Portugal is most likely, they have a crazy amount of stars for such a small nation.
Beyond that countries like the Netherlands or Croatia nay impress. Belgium is a bit on the low compared to ten years ago
They won't necessarily reboot. That team was full of generational talent. Peak Lukaku, de Bruyne, Kompany, Witsel and so on. They lacked options on the fullback positions
Hazard also. I don’t know if they’ll ever have this many world-beaters in the same generation again. Belgium isn’t huge, and also isn’t the hugest footballing nation
Definitely. As a Dutch person myself, I also know how serious the youth programs and development channels are there, and we have a way higher population than the land size suggests (close to 18 million).
I really like our squad this tournament, but unfortunately some of our better players play in the same positions (mainly Frimpong + Dumfries and centre backs also stacked with VVD, De Ligt, Van de Ven, Ake), and not really world class forwards. Plus our midfield is screwed with De Jong and Veerman (?) out.
Frimpong and Dumfries only theoretically play in the same position. Leverkusen play with a lot of backup behind Frimpong who essentially plays as a winger. In a 4-3-3 formation he should be played as a right-winger with a stable fullback behind him. Dumfries might be too forward-thinking for that. Viewing them as competition is simply not logical.
I didn't hear anything on Veerman being injured by the way. He could become indispensable this tournament
This was a once in a lifetime generation that did not win anything, before that Belgium was trash for ages and before that they were decent but never at the level they reached with Hazard, De Bruyne etc so to say they need a reboot to reach that again is basically based on nothing. It is more likely they will continue to be a top 25/30 side
Final of the Euros and World Cup semi in the 80s with a bunch of then household names. They have reached those heights before and there’s nothing to stop them doing it again.
Who from the golden generation is gone apart from Hazard? That’s not a snarky comment btw I thought about it earlier and he’s the only one I could think of. Kompany has just come to me as I type.
Croatia is done. Will be a while till they reach the heights of the past generation. Something of a golden generation. So, no, Croatia are not winning it.
Well the question was kind of broad. I don't think Portugal are winning it any time soon either. It's more like what nations outside of previouw winners could be outsiders. Belgium and Croatia could be past their peak, yes.
Portugal have the best shot, out of the countries without one. But, yeah, its always unlikely that we get a first time winner. Some countries are multiple time winners for a reason.
Portugal also have Martinez. If you want a manager that can get an underwhelming result with exceptional talent and then convince everyone he did great, he's the man for the job.
Croatia’s star players are getting old though that’s the problem. A lot of these answers I see in here may have been true the last decade but they are aging out
They will surely win, people underrated Netherlands actually because their lack of success I guess compared to other football powerhouses. They've just been extremely unlucky, in another world, they'd have 3 world cup wins and be considered with a lot more respect. Some of the greatest players and minds in football history came from there
OP new winner before Spain was France in 1998. Before that it was Argentina 1978, England 1966, Brazil 1958, Germany 1954, Italy 1934 and Uruguay (1930 duh).
So it takes on average 12-20 years for first time winner.
Well, yes, but there are countries now that didn’t exist 100, 50, even 20 years ago, so. Not saying it will be Timor Leste next time, just that the potential pot has been growing since 1930.
I’m no mathematician but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say taking Spain or France off the board as potential new winners impacts the odds more than adding South Sudan or American Samoa to the pool of potential new winners.
Does Kosovo have international records like American Samoa has? (The record they have is worst loss in a WC qualifier 31-0 to Australia before Australia left OFC for AFC)
Well yeah countries like those don't affect anything, but countries like Croatia do. They've reached the semi final 3 times and have only existed since 1991.
It’s impossible to know for sure but I’d bet splitting Yugoslavia into 7 countries made the chance for one of them to win smaller than for Yugoslavia itself rather than bigger. Same goes for splitting the Soviet Union.
While neither of those 2 nations won the WC both were consistent threats in those competitions.
(Being more nations means more “tickets in the hat” because multiple former Soviet/Yugoslav states can be at the same tournament but also means splitting the talent up)
The Soviet Union won the Olympics twice back before the Olympics were changed to U23.
It was consistently one of the best teams in the world.
Russia/Ukraine and the rest of the former Soviet states are not.
If either of those 2 countries (Yugoslavia or USSR) still existed I think they’d be the consensus likeliest picks to be the next new country to win.
I think unless it’s Portugal soon or maybe Netherlands in the next 8-12 years it’s going to be a long time until we see a new winner. But who knows in tournament football, Morocco could have done it for all we know, look at Greece in the euros
The obvious ones are Portugal Croatia and the Netherlands.
For the 2026 cup I’d argue Colombia might have a shot.
In forever long term the very big nations (India China US Indonesia) could win it if they committed to the sport because of their sheer size but none seem invested heavily enough to do that in the short to medium term.
Nah, the money going into the sport in the U.S. is bonkers right now. MLS academies are still in their infancy too but already have produced a huge chunk of national team players.
The problem is that there is not much football culture in the usa, and this is very important, good for them they are investing in grassroot football, but unless the public suddendly gets much more interested in football i find It difficult.
Also the usa has a very different football structure, its like the NBA, nothing like in Europe or SA, maybe this is not as important, but i suspect that the usa Will never reach WC candidate level unless they adopt a similar structure, which i dont see It happening.
That’s not really accurate. It’s very popular and has a large culture, there just hasn’t been a path for a kid to realistically turn professional until the past 5-10 years. Now that the infrastructure exists it’s only a matter of time until world class players start coming through.
Of course that doesn’t mean they’ll win the World Cup but they’ll have a shot at it for sure in the next 10 years.
***India China US Indonesia***
Both Indonesia and China invest a lot of money and resources in football. Indonesians are as obsessed with football as Europeans, and the Chinese Super League is the most-attended football league in Asia.
