The 2026 World Cup has gone 2/3 of the way when it has identified the 8 strongest teams to advance to the quarter-finals. Many big names have stopped playing, but besides that, there are also many "dark horses" who are nurturing great ambitions.
France - Morocco: War horse clashes with dark horse
In all predictions and statistics before the tournament, the French team is always in the Top 3 leading candidates for the championship. Until now, that has not changed when Kylian Mbappe and his teammates appear too strong and almost have no weaknesses.
Les Bleus' attack has scored 100% of the team's goals so far (14), proving the absolute strength of the attacking factors in Didier Deschamps' hands. The leader is still Kylian Mbappe when he has scored 7 goals and shows no signs of stopping.
On the other side, Morocco has proven that they are no longer an unknown. In Qatar 2022, the African representative reached the semi-finals and just by winning against France, they would repeat the same achievement. With a squad of good players playing in many top European clubs, not old forces like Senegal, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast,... Morocco is the leading flag of the "black continent" at the present time.
Spain - Belgium: European King is still perfect
The reigning EURO 2024 champion has not conceded any goals since the beginning of the 2026 World Cup. They struggled to start against Cape Verde but gradually proved their absolute strength when they surpassed 4 opponents afterwards.
From EURO 2024 to now, Luis de la Fuente's team has not lost any match. La Roja's greatest strength is diversity when both starting and reserve players have the same ability to turn situations around. A big star like Lamine Yamal, when not shining, his teammates around him still do very well in this task.
Meanwhile, from being doubted about strength, the "Red Devils" of Belgium are showing the image of mountain climbers. They conquer each milestone to reach the quarter-finals, especially the destruction of hosts USA with a score of 4-1. When golden generation factors such as Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne gradually age, there are always successors stars who replace them very well, influential like Charles De Ketelaere.
Norway - England: Equal strength
After the convincing victory over Brazil, no one doubts the ability of the "Vikings Corps" anymore. Possessing a well-trained squad, the stars playing in many top European clubs, Norway shows their ability to defeat any opponent.
The biggest mainstay of the Northern European representative is still super striker Erling Haaland. The double against Brazil helped him score his 7th goal in his first World Cup career. Facing a defense with many familiar faces in the Premier League, not only Haaland, other stars like Martin Odegaard will know how to handle it.
On the other side, England showed a steel spirit when overcoming difficulties with a shortage of players in the fierce match with host Mexico. They became the first team to beat Mexico at the Azteca holy land in World Cup history when disaster seemed to be coming.
The Three Lions" were once criticized for possessing many stars but no one knew how to shine at an important time. In this tournament, everything is different when in the most difficult times, expensive names like Jude Bellingham or Harry Kane have not disappointed fans.
Argentina - Switzerland: Everyone is waiting again to chant Lionel Messi's name
At the age of 39, before each match at this World Cup, Messi is questioned about whether he can continue to shine or not? El Pulga's answer is always only one answer, which is to continue to break records!
The Inter Miami superstar has scored in all 5 matches since the beginning of the season. Especially in the matches with Cape Verde and Egypt, when Argentina fell into the most difficult situation, Messi shone brightly while both assisting and scoring. The most beautiful compliments at this time are not enough to praise M10 anymore. He is playing football as if he is not from this planet!
Meanwhile, on the other side, Switzerland, although underestimated, was resilient, pulling Colombia to a penalty shootout and defeating the South American representative. Not having many outstanding stars in the squad like Argentina, the most fearsome weapon of the European representative is discipline and uniformity.
If Switzerland successfully takes Argentina to extra time or penalty shootout, they can create the most shocking overthrow since the beginning of the 2026 World Cup to date.
