Tuesday at 14:061 day Author Here we go:7. @777666jason- EnglandWorld Cup Appearances: 17Best: Winners (1966)On 07/06/2026 at 14:12, LewisGT said:4. EnglandGroup LUEFA (3/16)World Ranking: 4Best Result: Winners (1966)Fixtures:Croatia (17th June, 9PM)Ghana (23rd June, 9PM)Panama (27th June, 10PM)Two Euro finals, and a Semi-Final and Quarter-Final in the World Cup, Gareth Southgate revitalised English hopes during his spell as manager, especially after the embarrassing loss to Iceland in 2016, but faced criticism for playing it too safe and not being able to take the final step and get it past the line. The Tuchel era got off to great start with England winning all of their qualifiers without conceding a goal but, in the past year, England have lost their first ever matches against African and Asian competition after friendly defeats to Senegal and Japan. The squad selection has been controversial too with some big names left out (Maguire, Alexander-Arnold, Palmer, Foden, Gibbs-White, Bowen) and some unfancied players being called up (Burn, Quansah, Spence, Henderson, Madueke) but there’s still plenty of quality there and the country will be hoping that the decisions were correct.The Manager: Thomas TuchelDespite the mixed-results detailed above, the FA are very confident in Tuchel and extended his contract in February to last until after the next Euros which will be co-hosted by England. He’s a manager who knows exactly what he wants and he’s picked a side he feels is capable of playing the system he wants instead of picking the most inform or best players. It’s a system that’s worked for him before with him famously being in charge of the Chelsea side that beat Man City in the 2020/2021 Champions League final when they certainly were not the favourites. He also added the Super Cup and Club World Cup at Chelsea and has won league titles and cups in both France (with PSG) and his native Germany (Dortmund and Bayern Munich). He was a player in his younger days too but was forced to retire at 25 after suffering a knee-injury.Key Player: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)England’s top ever goalscorer, a World Cup Golden Boot winner already and coming into the tournament off the back of his best-ever season where he bagged 36 Bundesliga goals in 31 games. This is the weapon that England have when compared to the other top sides and, if England are going to win, it will be largely due to him. The three teams ranked above would bite your hand off to have Kane in their side with all of their top attacking talent being wide-players. For the longest time, he was clowned for never winning a trophy with multiple final defeats with Tottenham and England and when Bayern’s Bundesliga streak ended in his first season, it looked like the curse was real. But he’s finally put that to bed now with two league titles and a cup now in his cabinet. If we see him lifting the trophy next month, a Ballon d’Or is surely on the way.Why they're actually going to win it: It's coming home!!!
Tuesday at 14:101 day Author 15. @lewistgreen- SenegalWorld Cup Appearances: 4Best: Quarter-Finals (2002)On 01/06/2026 at 19:05, LewisGT said:10. SenegalGroup ICAF (1/10)World Ranking: 14Best Result: Quarter-Finals (2002)Fixtures:France (16th June, 8PM)Norway (23rd June, 1AM)Iraq (26th June, 8PM)The people’s AFCON champions, Senegal will be coming into this tournament with a bit between their teeth after being stripped by CAF of their African title in March after walking off the pitch in protest during the Final in January. They definitely looked determined in their recent friendlies where they paraded the trophy and beat Peru 2-0 and Gambia 3-1. While three of their main men, ex-Premier League stars Koulibaly, Mendy and Mané are all seeing their career’s out in Saudi Arabia, they are all still important parts of this side and they’re surrounded by top players reaching their peaks. And PSG’s teenage forward Ibrahim Mbaye could be the true wildcard, recently scoring the stoppage time goal in a 2-0 win verses Lens that secured them the French league title. They’ve been placed in the group of death but kicking off against France will bring back some great memories for Senegal. They famously beat the French in the opening game of 2002 when France were the then holders and went on to reach the quarters on their maiden appearance.The Manager: Pape ThiawReplacing Aliou Cissé, the popular young homegrown manager to led Senegal to their first ever AFCON in 2021 after being involved with the two previous campaigns where they had fell at the final hurdle (in 2002 as a player, missing the decisive penalty and 2019 as a manager) was never going to be an easy task but Thiaw looked to have done it perfectly when he lifted the trophy in January. But, as well as being stripped of the title, he has been given a 5-game ban in CAF competition for his part in the controversial protest. But he still be able to lead the side at the World Cup and will be looking to learn from past mistakes. As a player, he also represented his country in that historic 2002 campaign and had a career across Europe, including spells in Switzerland, Spain, France and Russia, without ever really finding a home. He’s only 45 now and is inexperienced at managing level, coming straight into this job from leading ‘Senegal A’, their national side of only home-based players, winning the 2022 African Nations Championship.Key Player: Sadio Mané (Al-Nassr)At 34, he is finally starting to show signs of slowing down but he still won the Best Player award at the AFCON in January and his role in the final just proved how important of a leader he is for this Senegalese side. While the rest of the team left the pitch, Mané stayed on and eventually convinced the rest of his teammates to join him. This is the only reason they were able to kick-off again on the night and eventually score the goal that gave them the ‘win’. I know it’s proved to be in vain but it would have shambolically been forfeited on the night without him remaining calm. Mané missed the last World Cup through injury when he was still at his peak and will be grateful to get this final chance to make history.Why they're actually going to win it: They’re the best team in Africa and will be desperate to get their hands on a trophy that no one can take away.