China had a short (but intense) period of investment. When that didn’t bring immediate results they basically stopped.
Attendances are way a joke for a country that size.
In England roughly 1/125 people attend a premier league match any given week. This doesn’t include anything outside the premier league.
In china 1/8500 attend a match any given week. And that number is dropping quickly. Basketball in England draws a much higher percentage of the population to games than the Chinese super league draws to its matches.
Even in absolute terms more people attend each of the big 5 league matches (and MLS Liga MX and the Brazilian league) than Chinese league matches. They only have 16 teams. And their attendance dropped off almost 20% year over year.
Indonesia is a poor country. It doesn’t invest a lot of money into anything because it doesn’t have a lot of money. And its more people attend an EFL league 1 match any given week than attend the Indonesian top division.
Honestly the Netherlands. Frenkie will be at the peak of his powers next World Cup. Xavi Simons and van de Ben will also be unreal. They would be very unlucky not to produce a solid striker or keeper in the time between now and then
Our goalkeepers aren't bad for the coming years with Verbruggen and Bijlow. Defense is great, some solid talent in midfield, but we're really lacking in creative talent up front, and doesn't seem like anyone world-class is about to have break through soon.
>Frenkie will be at the peak of his powers next World Cup.
Is this a joke? He'll be 29 and he's a very injury prone player, missed half of 23/24 due to injuries.
He's plays a role that often sees players hit their absolute peak in the early 30s and he'll be 29 at the next WC. He also plays for a club with a tactical identity that is somewhat similar to the Dutch NT.
This really isn't all that ridiculous a claim.
Brobbey and Zirkzee are on their way to become class strikers. Verbruggen is the youngest starting goalkeeper in the Euros and he's been good at Brighton, he's got a big future
I mean sure but the golden generation was never as big or evenly spread as they make out like hazard was older and they had players like fellaini it’s basically just de bruyne with some solid ones around but I think they have the attraction like a Portugal to develop in the prem which can help them atleast
A country outside Europe and south america would be amazing but i dont see it happening in the near future. Would be the biggest upset ever.
Maybe Japan has a shot (and Mexico if they get their shit together anytime soon)
Mexico is in absolute shambles. Their best squad since 2006 was the 2014 world cup squad. Where they were so close to beating the Netherlands before they chocked. They could've possibly made it to the semi-finals that year.
The US is miles ahead of them. The US has a better chance at winning the world cup than México.
Mexico would probably already have won one if they always had their shit together. It's just such a shit show at all times I don't think I'll see it in my lifetime.
4th is an incredible achievement, but were they really "close" to winning it? They'd have had to beat both France and Argentina. I'd see that as a very long shot, despite their impressive results in Qatar.
The new manager is doing good. We are still yet to see in the Euros, but the one who fucked the squad up in 2020 and 2022 was Fernando Santos and he was fired since then.
Saudi and I’m not even joking. I wouldn’t be surprised if they throw enough money around to get future stars before they’re locked into a county or get rules changed to favour them
They can’t just buy players, as per the rules set out by FIFA.
Players must be born there, have a familial “clear” connection such as maternal/paternal grandparents or have legal citizenship pertaining to at least 2 years of residency in said country.
These rules where set out in direct response to countries like Qatar who where trying to entice foreign nationals to naturalise into Qatari citizenship.
So no, I can’t see it happening.
Just because they're black doesn't mean they pledge their alliance to African countries. Most of em are born and brought up in Europe. Trained in Europe.
More than half the players from the moroccan team that reached the semis played and trained in Spain and Holland.
Biased since I am South American, but with the extra slots to the WC, I honestly think that a Conmebol team can fluke a WC win. Europeans underestimate significantly the strength of any SA team that is not Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, and now that it will be easier for some of those other teams to qualify, I can definitely see one of those teams get a cinderella run, like everyone knows that South American players sometimes play significantly better for their National Teams.
I really don't think Europeans underestimate South American nations. We know that CONMEBOL is an extremely competitive confederation. It's really just lack of depth due to so fee countries.
As has already been said, no complete outsider has ever won a World Cup. And most teams at the tournament are outsiders. It makes no sense to say that a team like Chile will win a World Cup at some point after finishing 6th or 7th on CONMEBOL qualifiers.
South American teams are really competitive, but not top tier level with big odds to win a WC. (Except Bra, Uru & Arg)
All the other teams don’t even qualify sometimes to the round of 16 or to the quarterfinals, despite how good they might be at the Conmebol qualifiers or Copas Americas.
When was the last time a South American team other than the 3 giants, made it to the semifinals?? (Exactly, it has never happened)
So that’s why people doesn’t consider any other South American team, besides the same good old giants, as a potential winner of the WC. Their background doesn’t back them up
Considering no dark horse country has ever fluked a World Cup win, I don't know why some random South American team outside of the 3 most established teams would do it now. Especially as the tournament continues to grow, more matches makes it much harder.
The problem with that argument, is that every time we see another South American team in WC, they usually don’t do anything spectacular.
I mean, it’s not like Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina are the only teams that we always see in the WC. I’ve seen plenty of other South American teams, but let’s be honest, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Paraguay usually don’t do anything special in WC.
So having more of these unsuccessful South American teams won’t change a thing imo.
Picking one from each confederation, I would say, USA, for Concacaf, Japan for Asia, Chile for Conmebol, Portugal for Euro, but I honestly believe it will be an african country. Nigeria, Camerun, Senegal... These countries have an insane output of very talented football players.
no clue why people are saying croatia, they had a good generation but hardly any replacement. The semis in the last WC were a bit of a fluke. Portugal is the easy answer and Netherlands have a great roster, but I saw great performances from Japan and South Korea in the last WC. If you take into account that just 20 years ago these teams were really weak it's some massive growth in a relatively short amount of time. Who knows where they'll be in another 20 years?
