While it is quite early to be making any huge assumptions or unveiling any expectations for the 2026 World Cup due to the three-year gap from now until then, lots can be said from what we already know.
United States
With one of the youngest—if not the youngest—teams from the tournament this past year, the United States should be a mature pleasure to watch. As the United States continues to push its top players into major club teams across the globe, the youth plays to our benefit. The younger players for the USMNT continue to gain experience as most of the team enter their late-to-mid twenties (known as their prime years). More experienced players lead to better players, which leads to a better team, which then leads to better placement overall in the tournament. As an added plus for this team as well, they are automatically entered into the bracket due to being one of the three host countries. This, hopefully, turns our attention away from qualifying matches to chemistry building with the upcoming squad itself.
Smaller countries
Every year we see countries of such small populations take down some of the biggest giants in the World Cup. But should we be surprised? I believe the answer is an exclamatory no! To the average American, soccer (football) is just another sport that we can play, but for the majority of the world, “Football is life.” Take, for example, the Croatia team from the past two tournaments. In 2018, Croatia lost to France in the finals, and just last year made it to the semi-final matchup. Considering New York City has a population of just under three times the size of Croatia, it only makes us wonder why smaller countries can encounter such large success. As we head into the 2026 tournament, look for smaller nations with star club players. A great example would be the Morocco squad from last year who fought their way to a fourth-place finish.
Heartbreaking departures to promising futures
As some of the best players to ever walk the earth grow older, it is only given that they can play a finite number of World Cups. Some of the most commonly known players I’m talking about are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Growing up watching these two dominate the pitch on the world stage is all I can remember, and I believe it would be safe to say many others would feel the same. As the generation who gave us countless cherishable moments departs, we can surely see the youngest players succeed. There are still three years until World Cup 2026 kicks off, which gives young talent plenty of time to shift into the spotlight. Watch out as Norway will be led by confident striker Erling Haaland and the United States will mature into a competitive team.
Final touches
There is much to expect as we move on from the 2022 World Cup and cycle into 2026. However, I believe that a World Cup tournament full of madness and surprise is what truly makes it entertaining on a global scale. As predicting the World Cup is equivalent to predicting March Madness, I stand by one prediction the most. Watch for older teams to falter as younger teams of the future step up to show their dominance on the world stage.