Tuesday at 14:131 day Author 20. @awardinary- BelgiumWorld Cup Appearances: 15Best: Third Place (2018)On 31/05/2026 at 11:42, LewisGT said:11. BelgiumGroup GUEFA (8/16)World Ranking: 9Best Result: Third-Place (2018)Fixtures:Egypt (15th June, 8PM)Iran (21st June, 8PM)New Zealand (27th June, 4AM)It feels like quite a while since you would have saw Belgium outside of the top 10 in one these lists but they’re on the last embers of their golden generation with only Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Axel Witsel and Romelu Lukaku still surviving from that era. And they are desperate to cling on to it too with Lukaku being called up despite playing next to no club football all season (69 minutes across 7 games). They do feel like they’re already far away from the Roberto Martínez side that stayed top of the world rankings for 3-straight years, played some beautiful stuff but could never eventually get over the line and lift a trophy. They are already on their second attempt post- Martínez with young Italian manager Domenico Tedesco let go after a disappointing showing at the 2024 Euros. But it’s not all dreary for Belgium. They have been handed the dream World Cup group and a potentially favourable Last 16 tie against a third-place side should they win it. And while they may not have reached the same highs at the old squad yet, there are still some very talented, exciting players coming through in this side, like Diego Moreira and Matias Fernandez-Pardo.The Manager: Rudi GarciaIn 2025, Belgium hired their third-consecutive foreign manager with the French Rudi Garcia stepping into the role. Despite only being 62, Garcia is a very experienced coach with over 30-years in management. His first role was with the now-defunct Corbeil-Essonnes in 1994 who were the same club he ended his playing career with at 28 after multiple injuries. He had spent the majority of his playing time with Lille and he became their manager too in 2008 where he led the club to a league and cup double in 2011 and was vital in the development of a young Eden Hazard. He’s had numerous mostly big European roles since then with Roma, Marseille, Lyon, Al Nassr and Napoli with the biggest success probably being at Lyon where he reached the Champions League semi-finals, knocking Guardiola’s Man City out in the processKey Player: Jérémy Doku (Manchester City)Undoubtedly, an incredibly gifted winger, Doku has been previously criticised for his lack out output and for making the wrong decisions in the final third. And he had of a slow start again this season but he’s stats have slowly been improving and he’s ended the season on fire and timed if perfectly for this tournament. When you get him running, there’s not many better on the ball. Defenders never know what he’s going to do next and how could they; he looks like he has no idea what he’s going to do next himself most of the time. It feels like he’s been around for ages and I remember him in the Belgium side at Euro 2020 but he is still only 23 and it feels like he’s now living up to all the potential and hitting his peak.Why they're actually going to win it: Not having the weight of the favourites tag should be useful and, if they can pick up some momentum with the nice-looking group and Last 16 tie, they have enough to really be a threat.
Tuesday at 14:161 day Author 33. @Viper*- USAWorld Cup Appearances: 12Best: Third Place (1930)On 25/05/2026 at 12:12, LewisGT said:17. USAGroup DCONCACAF (1/9)World Ranking: 16Best Result: Third-Place (1930)Fixtures:Paraguay (13th June, 2AM)Australia (19th June, 8PM)Turkey (26th June, 3AM)The final of three hosts to make an appearance, USA have not had a plain-sailing four years since the last tournament but will have a huge advantage of a majority of the World Cup being hosted in their country. Since their last-16 exit to Netherlands in 2022, USA have let Gregg Berhalter run his contract out (after Claudi Reyna reported a 1992 domestic incident to their FA in retaliation of his son not getting enough game time), rehired and then fired him. They were desperate for this opportunity not to go to waste and hired a very big-name foreign manager to lead them in this home tournament. It’s going to be fascinating to see how much the country buys into them this tournament.The Manager: Mauricio PochettinoNot unanimously popular in the Statues due to his continuous flirting with Tottenham and comments he’s made in press conferences playing down the quality of his side, Poch has started to turn results after a poor start. The highlight was their 5-1 demolition of Uruguay last November but defeats against Belgium and Portugal in March suggest that their still not the full package. A CB by trade, Pochettino made 20 appearances for Argentina and spent the majority of his career at Newell’s Old Boys, Espanyol then PSG. However, it’s as a manager where he has really made his name. Starting at Espanyol, he kept them afloat after some difficult seasons and led Southampton to their highest Premier League points total. This got him on the radar of Tottenham and he turned their fortunes around. He turned them into proper league contenders, building a strong core of Lloris, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Eriksen, Dele Alli, Son and Kane and reaching their first Champions League final. Subsequent spells at PSG and Chelsea haven’t been as successful but he still remains the dream re-hire in North London.Key Player: Weston McKennie (Juventus)Pulisic is obviously the poster-boy but I honestly think he’s the most overrated footballer in the world and his form at Milan has fallen of a cliff this year so I’m going to his fellow-Serie A star McKennie as the key man. Joining Juventus (originally on loan) in 2020, McKennie was not an instant hit in Italy with some serious injuries and had an ill-fated loan to Leeds United in January 2023 in a bid to re-find form and fitness. But this year has been the best of his career which has aligned with a change of position. Previously a defensive midfielder, McKennie has been pushed out wide this season and has found his shooting boots, scoring in three-consecutive Champions League games.Why they're actually going to win it: I’m sure Trump will do everything in his power to ensure that it happens. Can you really see him handing the trophy to anyone else?
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