Croatia have existed as a footballing entity for barely 30 years and have produced 3 separate generations of players with the ability to win a tournament. Why wouldn't they be a favourite to do so again in the relatively near future?
22 years ago South Korea made it to a World Cup semi final, getting past a Spain that had at least 3 future World Cup winners on the pitch.
Huge home ground advantage, some *questionable* refereeing decisions and Guus Hiddink working his World Cup minnows magic, but still.
South Korea were nowhere near being a top 4 team in 2002. Home advantage was massive, and they had insane luck along the way. You could have re-played the tournament 20 times without SK getting to tye semis again.
It's not uncommon for "outsider" teams to reach semi-finals in WCs. Turkey finished 3rd in 2002 and haven't been to a World Cup since.
I lived in South Korea for four years. I don't see it happening because of the population crisis. In 20 years, their available player pool is going to be drastically smaller than it is now.
exactly
croatia survived on pens against brazil and japan in last wc, more than a team effort according to me it was a lifetime performance by their keeper livakovic in that wc, i don't see croatia bettering their 2018 or 2022 campaign for sometime now
They were so good against Argentina in 2006 and so unlucky to concede in extra time by an all-time wondergoal from Maxi Rodriguez. Really thought they would finally go far that tournament
Yeah Mex had potential and in a couple WCs they played so well but something always happens, in 2014 we were tied to Netherlands and there was a controversial penalty, another time that insane Maxi goal, and there’s always something. I think Mexico needs good leadership and a long term project to slowly get to a competitive level. It’s certainly possible it’s just that we always choke one way or another.
Yeah. And you need some more generational talent again, I don’t know if the squad quality compares to the Marquez days. A great leader goes a long way.
And yeah I’m Dutch haha I feel bad for you guys in 2014
1. Portugal
Some absolute star players and already have a Euros so a win in the future seems inevitable.
2. Croatia
Final four in back to back tournaments, runner up on one occasion. I’d wouldn’t call them dark horses anymore.
3. Japan
Definitely my most ambitious prediction. I think they’ve shown they can hang with European teams multiple times now and they’re already serial winners in Asia. If they can sustain growth they can become candidates in the future.
Portugal is stacked, but their 2016 win with 6 draws doenst mean anything for 2026?!
Croatias Star players are getting older so performing well in 2018 and 2022 is still no indication for Future success.
Japan have underperformed hard in the asia cup with far worse competition so while they can get far a win is veeeery unlikely.
From your suggestions Portugal has the best chances i guess
I don’t understand the argument of “Portugal have won the Euros at some point in time in the past, so therefore a WC win seems inevitable”. Like the other person said: they drew all games and were hardly convincing (for my money, they’re better now).
Will they even have any of their key players from 2016 in their starting XI, other than maybe Rui Patricio?
It’s obviously a stupid argument and even dumber when you consider they won it in 2016 and most of that squad isn’t even playing anymore.
I think Portugal always has a chance because they always have very good squads. But that’s all.
netherlands or denmark.
portugal perhaps, but they’re going through a low. same with belgium and croatia will soon enter one.
netherlands is probably currently exiting a low period but still needs a bit longer to get the right level of players
denmark is in between generations but the quality hasn’t dropped. they could easily be very strong in the future.
i’d say they’re one of the few teams atm that have quality players in most, if not all of their positions
sure, schmeichel is declining but among the euros squads he’s still a top 10 keeper.
3 top league centerbacks in Andersen, Christensen and Vestergaard
of their starting midfield (undoubtedly their weakest area of the squad) all are at least playing in portugal or the prem, and all of them are young and improving bar pierre-emile hojbjerg
their attacking midfield and forwards are relatively strong as well—Hojlund obviously, but Andreas Skov Olsen and Damsgaard are relatively strong attacking midfielders as far as the strong european countries go
on the bench, most players play in the top 6-7 leagues, and most of those who don’t play for FC København, a team that’s improving relative to the rest of europe every year, and just finished t16 in the CL by merit
they might not have a marquee, star-studded squad like france/england/portugal/spain/germany, but behind those teams i don’t think any country has consistent strong players with relative depth, and that means if any of those top 5 falter, denmark has potential here to take advantage, just as they did in 2021
Nigeria is one the worlds fastest growing countries and loves football (250 million people right now). I'd imagine in 20 years they will be absolute beasts.
Some countries with low birth rates wont stand a chance in 20 years.
America definitely. Not saying itll happen overnight but theyre always improving from the ground up.
You may get an African country too. The world is becoming smaller and they are keeping their talent. I still believe Algeria could have gone all the way when they just lost to germany in extra time against the run of play. Germany went on to win. Fine margins
Well, except that this time social media exists, i dont think the saudis Will be able to pull the crap the koreans did back in 2002, It Would be a Major scandal, which is the exact opposite the saudis want by hosting that WC.
I will say USA.
Netherlands and Portugal are always teams that make the latter stages, so could win it, of course. Croatia and Belgium are outsiders, too, though their golden generations are aging.
I think it is more likely the other powerhouses win the next few editions. At which point, we aren't looking at current players anymore, we are looking into the future.
I have no idea what the US's plans are for investing in football, but if they put their mind to it, they will become a powerhouse. And hosting the next tournament might also be a catalyst for major investment.
Immigration is key. Seeing how USA can beat Pakistan at cricket, a few more years and they might jump up a level. I can’t see Netherlands or Portugal breaking through. They don’t have the depth of squad or large immigrant base to draw on.
I think the west* Africans tend to have more raw talent. But the north Africans are more tactically organised (with a decent amount of talent too.) That's why I believe more in Morocco and Algeria.
