WC 2026 Summary

With 48 teams and talk of going to 64 teams, the WC could end up so broad in its coverage. What are some of the effects expanding the attendees has? The 48 team format will be the main focus here. 

Minows: There was usually a country that had a poor WC but in this one, six. They were all eliminated in the group stage. 

The three games they played resulted in a combined total of 10 goals, but they conceded 62. Is it worth quite a few one sided games to have more participants? 

There could be arguments both ways but going to 64 nations would surely add to the number of blow out scorelines. Not ideal, but I can see both sides. 

Third placed qualifiers: There were eight of them in 2026. In other words, coming third gave a nation 67% chance of progress. One of the eight qualified to the round of 16, but fell there. 

A 48 format creates this situation, whereas a 32 or 64 format can have the top two from each group progressing. I'm not a fan of two in every three contestants progressing. 

Matches played to win: With the move from 32 to 48 countries, that went up from seven to eight. Moving up to 64 teams won't increase that any further. 

Top sides: I counted these as nations that exceeded eleven goals scored. Two went out in the round of 32 and one the round of 16. Germany and USA averaged 2.75 goals per game, conceding 1.25. 

Belgium scored 2.33 per game and conceded 1.2. Norway threw a game against France and ended up with 2.17 and 1.83. 

England managed 2.5 and 1.5. France 2.5 and 1.25. Argentina was 2.38 and 1.0. Spain was 1.75 and 0.13

This doesn't cover minutes played through extra time. Still, there is something to learn. 

Most teams in these later rounds scored at a reasonably consistent rate (the third placed match affected England and France figures). What is obvious is that the finalists had the best defences, 1.0 and a ridiculous 0.125 for Spain. Argentina was helped in the final with Spain denied a legitimate goal which would have lifted Argentina's goals conceded to 1.125 but still the second lowest. 

Two of my favourites were France and England as they had a lot of strike power but both failed with defences that were too leaky. Spain won with a super defensive effort right across the tournament. 

Please note: The lower chart has group match totals and finals totals separated. The red is the two combined. 

WC Regions: Historical Data / 2026 Analysis

I scored countries that have been to the WC since 1954. That chart can be seen by clicking here. Below show how points have been allocated. 'Totals' are the points for each tournament. Then matches and average points per match, which has remained reasonably similar.

What has dropped is the percentage for the winner, from 22% to 8%. Points for teams not making the quarter finals are the reason. As their number has swelled, so too the percentage, fom 17% to 61%. 

Moving on to how regions have gone. The number of nations went up by 45.5% in 2026. The number of  nations participating regionally, Europe went up numerically 23%, Americas 50%, East/Pacific 67% and Africa 100%. 

As for points won, East/Pacific went up just 12.5%, Europe up 68%, Americas 74% and Africa 153%.

The gap between the extra nations and points gained by region were East/Pacific a terrible -54%, Americas a modest +24%, Europe a sound +45% and Africa a buoyant +53%.

Europe is the most successful region but is getting less allocations. Its percentage points are down to 44% of the total. Yet the above shows that the success is the second highest if comparing points won with the allocations by percentage. Europe was not given sufficient spots considering the quality of football there. 

America's very generous 12 nation allocation for 2026 did achieved more points but was third on the metric of improvement per team. Surely they don't need more nations. 

Africa had its number of participants doubled and grew the most, so allocating more spots was a successful move. More spots will surely follow.

East/Pacific was a disaster. 6 to 10 teams didn't work on the field. However, with the population that region covers, I'm sure FIFA is eyeing the revenue potential and will want more allocations from here. 

If you want clarification of what I wrote, please leave a comment and I will answer. 

WC Countries Ranked: 1954-2026

For a chart on how points are awarded and an analysis by regions, simply click here.

World Cup Knock Out Stage : 2026

Four games to reach the final games and five wins to lift the trophy. That will test consistency. So here we dive into the rounds. The colours represent which group they came from.

The round of 32. What were the surprises of the round? Two only for mine. Germany has failed to fire in the last three WC's so it was not a surprise to lose to Paraguay. Based on historical results, a shock. Based on recent tournaments not a total shock but an upset. 

Argentina struggling to get past Cape Verde wasn't totally unexpected, but conceding two goals was to me. They had two 0-0 results in the round robin games so I thought their best chance was 1-0 or 0-0 with penalties. 3-2 was not what I expected.

The round of 16. The big news was that the three host nations were eliminated. If it gives soccer in the region a boost, then a success. If it didn't, then it should have been played elsewhere. All games ended in regular time, except one, which was about as dull as football can get. 

Norway defeating Brazil would normally have been a huge upset. Brazilian football is but a shadow of its former glory while this Norwegian team is probably its best ever. Bring those factors together, not such a surprise. Argentina came back from 0-2 with 12 minutes left and avoided a surprise. One player does seem to be carrying Argentina. 

Quarter Finals: There were no surprises here. France looked the favourite to take the trophy.

Semi Finals: France were favoured to win the title but were lacklustre in their defeat to Spain. It was out of character but that happens in sport. The other game was expected to be close and it was. England went ahead then tried to protect it. That backfired and Argentina advanced. 

Play off third/fourth: As this is, in my opinion, a pointless game, I don't cover it. As it turned out to be an amazing 6-4 win for England over France.

Grand Final: Went into extra time. Shots taken: Spain 20, Argentina 2. Football 1, antifootball 0. In two WC finals in the USA, 240 minutes played, one goal in total scored. 

