Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario believes that Spain and France are the two national teams most likely to win the 2026 World Cup.
The two-time world champion, known as “The Phenomenon”, gave his assessment during the World Cup opening ceremony at Mexico’s legendary Azteca Stadium, where he was invited along with many other former world champions.
“If there are two teams that I see as favorites, they are Spain and France. They are above the other teams, although there are national teams that you always have to be careful about,” Ronaldo declared.
His comments came on the same day that FIFA released its latest rankings, which saw Argentina return to first place.
The world champions lead the standings, while Luis de la Fuentes’ Spain are second. France are third, confirming their status as one of the main contenders for the trophy.
Following them come England, Portugal and Brazil, while Morocco has made history by climbing to seventh place in the rankings for the first time.
This ranking is of particular importance during the World Cup, as it is used as a determining criterion in cases where two or more national teams finish with equal points in the group stage, as well as to determine the best teams that advance from third place.
Despite Argentina holding first place in the FIFA rankings, for Ronaldo the two main favorites to triumph in the 2026 World Cup remain Spain and France.