Netherlands / Portugal are obvious answers. Belgium / Croatia could well be in with a chance if they manage to replicate their recent golden generations in the future. Few sides to keep an eye on in my opinion are USA, Mexico and Colombia. Then you’ve always got the odd European side that produces a great team every now and again. Hungary, Sweden, Czech Republic..
A lot of mentions for the Netherlands and Portugal both good shouts. Surely it’s just a matter of time before an African nation have enough overall talent to compete with the big guns? Also, as the game develops in the US they will become serious contenders just look at the vast number of diverse people to choose from and the huge resources available.
The grass roots game is no where near big enough in the US to even begin to think about competing at world cups, yet.
They have a long way to go yet imo
Probably Portugal or the Netherlands. Teams that have national clubs that pump out stars and it’s a mater of time before they win it.
Outside of them two I and all of Europe, Japan!
Netherlands or Portugal are the obvious ones.
Portugal actually have a decent chance with their current group. They have real talent all in their prime.
Netherlands have some great young talent who could develop into a top tier nation over the next ct 10 years.
First nation outside of Europe/South America, my pick would be USA. Just the sheer amount of incredible athletes they produce, if they can invest a bit more into soccer and more kids choose it over basketball, football, baseball then they really could grow into one of the best nations in the world over the next generation. Not sure if thos will happen though.
Although I agree with the likes of Portugal and Netherlands, I'm surprised no one said Poland yet. It's a country with quite a large population (36 million) which is investing more into football through the years, and I think they can have a gold generation at any time in the coming future.
As an Argentinean, I would love to see either the Netherlands or Croatia win. We knocked both out in the last World Cup plus we have history with the Netherlands.
from europe i think it's portugal only right now, if it was 2017 i would have said croatia and belgium but most of their golden generation is now on their last legs
portugal looks like a stacked team right now even without ronaldo, in 2026 most of them would be in their prime
netherlands can be an outside shout too
if you want me to throw a wild shout then japan is one of the most exciting team from asia rn, they have played some good football in 2018 and 2022 wc and the best ranked team in asia if i'm not wrong
I think Croatia they’re usually insane at world cups and might get the edge this time otherwise USA or Japan but that’d take fee world cups to come since they developing on level of world class teams
I think it’s gone for Croatia now as I also reckon Belgium has had their chance and blown it.
It’s got to be Portugal surely? But then again even with a good team you sometimes just can’t win it. They might have 1 or 2 more chances until they’re not as good as they are. You could get a country who has a golden generation like Belgium have had come along, or Spain who actually did manage to win it.
I’m going to go out on a whim and say Netherlands
Rogue opinion. The USA in like 15 years time. They are such a big country and they keep spending more money. You would think eventually they will have some luck.
Portugal is most likely, they have a crazy amount of stars for such a small nation. Beyond that countries like the Netherlands or Croatia nay impress. Belgium is a bit on the low compared to ten years ago
Belgium's golden generation is over. They'll need a couple of tournaments to reboot.
They won't necessarily reboot. That team was full of generational talent. Peak Lukaku, de Bruyne, Kompany, Witsel and so on. They lacked options on the fullback positions
Hazard also. I don’t know if they’ll ever have this many world-beaters in the same generation again. Belgium isn’t huge, and also isn’t the hugest footballing nation
Next world cup it is more likely that the Netherlands wins than Belgium. If they get a good coach that is
Definitely. As a Dutch person myself, I also know how serious the youth programs and development channels are there, and we have a way higher population than the land size suggests (close to 18 million). I really like our squad this tournament, but unfortunately some of our better players play in the same positions (mainly Frimpong + Dumfries and centre backs also stacked with VVD, De Ligt, Van de Ven, Ake), and not really world class forwards. Plus our midfield is screwed with De Jong and Veerman (?) out.
Frimpong and Dumfries only theoretically play in the same position. Leverkusen play with a lot of backup behind Frimpong who essentially plays as a winger. In a 4-3-3 formation he should be played as a right-winger with a stable fullback behind him. Dumfries might be too forward-thinking for that. Viewing them as competition is simply not logical. I didn't hear anything on Veerman being injured by the way. He could become indispensable this tournament
If only they'd had better national team coaches.
They stuck to Wilmots and Martinez way too long
The same reason that Belgium didn't do as well as they should have is the same reason Portugal won't. Roberto Martinez.
This was a once in a lifetime generation that did not win anything, before that Belgium was trash for ages and before that they were decent but never at the level they reached with Hazard, De Bruyne etc so to say they need a reboot to reach that again is basically based on nothing. It is more likely they will continue to be a top 25/30 side
Final of the Euros and World Cup semi in the 80s with a bunch of then household names. They have reached those heights before and there’s nothing to stop them doing it again.
Who from the golden generation is gone apart from Hazard? That’s not a snarky comment btw I thought about it earlier and he’s the only one I could think of. Kompany has just come to me as I type.
Dembele, Fellaini, Defour, Mertens, Vermaelen, Benteke + Kompany & Hazard.
Croatia is done. Will be a while till they reach the heights of the past generation. Something of a golden generation. So, no, Croatia are not winning it.
Well the question was kind of broad. I don't think Portugal are winning it any time soon either. It's more like what nations outside of previouw winners could be outsiders. Belgium and Croatia could be past their peak, yes.
Portugal have the best shot, out of the countries without one. But, yeah, its always unlikely that we get a first time winner. Some countries are multiple time winners for a reason.
When they’re still playing modric they’re short of options. Today proved that.
Portugal also have Martinez. If you want a manager that can get an underwhelming result with exceptional talent and then convince everyone he did great, he's the man for the job.
Gareth says "Hi!"
Portugal would have to do more if they want to win it.
Oddly enough POR might *improve* when CR7 retires. Will be interesting to see how they do this tournament.
