World Cup 2026 Power Rankings before round of 16: Who's No. 1? - ESPN

We're over three weeks into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and after a whirlwind group stage and tense round of 32, we're down to just 16 teams left fighting it out for the chance to win sport's ultimate prize on July 19.

All three co-hosts — the U.S., Mexico and Canada — are still alive in the competition, while superstars have delivered on their talent and several minnows have given us emotional moments we may never forget.

For a start, the race for the Golden Boot is being contested by several of the game's greats. Argentina star Lionel Messi leads the way (seven goals), with France talisman Kylian Mbappé one behind, England's Harry Kane and Norway's Erling Haaland on five, and Brazil's Vinícius Júnior tied with three other players on four. It's rare to get so many of the elite forwards in form at the same time, and with the world watching.

When it comes to underdogs in the round of 32, we had Paraguay dumping Germany out of the competition on penalties, Congo DR holding a 1-0 lead over England for over an hour before the Three Lions roared back to win, and Cape Verde coming within 10 minutes and an extra-time own goal of taking defending champs Argentina to penalties.

Deep breaths ...

… so with 16 teams left, how does the field look?

As we did at several points before and during the World Cup — from 100 days out to after the group stage — we're looking at how our global reporters feel about the tournament from a contenders vs. pretenders perspective. We asked our panel of 20 reporters to rank the remaining 16 teams from No. 1 (meaning the trophy is theirs) to No. 16 (the cool outsider's pick for a tournament shock) and compiled their ballots into the collective ranking below.

— Messi, Argentina avoid upset for the ages