive victories against elite opponents.

“That’s what I was just going to say, I think it’s possible to do it once, to do it two or three times,” Guzan said. “I think it gets really, really difficult when you play these top four teams given the quality they have.”