Our review of the 48 teams participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup continues with power rankings for teams 30–39 in the field. These teams could spring an upset or two, but ultimately have low expectations heading into this year’s tournament. As a reminder, we reviewed teams ranked 40–48 in the field previously, including Jordan and South Africa.
39. Ghana
(Group L with England, Croatia, and Panama)
Ghana have been to five World Cups and were quarterfinalists in 2010. They have generally been a strong national team in the CAF region, but the national team is currently in a slump at the worst moment. After qualifying in October, they have been rolled in four straight friendlies: scoreless in Asia against Japan and South Korea, then taking it on the chin 5–1 against Austria and 2–1 against Germany this March.
They still have friendlies against Mexico and Wales scheduled before an opening group stage game against Panama that will set the tone for their tournament. They will be under new management for that tournament, and the squad is still almost entirely based in Europe. You have Villarreal’s Thomas Partey in midfield, veteran forward Jordan Ayew from Leicester City, and Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo in attack; if fit, Mohammed Kudus from Tottenham will come in as well. That’s a solid core, but on current form they aren’t outright favorites against Panama, and they would likely lose to England and Croatia, meaning the tournament is set to be a disappointment for supporters of the Black Stars. Their defending is not reliable at all, and that’s a risk in tournament football.
38. Panama
(Group L with England, Croatia, and Ghana)
The small Central American nation has shown steady improvement in football and qualified for just their second ever World Cup, benefiting from an easier path as their rivals USA, Mexico, and Canada were automatically qualified as hosts.
Regardless, Panama have lost just once since June of 2025, and that was to Mexico in a friendly in January that did not feature full-strength squads. Mexico was also their last defeat in an A-list match, as they lost the 2025 Nations League final to Mexico 2–1. The trouble is, Panama’s opponents in that span have mostly been nations below their level, mainly from their own region. They played South Africa twice in the March window, winning one and drawing the second match, both away in South Africa. They travel to Rio to face Brazil in May before the group-stage gauntlet begins.
Thomas Christiansen has been with this squad, managing its rise for six years now. The squad is extremely diverse in terms of where they play their domestic football. There are veterans like Cecilio Waterman, a striker at Universidad de Concepción in Chile, 36-year-old midfielder Aníbal Godoy at San Diego FC in MLS, a trio of Liga MX players including Pumas creator Adalberto Carrasquilla, and even some players in Europe like Norwich City’s José Córdoba.
There’s a lack of a superstar here, but this team plays well together and believes they can win at least one of their group stage games. They will be targeting a win over Ghana, but England and Croatia look like much heavier hills to climb. Ultimately, expectations remain low for Panama.
37. Uzbekistan
(Group K with Portugal, D.R. Congo and Colombia)
Uzbekistan will be significant underdogs against Portugal and Colombia when they make their World Cup debut, which makes the game against D.R. Congo pivotal, as the teams are arguably on a similar level. Fabio Cannavaro’s nation of Italy are not in the World Cup, but he’s here as the manager of a Uzbekistan side that is having a golden generation.
Since November of 2024, Uzbekistan’s only loss came 2–1 against Uruguay in Malaysia, a completely respectable result. They were strong in AFC qualifying, they scored a win over Iran in the CAFA Nations Cup in September, and they beat Egypt in November. It feels a bit unfair to have them this low, but we don’t entirely know what we have in this squad. The majority play in Uzbekistan’s domestic league for clubs like Pakhtakor and, outside of the AFC Champions League, they are not consistently challenged by the world’s best.
There’s real talent here though. Manchester City’s Abdukodir Khusanov anchors the backline at 22 years old, and experienced forward Eldor Shomurodov is captain and currently plays his club football in Turkey. This is a team that defends a lot and works hard. They won’t be flashy, but they also aren’t easy to beat.
36. Tunisia
(Group F with the Netherlands, Japan, and Sweden)
Tunisia, after six World Cups, has yet to make it out of the group stage. They consistently qualify from CAF, putting together disciplined and defensively solid efforts that get them to football’s biggest stage, but they lack the firepower and individual shine to go any further. They will once again not be favored to reach the knockout stage this tournament. Recent results include a 3–2 loss to Nigeria, a penalty-shootout defeat to Mali at AFCON, and a scoreless draw against Canada in Toronto.
The team has a number of players that continue to play their club football within Tunisia, while the leader is midfielder Ellyes Skhiri from Eintracht Frankfurt. Scanning their roster, you won’t see too many famous faces: PSG’s Khalil Ayari was called up at age 21 along with Augsburg’s Ismaël Gharbi. The forwards are young, and this team is hungry, but short of grinding out a penalty or set-piece goal and defending for 90 minutes, it’s hard to see them thriving against their group-stage opponents.
35. DR Congo
(Group K with Portugal, Uzbekistan, and Colombia)
Playing just their second World Cup, DR Congo arrives with low expectations as Africa’s last qualifier. They came through against Jamaica in the FIFA playoff, but also upset Cameroon and Nigeria to make it that far, showing their pedigree. The group isn’t easy, they could finish last, but they drew with tournament winners Senegal at AFCON this December and only lost to Algeria in extra time. The captain is 31-year-old Chancel Mbemba, a defender who plays at Lille, there’s Premier League talent too, Axel Tuanzebe at Burnley, West Ham’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Sunderland’s Noah Sadiki.
