World Cup 2026 power rankings: France still kings but who has climbed 26 places?

It took a little over an hour for Kylian Mbappé to find his groove. Irked by a poor refereeing decision, he scored twice in France’s opener . Ably supported by a stunning cast, Mbappé will already have his sights on winning the competition. Michael Olise has shown his class throughout , while Ousmane Dembélé dazzled with a hat-trick against Norway . We’ll see if anyone can stop Didier Deschamps’s team. 2) Argentina (+2) Lionel Messi turned 39 this week but there is little indication he is slowing down. A missed penalty against Austria is the only blemish on his record and, to be fair, he scored twice in that match, adding to his hat-trick against Algeria as he became the World Cup’s record goalscorer . Argentina’s success will hinge on their captain, which may explain why he was allowed a breather in the final group match – although he still came off the bench to score his sixth goal in the group stage. 3) Spain (-1) After the disaster of drawing 0-0 with Cape Verde in their opener, La Roja were shaken into action. Three goals in the opening 24 minutes against Saudi Arabia made any early concerns disappear; Lamine Yamal was fit to start, injecting the personality that Spain had previously lacked. That verve was not replicated against Uruguay, but they navigated the overly aggressive South Americans well to show a different side of their game. …