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<\/div>\nJames TylerJun 19, 2026, 02:34 AM ET<\/span><\/p>\n
Close<\/a><\/p>\n- James Tyler is an ESPN editor for soccer.<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Multiple Authors<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
It has been an incredible first week at the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a>, with the superstars showing up — Lionel Messi<\/a> tying the men’s World Cup goals record by scoring his first hat trick in this competition, Erling Haaland<\/a> scoring twice in his tournament debut, Kylian Mbapp\u00e9<\/a> adding two of his own to become France<\/a>‘s all-time leading men’s scorer — and the smaller nations making an impact, too. Australia<\/a> stunned T\u00fcrkiye<\/a> to rival the U.S. for top spot in Group D, Scotland<\/a> beat Haiti<\/a> 1-0 for their first win at a World Cup since 1990, and tiny Cape Verde<\/a>, in their tournament debut, held powerhouse world No. 1 Spain<\/a> to a 0-0 draw in their first game.<\/p>\n
Could you ask for much more from the action on the pitch? We think not, but what do these early results tell us about the front-runners and the also-rans?<\/p>\n
As we did 100 days out, 30 days out and with 48 hours to go, we’re looking at how our global reporters feel about the tournament from a contenders vs. pretenders perspective after every team’s first game. We asked our panel of 20 reporters to rank their top 15 favorites from No. 1 (meaning “the trophy is theirs”) to No. 15 (“the cool outsider’s pick for a tournament shock”) and compiled their ballots into the collective ranking below.<\/p>\n
– O’Hanlon: World Cup overreactions after one round of games<\/a>
– Hamilton: How Scotland’s Tartan Army took over the World Cup<\/a>
– World Cup 2026: Fixtures, results and all coverage<\/a><\/b><\/p>\nEditor’s note: Voting was concluded before Thursday’s games involving Mexico, South Korea, Canada, Qatar, Switzerland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Czechia and South Africa kicked off. Performances in their second round of group stage games will be reflected in our next Power Rankings, which will launch after that round is complete on Tuesday.<\/em><\/p>\n