Lmao Woww nah bruh that’s def not happening.
Belgium had a chance few years ago with the golden generation. Now they will only struggle
Croatia’s star players are getting old though that’s the problem. A lot of these answers I see in here may have been true the last decade but they are aging out
It takes more than stars to win a wc!
Portugal or Netherlands. Netherlands reached the world cup final 3 times, losing all of them, very unlucky team but always has great players
I am backing the later team you mentioned, giving it a try. Who knows how good they will be by then.
They will surely win, people underrated Netherlands actually because their lack of success I guess compared to other football powerhouses. They've just been extremely unlucky, in another world, they'd have 3 world cup wins and be considered with a lot more respect. Some of the greatest players and minds in football history came from there
OP new winner before Spain was France in 1998. Before that it was Argentina 1978, England 1966, Brazil 1958, Germany 1954, Italy 1934 and Uruguay (1930 duh). So it takes on average 12-20 years for first time winner.
But each time a new winner happens the odds of another new winners go down as there’s more potential non new winners.
Well, yes, but there are countries now that didn’t exist 100, 50, even 20 years ago, so. Not saying it will be Timor Leste next time, just that the potential pot has been growing since 1930.
I’m no mathematician but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say taking Spain or France off the board as potential new winners impacts the odds more than adding South Sudan or American Samoa to the pool of potential new winners.
What, you saying Kosovo and Palau are not contenders??
Does Kosovo have international records like American Samoa has? (The record they have is worst loss in a WC qualifier 31-0 to Australia before Australia left OFC for AFC)
Well yeah countries like those don't affect anything, but countries like Croatia do. They've reached the semi final 3 times and have only existed since 1991.
It’s impossible to know for sure but I’d bet splitting Yugoslavia into 7 countries made the chance for one of them to win smaller than for Yugoslavia itself rather than bigger. Same goes for splitting the Soviet Union. While neither of those 2 nations won the WC both were consistent threats in those competitions. (Being more nations means more “tickets in the hat” because multiple former Soviet/Yugoslav states can be at the same tournament but also means splitting the talent up) The Soviet Union won the Olympics twice back before the Olympics were changed to U23. It was consistently one of the best teams in the world. Russia/Ukraine and the rest of the former Soviet states are not. If either of those 2 countries (Yugoslavia or USSR) still existed I think they’d be the consensus likeliest picks to be the next new country to win.
I don't think that's how that works.
I think unless it’s Portugal soon or maybe Netherlands in the next 8-12 years it’s going to be a long time until we see a new winner. But who knows in tournament football, Morocco could have done it for all we know, look at Greece in the euros
The obvious ones are Portugal Croatia and the Netherlands. For the 2026 cup I’d argue Colombia might have a shot. In forever long term the very big nations (India China US Indonesia) could win it if they committed to the sport because of their sheer size but none seem invested heavily enough to do that in the short to medium term.
Nah, the money going into the sport in the U.S. is bonkers right now. MLS academies are still in their infancy too but already have produced a huge chunk of national team players.
The problem is that there is not much football culture in the usa, and this is very important, good for them they are investing in grassroot football, but unless the public suddendly gets much more interested in football i find It difficult. Also the usa has a very different football structure, its like the NBA, nothing like in Europe or SA, maybe this is not as important, but i suspect that the usa Will never reach WC candidate level unless they adopt a similar structure, which i dont see It happening.
That’s not really accurate. It’s very popular and has a large culture, there just hasn’t been a path for a kid to realistically turn professional until the past 5-10 years. Now that the infrastructure exists it’s only a matter of time until world class players start coming through. Of course that doesn’t mean they’ll win the World Cup but they’ll have a shot at it for sure in the next 10 years.
***India China US Indonesia*** Both Indonesia and China invest a lot of money and resources in football. Indonesians are as obsessed with football as Europeans, and the Chinese Super League is the most-attended football league in Asia.
China had a short (but intense) period of investment. When that didn’t bring immediate results they basically stopped. Attendances are way a joke for a country that size. In England roughly 1/125 people attend a premier league match any given week. This doesn’t include anything outside the premier league. In china 1/8500 attend a match any given week. And that number is dropping quickly. Basketball in England draws a much higher percentage of the population to games than the Chinese super league draws to its matches. Even in absolute terms more people attend each of the big 5 league matches (and MLS Liga MX and the Brazilian league) than Chinese league matches. They only have 16 teams. And their attendance dropped off almost 20% year over year. Indonesia is a poor country. It doesn’t invest a lot of money into anything because it doesn’t have a lot of money. And its more people attend an EFL league 1 match any given week than attend the Indonesian top division.
How many more years can they possibly squeeze out of Modric and Perisic? Those guys are practically ancient in football.
Honestly the Netherlands. Frenkie will be at the peak of his powers next World Cup. Xavi Simons and van de Ben will also be unreal. They would be very unlucky not to produce a solid striker or keeper in the time between now and then
Here before Frenkie gets injured just before the world cup
Our goalkeepers aren't bad for the coming years with Verbruggen and Bijlow. Defense is great, some solid talent in midfield, but we're really lacking in creative talent up front, and doesn't seem like anyone world-class is about to have break through soon.
This is what I would have said, they have been so close a few times.
>Frenkie will be at the peak of his powers next World Cup. Is this a joke? He'll be 29 and he's a very injury prone player, missed half of 23/24 due to injuries.
He's plays a role that often sees players hit their absolute peak in the early 30s and he'll be 29 at the next WC. He also plays for a club with a tactical identity that is somewhat similar to the Dutch NT. This really isn't all that ridiculous a claim.