They also have goalscorers that are proven, Newcastle’s Yoane Wissa and Real Betis Cedric Bakambu, who is still pivotal at age 34. This squad is experienced and very much coming into the moment with confidence, neither of the favorites in this group should take them for granted.
34. Iran
(Group G with Belgium, New Zealand and Egypt)
Iran have been a strong team in Asian football for some time, but with the nation at war and perennially in political crisis at this point, their participation in the tournament – with games scheduled to be played in the United States, the nation they are at war with – has been a frequent point of doubt. Perhaps their games will be moved to Mexico, perhaps everything will go off without a hitch, but even without that drama, Iranian football is not having its best moment right now. Recent results include a 2–1 loss to Nigeria, but also a 5–0 win against a declining Costa Rica side in the same March window. They also lost to Russia in October.
Veteran striker Mehdi Taremi (Olympiacos) still carries a squad that is heavy on domestic-league players, and many of their best players are getting older, like midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who now plays in Belgium. Iran don’t take many risks when they play; they are hard to break down, but their biggest advantage this World Cup is the relative weakness of their group. They will be favored against New Zealand and at least on par with Egypt, meaning they can still reach the knockout stage and have a celebration.
33. Bosnia and Herzegovina
(Group B with Canada, Qatar, and Switzerland)
The joyous scenes in Bosnia were one of the best parts of the World Cup qualifying tournament. Bosnia battled to upset Wales and Italy and reach the World Cup for the second time in their history. They were only in that playoff after narrowly finishing behind Austria in their UEFA qualifying group. This is a Bosnia side on the rise with a brave manager in Sergej Barbarez, a former player, and later professional poker player, who commands respect. Edin Džeko, at 40, is still everything to Bosnia; if he plays well, they can compete. Without him, they are missing their beating heart.
Like Iran, they are in a situation where they could clearly reach the knockout phase due to the relative weakness of the group they are in. Switzerland have been a strong team in UEFA for some time, hosts Canada are far from impressive, and Qatar have been struggling. Still, this is the same side that drew with Cyprus in October; there’s inconsistency, and young talent like Brøndby’s Benjamin Tahirović in midfield. Bosnia will hope to ride the momentum and test their luck at the card table.
32. Czechia (Czech Republic)
(Group A with Mexico, South Africa, and South Korea)
As an independent nation, Czechia hasn’t advanced beyond the group stage of the World Cup, but their group is winnable, or at least unpredictable, with hosts Mexico, a modest South Africa side, and a South Korea side that all have a clear ceiling. After losing to the Faroe Islands in October, Czechia’s World Cup dreams were hanging by a thread, and they only beat San Marino 1–0 a month later. They needed penalties to beat Ireland and Denmark in the qualification playoffs. There’s not too much to brag about from their recent results, other than the grit and determination they showed to not quit.
Wolverhampton’s Ladislav Krejčí is captain, there are a number of players in the Czech first division in this squad, along with West Ham’s Tomáš Souček in midfield, and Bayer Leverkusen’s Patrik Schick as the main striker. This is not an overly young squad – they have prime-age players or older – but expectations need to remain low.
31. Canada
(Group B with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, and Switzerland)
The host nation that is considered the weakest of the three, Canadian football is improving. Under Jesse Marsch, there’s talent here, but it hasn’t always come together when it matters. They are in a winnable group and have home-field advantage, however, so expectations continue to be they will be in the tournament beyond the mandatory three games. Canada are playing in their third World Cup and have yet to advance beyond the group stage.
The squad is heavy on MLS players with some European-based talent including Tajon Buchanan (Villarreal) and Jonathan David (Juventus). Midfielder Stephen Eustáquio (LAFC) is the motor of the midfield when healthy, and Jacob Shaffelburg (LAFC) is also a key man. There are concerns around the fitness of Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies and whether he can meaningfully contribute this World Cup. Moise Bombito (Nice) is another key player dealing with injury and fitness concerns ahead of the tournament.
Having not had to go through qualifying, they have played friendlies, Nations League and Gold Cup recently. They lost 2–0 to Mexico in March of 2025 but did beat the United States in the next game. They drew with Curaçao and lost on penalties to Guatemala at the Gold Cup, lost to Australia in October, but have had some respectable draws against Colombia, Ecuador, and Tunisia in recent outings. Canada don’t score at a high rate, but they also don’t concede much; they would remain favored against Qatar, and they are underdogs against the Swiss. That makes the game against Bosnia the pivot game to determine their tournament fate.
30. Australia
(Group D with Paraguay, United States and Turkiye)
Australia are headed to a seventh World Cup and have become a solid AFC side. They advanced from the group stage in 2022 and now expect more than just to be at the party. During AFC qualifying they defeated Japan and Saudi Arabia, and they also had wins over Canada, New Zealand and Cameroon in friendlies, but their tour in the USA was poor, losing to the USA, Venezuela, and Colombia.
The captain is Levante goalkeeper Mathew Ryan, and much of the squad is based in Europe (or MLS). Twenty-year-old Nestory Irankunda from Watford is considered to be one of the next-gen stars of the tournament as this squad is in the process of regeneration. Ultimately, Australia could finish bottom of the group, but they will be in the mix for second or third.
Main Photo Credit: Smartframe Images