Some of the Argentine players, such as Parades, are a disgrace. Their coach at the World Cup is delusional and responsible for his side's unsportsmanlike behavior, especially after the final was completed. Will FIFA act to send out a message?

World Cup Host Nations Listed

It is common knowledge that for many years, the process for selecting host nations was flawed. Voting was increasingly not about what was fair or even good for the game, but was politically and strategically led. 

In that environment, nations that lacked sufficient influence were left in the cold. FIFA had an unfair system, the sort that self serving humans specialise in. The unevenness of it all is seen in the history shown below. While some effort has been made to address the way hosting rights are granted, underlying negative issues of how such decisions are made remain. 

The yellow side below shows the year the tournament was - or will be - held, the number of participating countries, and the host or hosts. The 2030 WC will also feature Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, who will each hold opening celebration matches to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup.  

The 2034 event is already earmarked for Asia, with Saudi Arabia as the host nation. It will not be shared, which is surprising, considering 48 nations will be participating. Several new stadiums will be built to accommodate the number of teams involved.  

The blue side shows the inequality starkly. Mexico first hosted in 1970 and has now done so on three occasions. The USA is a twice holder since 1994 and Spain will soon become a second time host, the first time in 1982. The USA has offered to host the 2038 tournament, saying it could handle the possible 64 nation competition. 

It's good to see more recently many first time nations, from Portugal down to Russia. On the negative side,  Argentina (not since 1978) and England - inexplicably back at 1966 - have been overlooked. Those before them are smaller nations that could at best piggyback on larger hosts. 

England, Netherlands and Scotland would be a good mix. Close proximity, two that have never hosted before and one that is well overdue. Am I holding my breath? No. Some negative issues remain. 

Football World Cup Group Standings: 2026

Twelve groups and forty eight teams. Thirty two qualifying for the next round. All the teams that achieved four points or more qualified as well as Senegal, the lone three point team. With more teams and more qualifying for the next round, there will be more positives. 

Positive surprises: 

Canada had by far their best ever tournament, two lasts and now through.
Bosnia-Herzegovina also through for the first time on a second attempt.
Egypt has much the same record as Canada, three lasts and now qualifying. 
Scotland's equal best tournament, but still no play off place. 
Cape Verde's first tournament and into the play offs!

Negative surprises:

South Korea don't have a great WC history, but I'm sure they will be disappointed. 
Uruguay has won WCs, but Cape Verde outperformed them. 
Turkey rarely make WC's but this was their worst of three.
Italy has now missed its third consecutive WC, despite a fine history at them!

Highest World Cup Scorers (Women)

In the history of the Football World Cup for women, eleven players have reached or exceeded ten goals scored. None have scored more than one goal per match played (as of 2023).

Because the women's game hasn't had the history of the men's, I was expecting fewer in the top ten. However, it has been around long enough for players to participate in many tournaments so I don't know why I thought that.

Highest World Cup Scorers (Men)

In the history of the Football World Cup, only ten players have exceeded ten goals scored. Only three of those have scored more than one goal per match played (as of 20/07/2026).

The top two on the list played in 2026. I'm surprised that Messi has one of the lowest average goals per game. Mbappe has passed him, with youth on his side too. Kane made a charge, but still some way back. C.Ronaldo has the lowest strike rate here, which is surprising. 

FIFA Women's World Cup Tournaments : 1991-2023

The first tournament was held in 1991 in China. Nine have now been held and under the @/WC column, the number of times a country has participated is shown. To rank how nations have performed, I created the chart you see below. So how does it work?

Points are allocated according to where teams finished each World Cup and those points are added together in the 'Tot' column. 

The 'Avg' figure is arrived at by dividing the 'Tot' number with the @/WC one. So a country that has done well when they did attend will have a higher average figure than those performing poorly when they attended, regardless of how often they did so. 

The lowest part of the chart reveals how each region did. The three rows show - total points accrued, the number of nations each region sent and finally the average points. As the number of participating countries increases, the points do not increase at the same rate so average points reduce with additional countries being admitted. 

Taking the Americas as an example, it started with just two countries and had the highest average of 10 points each. In 2024, with nine countries it had the lowest average per nation of 2.4. I wonder if the organisers will react to that or view it as a long term project where the experience gained will rectify that next time. 

Summary: The USA is clearly the most successful country, ahead of Germany. That despite neither doing that well in the 2023 event. England, the Netherlands and Spain have missed some tournaments but both have been successful when attending. New Zealand is notable for the opposite reason. 

FIFA Men's World Cup Tournaments : 1954-2022

The World Cup of football wasn't universally accepted when it was introduced back in 1930. Some countries didn't see the need for it as it was an Olympic sport so that was good enough to define a world champion. The problem with that was only amateur players were allowed to compete.

When the World Cup was introduced, when played on one continent, countries on another continent wouldn't attend. This became a tit for tat affair which diluted the genuineness of the title World Cup. It was only by 1954 that it was accepted by all and at that point it became a bona fida world tournament. That's where this analysis kicks off. 

Countries that have been basically the same throughout are purple, those disbanded pink and for new entrants light blue. The Av column on the extreme right highlights the average points for each attendance at a cup. 

Below are all the results and how points are allocated. All participants get something although success is especially rewarded. Sixteen points for a win down to one for last in a group.  

Below the country list, there is a section showing how regions have fared. Then a breakdown of points is available for any who have a nerdy stats side to them.