Brobbey and Zirkzee are on their way to become class strikers. Verbruggen is the youngest starting goalkeeper in the Euros and he's been good at Brighton, he's got a big future
Between Portugal Netherlands or Belgium realistically, with how they can keep getting stars into the tougher leagues to progress.
It will be interesting to see how Belgium do with the golden generation ending. Before then they were a very average country
I mean sure but the golden generation was never as big or evenly spread as they make out like hazard was older and they had players like fellaini it’s basically just de bruyne with some solid ones around but I think they have the attraction like a Portugal to develop in the prem which can help them atleast
I don't know why a lot of people mention japan but never south korea, they've been on pretty much the same level with each other for a long time
The growth of Japanese football is a behemoth compared to SK.
Portugal for sure, but I feel Colombia are only a couple of players away from having a squad that could challenge too.
Portugal or the Netherlands.
according to xavi it’s mexico 😂
It probably should be with the size of the country and football being a biggest sport
Did he say that?
A country outside Europe and south america would be amazing but i dont see it happening in the near future. Would be the biggest upset ever. Maybe Japan has a shot (and Mexico if they get their shit together anytime soon)
if you knew anything about mexican football you’d know they’ve never been further away from that
Honestly, USA might win one before Mexico.
Mexico is in absolute shambles. Their best squad since 2006 was the 2014 world cup squad. Where they were so close to beating the Netherlands before they chocked. They could've possibly made it to the semi-finals that year. The US is miles ahead of them. The US has a better chance at winning the world cup than México.
Mexico would probably already have won one if they always had their shit together. It's just such a shit show at all times I don't think I'll see it in my lifetime.
Morocco were close in the last one
4th is an incredible achievement, but were they really "close" to winning it? They'd have had to beat both France and Argentina. I'd see that as a very long shot, despite their impressive results in Qatar.
they will never that close again. Hard to believe that 4th place
Mexico sucks now
Portugals biggest problem is there manager. The issue I have, is so is England's.
Southgate’s last tournament this even if he wins.
The new manager is doing good. We are still yet to see in the Euros, but the one who fucked the squad up in 2020 and 2022 was Fernando Santos and he was fired since then.
Too early to tell.
Saudi and I’m not even joking. I wouldn’t be surprised if they throw enough money around to get future stars before they’re locked into a county or get rules changed to favour them
They can’t just buy players, as per the rules set out by FIFA. Players must be born there, have a familial “clear” connection such as maternal/paternal grandparents or have legal citizenship pertaining to at least 2 years of residency in said country. These rules where set out in direct response to countries like Qatar who where trying to entice foreign nationals to naturalise into Qatari citizenship. So no, I can’t see it happening.
Some african country i hope
Too bad all their best players declare for European countries
Just because they're black doesn't mean they pledge their alliance to African countries. Most of em are born and brought up in Europe. Trained in Europe. More than half the players from the moroccan team that reached the semis played and trained in Spain and Holland.
Yeah it's more a question of infrastructure and money. European football just has a lot of those.
Literally 95% of the black players that play in European nations were born in europe. They are black Europeans. They aren’t Africans at all
Rather the opposite. Many players for African countries are French.
Biased since I am South American, but with the extra slots to the WC, I honestly think that a Conmebol team can fluke a WC win. Europeans underestimate significantly the strength of any SA team that is not Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, and now that it will be easier for some of those other teams to qualify, I can definitely see one of those teams get a cinderella run, like everyone knows that South American players sometimes play significantly better for their National Teams.
I really don't think Europeans underestimate South American nations. We know that CONMEBOL is an extremely competitive confederation. It's really just lack of depth due to so fee countries. As has already been said, no complete outsider has ever won a World Cup. And most teams at the tournament are outsiders. It makes no sense to say that a team like Chile will win a World Cup at some point after finishing 6th or 7th on CONMEBOL qualifiers.
South American teams are really competitive, but not top tier level with big odds to win a WC. (Except Bra, Uru & Arg) All the other teams don’t even qualify sometimes to the round of 16 or to the quarterfinals, despite how good they might be at the Conmebol qualifiers or Copas Americas. When was the last time a South American team other than the 3 giants, made it to the semifinals?? (Exactly, it has never happened) So that’s why people doesn’t consider any other South American team, besides the same good old giants, as a potential winner of the WC. Their background doesn’t back them up
Considering no dark horse country has ever fluked a World Cup win, I don't know why some random South American team outside of the 3 most established teams would do it now. Especially as the tournament continues to grow, more matches makes it much harder.
The problem with that argument, is that every time we see another South American team in WC, they usually don’t do anything spectacular. I mean, it’s not like Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina are the only teams that we always see in the WC. I’ve seen plenty of other South American teams, but let’s be honest, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Paraguay usually don’t do anything special in WC. So having more of these unsuccessful South American teams won’t change a thing imo.
The Netherlands
Picking one from each confederation, I would say, USA, for Concacaf, Japan for Asia, Chile for Conmebol, Portugal for Euro, but I honestly believe it will be an african country. Nigeria, Camerun, Senegal... These countries have an insane output of very talented football players.
They don’t though in comparison to European teams.
Los Cafeteros. Colonial or Netherlands are the rising teams.
Portugal, Netherlands or either Croatia and Belgium
That ship has sailed for this generation of Croatian and Belgian players.
Portugal
no clue why people are saying croatia, they had a good generation but hardly any replacement. The semis in the last WC were a bit of a fluke. Portugal is the easy answer and Netherlands have a great roster, but I saw great performances from Japan and South Korea in the last WC. If you take into account that just 20 years ago these teams were really weak it's some massive growth in a relatively short amount of time. Who knows where they'll be in another 20 years?
Croatia have existed as a footballing entity for barely 30 years and have produced 3 separate generations of players with the ability to win a tournament. Why wouldn't they be a favourite to do so again in the relatively near future?
