FIFA World Cup: Which semifinal team has best chance to win the trophy?
Form guide on the final eight teams as they battle it out for the FIFA World Cup 2026 trophy in the United States. The football
Form guide on the final eight teams as they battle it out for the FIFA World Cup 2026 trophy in the United States. The football teams of forty-eight countries set out with a chance of winning the World Cup on June 11, and the hopes of just four nations remain alive. The top four teams in the FIFA rankings, with eight previous titles between them, will lock horns on Tuesday and Wednesday to try to secure a place in what is set to be the grandest of showpiece occasions in sport: the World Cup Final at New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, July 19. Al Jazeera ranks the contenders for the title 4. Argentina What’s this? The defending champions as the outsiders? Well, Algeria, Austria, Jordan, Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland must be one of the kindest ever paths to the business end of a World Cup, and La Albiceleste have not exactly been convincing along it. They were made to sweat by Cape Verde and Egypt in the knockout stages before finding a way to prevail in dramatic circumstances, and the pattern was repeated against Switzerland in Kansas City on Saturday night, when they went almost 90 minutes without a shot on target following Alexis Mac Allister’s early opening goal. Their ageing side eventually prevailed after 120 minutes in sweltering conditions. Had Switzerland kept 11 men on the field, things might have been very different, but, once again, in the end, the defending champions found a way to win when they were well below their best. Surely they cannot get away with another performance like that against England? Well, England fans might well be saying the same about the Three Lions. Both Harry Kane and Lionel Messi fell well short of their best in the last-eight matchups too. The outpouring of emotion from Messi at full-time in the comeback win over Egypt showed just how close the three-time winners came to being eliminated. In an already emotionally charged matchup with England, expect tempers to rise and tears to flow on either side come full-time. If Argentina, and – in his first-ever appearance against the Three Lions – Messi, are able to rediscover their swagger and win, ousting their old foes from the tournament in the knockout stages for a third straight time, then the confidence and momentum they would take into the final would be huge.
However, nothing they have shown in the US this summer would suggest that is likely to happen. And even if it did, whether it would be enough to give them the edge against European champions Spain, or a vengeful France side they vanquished on penalties in the epic final of Qatar 2022, is another matter entirely. 3. England Have we seen the best of England in this tournament? Probably not. And yet, here they are, in the semifinals for just the fourth time ever. The win over Norway was neither pretty nor convincing, and manager Thomas Tuchel admitted they were lucky to get through, thanks largely to Jude Bellingham putting the team on his shoulders at a couple of key moments once again. Could a midfielder really win the Golden Boot? He is only two behind Messi and Kylian Mbappe with six goals already. Much to Tuchel’s frustration, bar a 20-minute purple patch in the second half of the 4-2 opening game win against Croatia, England have yet to dominate a team, and relied on counterattacking bursts to give them a 3-2 lead to defend in the epic round-of-16 victory over Mexico in the cauldron of the Azteca. What they have shown is character, in abundance, and they will likely need plenty more of that if they are to end 60 years of longing for a second World Cup title. The game against Argentina will be far more than 11 vs 11; the ghosts of football history will line up alongside both teams, and the hype and pressure are sure to be enormous. A few possible positives for England will be that they have already made par for this tournament: Ranked fourth in the world, they have reached the last four. Anything else would be a bonus. Nobody really considers them a top-two team in the world, which might help to alleviate some of the burden of expectation. After a trip to the altitude of Mexico City, and the oppressive heat and humidity of Miami, a return to the 22-Celsius (71.6F) climate-controlled confines of Atlanta, where England overcame DR Congo in the round of 32, will be welcome.
The BriefWire