The Teams that Everyone Talks Up Before a World Cup and the Ones that Usually Surprise Us
The beauty of sports is that you never know how a game might turn. There are favorites on paper, but then there are winners on the field. One doesn’t necessarily guarantee the other and the history books are littered by examples of high powered teams that crumbled when it mattered most, or rags to riches stories about overachievers that nobody saw coming.
The 2026 World Cup will certainly bring its own dose of heartbreak and exhilaration. This is a good time to remember that some teams have subscribed to more than their fair share of these emotions in part editions of this prestigious event. Here are a couple of underachievers and overachievers we end up talking about almost every cycle.
England Still Can’t Bring It Home
We all know that England is the birthplace of football and its national team used to be an embodiment of that. However, the World Cup trophy has last been in possession of the inventors of the game way back in 1966. Since then, the team has repeatedly tried and failed to recapture the old glory, never even managing to reach the finals. That’s particularly strange considering that England is consistently ranked among the favourites ahead of nearly every World Cup. The team sometimes starts strong and awakens hopes among fans, only to suffer a setback at the most inopportune time. You can’t fault some of the English fans for becoming superstitious and talking about curses here.
Spain’s Placement Never Seems to Match the Hype
This is another football powerhouse that can’t seem to get out of its own way in World Cups. Aside from 2010 when Spain won the crown, it has failed to reach even the semifinals in the last 70 years despite appearing regularly. There is no logical explanation for this, since Spain operates one of the best national leagues in the world and its school of football keeps producing international stars. The current team is favored to win once again, as the latest updates for World Cup betting have it with the shortest odds out of all teams in the tournament. Hopefully the talented Spanish squad will be able to reverse the narrative and make up for past disappointments.
Tiny Croatia Keeps Advancing to the Semis
With a population of less than 5 million and limited financial resources, you would expect Croatia to reside in the lower tier of European soccer. Think again, since this small nation has a reputation of a giant slayer that comes awake just in time for the World Cup. Croatia has won a top 3 finish in the World Cup three different times since 1998, even reaching the finals in 2018. The team has fielded some world-class players to be sure, but it displayed a flair for improvisation and creative play that made them fan favourites during their magical runs. We can only hope they have some pixie dust left for the 2026 tournament, which they will start in the same group as England.
What’s the Next African Nation to Pop Up?
Casual fans may think that Africa doesn’t play top-shelf football but anyone who knows a bit of World Cup history will tell you how naïve this line of thinking is. Between Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2010, African countries are no strangers to the quarter-finals round and in 2022 Morocco took it a step further and finished 4th in the world. With 10 teams from Africa slated to appear in the 2026 World Cup, it’s entirely possible that we are about to witness another strong run from an unheralded nation coming from the Black Continent.