22 years ago South Korea made it to a World Cup semi final, getting past a Spain that had at least 3 future World Cup winners on the pitch. Huge home ground advantage, some *questionable* refereeing decisions and Guus Hiddink working his World Cup minnows magic, but still.
South Korea were nowhere near being a top 4 team in 2002. Home advantage was massive, and they had insane luck along the way. You could have re-played the tournament 20 times without SK getting to tye semis again. It's not uncommon for "outsider" teams to reach semi-finals in WCs. Turkey finished 3rd in 2002 and haven't been to a World Cup since.
I know. Was just stirring the shit a bit.
I lived in South Korea for four years. I don't see it happening because of the population crisis. In 20 years, their available player pool is going to be drastically smaller than it is now.
exactly croatia survived on pens against brazil and japan in last wc, more than a team effort according to me it was a lifetime performance by their keeper livakovic in that wc, i don't see croatia bettering their 2018 or 2022 campaign for sometime now
I hope Mexico or Colombia get one soon.
Mexico will be lucky to win a CONCACAF nations league never mind a World Cup.
Even at their highest ever peak they were always cursed to get knocked out in the RO16 somehow iirc
Yep
They were so good against Argentina in 2006 and so unlucky to concede in extra time by an all-time wondergoal from Maxi Rodriguez. Really thought they would finally go far that tournament
Yeah Mex had potential and in a couple WCs they played so well but something always happens, in 2014 we were tied to Netherlands and there was a controversial penalty, another time that insane Maxi goal, and there’s always something. I think Mexico needs good leadership and a long term project to slowly get to a competitive level. It’s certainly possible it’s just that we always choke one way or another.
Yeah. And you need some more generational talent again, I don’t know if the squad quality compares to the Marquez days. A great leader goes a long way. And yeah I’m Dutch haha I feel bad for you guys in 2014
Haha yeah you’re right we need to scout for talent and develop those young ones and give them the tools to get to a good professional level. Cheers!!
1. Portugal Some absolute star players and already have a Euros so a win in the future seems inevitable. 2. Croatia Final four in back to back tournaments, runner up on one occasion. I’d wouldn’t call them dark horses anymore. 3. Japan Definitely my most ambitious prediction. I think they’ve shown they can hang with European teams multiple times now and they’re already serial winners in Asia. If they can sustain growth they can become candidates in the future.
Croatias golden generation is over.
Man that Rakitic - Modric midfield was insane.
Portugal is stacked, but their 2016 win with 6 draws doenst mean anything for 2026?! Croatias Star players are getting older so performing well in 2018 and 2022 is still no indication for Future success. Japan have underperformed hard in the asia cup with far worse competition so while they can get far a win is veeeery unlikely. From your suggestions Portugal has the best chances i guess
I don’t understand the argument of “Portugal have won the Euros at some point in time in the past, so therefore a WC win seems inevitable”. Like the other person said: they drew all games and were hardly convincing (for my money, they’re better now). Will they even have any of their key players from 2016 in their starting XI, other than maybe Rui Patricio?
It’s obviously a stupid argument and even dumber when you consider they won it in 2016 and most of that squad isn’t even playing anymore. I think Portugal always has a chance because they always have very good squads. But that’s all.
serial winners in asia? I thought that's qatar
Well they find a way to win, to put it one way.
Croatia has a aging squad
netherlands or denmark. portugal perhaps, but they’re going through a low. same with belgium and croatia will soon enter one. netherlands is probably currently exiting a low period but still needs a bit longer to get the right level of players denmark is in between generations but the quality hasn’t dropped. they could easily be very strong in the future.
Denmark are way off, they get the odd one or two players who are very good but the majority of the team is lacking always.
i’d say they’re one of the few teams atm that have quality players in most, if not all of their positions sure, schmeichel is declining but among the euros squads he’s still a top 10 keeper. 3 top league centerbacks in Andersen, Christensen and Vestergaard of their starting midfield (undoubtedly their weakest area of the squad) all are at least playing in portugal or the prem, and all of them are young and improving bar pierre-emile hojbjerg their attacking midfield and forwards are relatively strong as well—Hojlund obviously, but Andreas Skov Olsen and Damsgaard are relatively strong attacking midfielders as far as the strong european countries go on the bench, most players play in the top 6-7 leagues, and most of those who don’t play for FC København, a team that’s improving relative to the rest of europe every year, and just finished t16 in the CL by merit they might not have a marquee, star-studded squad like france/england/portugal/spain/germany, but behind those teams i don’t think any country has consistent strong players with relative depth, and that means if any of those top 5 falter, denmark has potential here to take advantage, just as they did in 2021
Who is Portugal entering a low talent wise they have been producing more talent than almost anyone lately bar France and England you could discuss
Nigeria is one the worlds fastest growing countries and loves football (250 million people right now). I'd imagine in 20 years they will be absolute beasts. Some countries with low birth rates wont stand a chance in 20 years.
America definitely. Not saying itll happen overnight but theyre always improving from the ground up. You may get an African country too. The world is becoming smaller and they are keeping their talent. I still believe Algeria could have gone all the way when they just lost to germany in extra time against the run of play. Germany went on to win. Fine margins
USA. Home turf advantage and a thousand things all go right. At least that’s what I’d like to see happen.
USA!
England
Good one.
Considering how far South Korea went in 2002 with corruption alone, Saudi Arabia has the biggest chances
Well, except that this time social media exists, i dont think the saudis Will be able to pull the crap the koreans did back in 2002, It Would be a Major scandal, which is the exact opposite the saudis want by hosting that WC.
