The field is set, we’re ready for our first ever FIFA World Cup with 48 teams, the expanded field brings more possibilities, but also a wider gap between the top teams and the rest of the field. Every week we will look at a new set of teams, counting down to the top 8 contenders to lift the coveted gold trophy in the United States this summer. This week it’s the teams with the lowest odds of success, where any World Cup win would be seriously celebrated, and passage into the knockout phase would come as a surprise. As always, consider that serious injuries to starters could shake up these standings a bit as club football continues into May. Next up is teams 30-39 including Ghana and Australia.
48. Curacao
(Group E with Germany, Ivory Coast and Ecuador)
The island nation of Curacao will be making their World Cup debut in a group that could serve as the “Group of Death” this tournament. In a weakened CONCACAF qualifying group, they beat Jamaica at home in October 2025 in a key result. This is also a side that lost to Honduras and drew with El Salvador at the Gold Cup and were recently battered by China and Australia in March. Drawing heavily from the Dutch league system players like PSV’s Armando Obispo are here along with Sheffield United’s Tahith Chong but their veteran striker Jurgen Locaida plays in USL for Miami FC. Ultimately the talent pool isn’t deep, and their defence could be battered in all three group stage games. With that said, their Adidas kit is one of the most talked about of the tournament.
47. New Zealand
(Group G with Belgium, Egypt, and Iran)
New Zealand just upset Chile, their first win over a South American nation. That gives OFC’s only qualifier a bit of a script change heading into their third World Cup, but expectations are low for a team that Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood is the captain of. The challenge for New Zealand remains that their region is practically non-competitive, meaning friendlies are the real measuring stick, and overall the record is poor. They did draw with Norway in October, and beat Ivory Coast last June but even at home in Auckland this March the result was 2-0 for Finland.
The squad is a mix of A League players who play in Australia’s top league and a few players in the English system, Europe and MLS. Michael Boxall at 37 should be back, along with the 34-year-old Wood. They defend decently, but lack a midfield that can dictate and they won’t be favored in any of their group stage matches.
46. Haiti
(Group C with Brazil, Morocco, and Scotland)
While the nation itself is in crisis, Haiti has returned to the World Cup for the first time since 1974. This CONCACAF nation benefited from three of regions top sides automatically qualifying as hosts, and the Haitian diaspora in North America are ready to welcome their team. Since 2025, Haiti lost to similar minnows Curacao and Saudi Arabia and they lost 3-0 to Honduras in October. The most recent results, a 1-0 loss to Tunisia and a 1-1 draw with Iceland show this team is tough but far from elite. They are hoping to take advantage of nationality switches to strengthen the squad that is quite a global one. There’s players here like LDU Quito’s Ricardo Ade, and Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor (who just joined), Duckens Nazon, who plays his club football in Iran, is the leading scorer. The ceiling here is higher than some teams on this list, but it’s a question about whether it will come together, avoiding heavy defeats to Brazil and Morocco will be a challenge, while they hope to battle with Scotland.
45. Jordan
(Group J with Argentina, Algeria, and Austria)
Jordan makes their World Cup debut after finishing as runners up in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, this is clearly a golden generation for the Middle Eastern nation, but their group is tough. After qualifying, they suffered a string of losses to Bolivia, Albania, and Tunisia last year and recently drew with Costa Rica and Nigeria. Most of the current squad is domestic or plays within the Middle East, a notable exception being FC Seoul’s Yazan Al-Arab, and the team’s captain, Rennes Musa Al-Taamari. Nobody on this squad is a superstar, but it’s clearly better than the sum of its parts.
44. Qatar
(Group B with Bosnia, Canada, and Switzerland)
Qatar debuted as World Cup hosts in 2022, but they were AFC Asian Cup Champions in 2019 and 2023 and keep improving as a footballing nation. Qatar lost to Zimbabwe in November, along with Russia and Lebanon last year. They lost a World Cup qualifying match to Kyrgyzstan and twice to UAE. The squad is domestically based and doesn’t frequently face top teams, they also have a number of naturalized players. Julen Lopetegui is the manager, and the group isn’t the most difficult with Bosnia and Canada presenting winnable games, but Qatar is still mocked up to finish last in their group for a reason.
43. Iraq
(Group I with France, Senegal, and Norway)
The last team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, Graham Arnold steered them their first World Cup since 1986 in the intercontinental playoff but now they are heavy underdogs in a difficult group of teams with top talent. Iraq’s greatest footballing achievement was winning the 2007 AFC Asian Cup after the nation was battered by Civil War.
This is a side that drew against UAE and Saudi Arabia to end up in the playoff, they lost to Palestine during the qualifying campaign and generally play low scoring, defensive games. Much of the squad plays in the Iraqi domestic league with a few based in Europe like 22-year-old midfielder Zidane Iqbal (Utrecht), there’s some promising young talent here, Luton Town’s Ali Al-Hamadi is 24 and plays striker, but when your top scorer is 30 year old Aymen Hussein, the hero in the playoff match, who plays in Iraq’s domestic league it’s clear they will have to play for attritional results against the other 3 teams in the group.
42. Cape Verde
(Group H with Spain, Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay)
Making their debut in the World Cup, this is a small nation having a historic moment, even if they aren’t expected to win any of their group stage games. Cape Verde’s qualifying path was a bit choppy, they drew with Libya away and ther final tune up games in the march window were a 4-2 loss to lowly Chile and a draw with Finland (that they won on penalties). Manager Bubista has been with this team for six years, they have experience and are tight as a group. 36-year-old Ryan Mendes is the captain, but there’s no famous name to carry the squad, MLS fans will recognize Columbus Crew defender Steven Moreira.
41. South Africa
(Group A with Mexico, South Korea, and Czechia)
The Bafana Bafana have been to four World Cups, but are yet to make it out of the group stage, the last being their 2010 tournament as hosts. Recent results include a loss to Lesotho in March in 2025, a draw with Zimbabwe in October, and a loss and a draw in two friendlies against Panama. They did get out of the AFCON group stage but lost to Cameroon in the knockouts. The side heavily relies on domestic players in the South African PSL with Burnley’s Lyle Foster being one of the few exceptions. This team is fun to watch, but Mamelodi Sundowns went to the Club World Cup and didn’t look like world beaters, so it’s hard to see South Africa getting a win in their group.
40. Saudi Arabia
(Group H with Cape Verde, Spain, and Uruguay)
While the Saudi Pro League has become one of the top 10 domestic leagues in the world due to a massive investment by the Saudi State, the national team has lagged that investment, with Saudi Arabia’s domestic players not developing as fast as their global talent infusion. It’s their 7th World Cup but they have only gotten out of the group stage once in 1994, and didn’t advance in the 2022 tournament despite a stunning upset of eventual champions Argentina.
Saudi Arabia lost to both the USA and Mexico at the Gold Cup, and they drew with Trinidad and Tobago. They recently lost to Egypt and Serbia in March. Every player in the squad is from the Saudi Pro League including Al-Hilal’s Mohamed Kanno and Salem Al-Dawsari and Al-Nassr’s Nawaf Al-Aqidi in goal, but there’s no gamebreaker here, and the only question is whether the Saudis will finish ahead of Cape Verde in a World Cup Group that is the only one to feature two of the lower ranked sides in the tournament.
Next week we will cover teams 30-39 in the 2026 World Cup Power Rankings.
Main Photo: Smartframe Images