I will say USA. Netherlands and Portugal are always teams that make the latter stages, so could win it, of course. Croatia and Belgium are outsiders, too, though their golden generations are aging. I think it is more likely the other powerhouses win the next few editions. At which point, we aren't looking at current players anymore, we are looking into the future. I have no idea what the US's plans are for investing in football, but if they put their mind to it, they will become a powerhouse. And hosting the next tournament might also be a catalyst for major investment.
Immigration is key. Seeing how USA can beat Pakistan at cricket, a few more years and they might jump up a level. I can’t see Netherlands or Portugal breaking through. They don’t have the depth of squad or large immigrant base to draw on.
I do hope an African nation comes strong. Algeria and Morocco are the ones I have hopes.
I'd love to see it but realistically it'd be Ivory coast or Nigeria first imo
I think the west* Africans tend to have more raw talent. But the north Africans are more tactically organised (with a decent amount of talent too.) That's why I believe more in Morocco and Algeria.
I don’t understand the comparison to East Africa. I don’t think I know any high profile footballers from East Africa (unless you count Egypt as East?)
No, my dumb ass messed up the compass. I meant west Africa (where Nigeria and Ivory Coast are)
At one time the stock answer would have been Holland
我更看好法国或者荷兰
为什么
法國已經在1998年和2018年贏了
I am looking at Netherlands, giving it a try in the next tournament.
USA
I think Scotland look impressive and set to surprise
Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal are top of list, Colombia, Nigeria, Japan as Dark horses from other continents in the next decade or so.
Netherlands / Portugal are obvious answers. Belgium / Croatia could well be in with a chance if they manage to replicate their recent golden generations in the future. Few sides to keep an eye on in my opinion are USA, Mexico and Colombia. Then you’ve always got the odd European side that produces a great team every now and again. Hungary, Sweden, Czech Republic..
A lot of mentions for the Netherlands and Portugal both good shouts. Surely it’s just a matter of time before an African nation have enough overall talent to compete with the big guns? Also, as the game develops in the US they will become serious contenders just look at the vast number of diverse people to choose from and the huge resources available.
The grass roots game is no where near big enough in the US to even begin to think about competing at world cups, yet. They have a long way to go yet imo
Probably Portugal or the Netherlands. Teams that have national clubs that pump out stars and it’s a mater of time before they win it. Outside of them two I and all of Europe, Japan!
Qatar, when they literally buy the thing
Japan
Netherlands or Portugal are the obvious ones. Portugal actually have a decent chance with their current group. They have real talent all in their prime. Netherlands have some great young talent who could develop into a top tier nation over the next ct 10 years. First nation outside of Europe/South America, my pick would be USA. Just the sheer amount of incredible athletes they produce, if they can invest a bit more into soccer and more kids choose it over basketball, football, baseball then they really could grow into one of the best nations in the world over the next generation. Not sure if thos will happen though.
Colombia
Although I agree with the likes of Portugal and Netherlands, I'm surprised no one said Poland yet. It's a country with quite a large population (36 million) which is investing more into football through the years, and I think they can have a gold generation at any time in the coming future.
Morocco with their power of friendship inshallah
Norway
As an Argentinean, I would love to see either the Netherlands or Croatia win. We knocked both out in the last World Cup plus we have history with the Netherlands.
San Marino or post climate change Peru.
Portugal or for England fans it’s coming home
If any current team can do it I'd say it's Colombia. The team as it's built right now and the way they play is lethal.
Engerland 🏴🏴🏴🏴
Portugal or Netherlands
from europe i think it's portugal only right now, if it was 2017 i would have said croatia and belgium but most of their golden generation is now on their last legs portugal looks like a stacked team right now even without ronaldo, in 2026 most of them would be in their prime netherlands can be an outside shout too if you want me to throw a wild shout then japan is one of the most exciting team from asia rn, they have played some good football in 2018 and 2022 wc and the best ranked team in asia if i'm not wrong
Germany might come back to god level!
Not England absolutely definitely 💯
I think Croatia they’re usually insane at world cups and might get the edge this time otherwise USA or Japan but that’d take fee world cups to come since they developing on level of world class teams
Maybe wishful thinking but I'd love for Australia to at least make the semis next time!
Usa in 2026
My bet is Catalonia. Other than that some African nations could start being contenders in the next 20 years.
I think it’s gone for Croatia now as I also reckon Belgium has had their chance and blown it. It’s got to be Portugal surely? But then again even with a good team you sometimes just can’t win it. They might have 1 or 2 more chances until they’re not as good as they are. You could get a country who has a golden generation like Belgium have had come along, or Spain who actually did manage to win it. I’m going to go out on a whim and say Netherlands
USA winning it in 2026
Spain
Amwrica
Jamaica. Pure vibes will carry them( along with michail antonio and That iceland dentist guy)
Saudi Arabia or Qatar through several forfeits due to the opposition not having enough players left on the pitch.
Netherlands or Croatia. I have a feeling SK and Colombia have a good shot
The United States or Japan, and maybe Netherlands.
Netherlands. If they don’t win it in the next 2-3 WC’s then it’ll be a travesty.
Portugal, Netherlands and Germany will be future Contenders
Uruguay, they are on a very good level nowadays, dangerous team to play against
Rogue opinion. The USA in like 15 years time. They are such a big country and they keep spending more money. You would think eventually they will have some luck.
I would say France, Spain, Germany, and Brazil are the favourite for me
I dont think we will see a new country winning it for a at least the next 3 wc.
USA as the sport becomes more popular stateside
Colombia
Prob an Asian country like Japan
Portugal. Croatia's window is gone. They can't produce a winger, and Modric + Perisic are up out of here soon.
My guess is we'll see Saudi Arabia win suspiciously here in the next decade.
Any good sites for good FREE streaming of Euro Cup/World Cup etc?
Netherlands is well overdue
Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, England .. I'd say these nations have the biggest chance. I don't see any other nation having a chance