James Tyler Oct 7, 2026, 04:54 AM ET Close James Tyler is an ESPN editor for soccer. It has been 79 days since the 2026 World Cup ended, with Spain beating Argentina to claim their second title. How are we going to make it four years until the next edition? By doing another Power Rankings, of course.
As we did at several points before and during the 2026 World Cup -- from 100 days out to right after the tournament -- we're looking at how our global reporters feel about the teams from a contenders vs. pretenders perspective. But this time, we're looking to the future, a full World Cup qualifying cycle ahead, to rank the top end of the field in 2030. Our panel of 19 reporters and editors was asked to rank the entire FIFA landscape from No. 1 (meaning the trophy is theirs) to No. 15 (the cool outsider's pick for a tournament shock), with their ballots compiled into the collective ranking below.
ESPN FC's World Cup 2030 Way-Too-Early Power Rankings 1. SPAIN- FIFA rank (as of Oct. 6): 1- International break results: defeated England 3-2; defeated Croatia 4-1; defeated Czechia 3-1; defeated Croatia 2-1 (UEFA Nations League)- Next opponent: at Czechia (Nov. 15; UEFA Nations League)Considering the steady hum of results and brilliance out of La Roja, I sense top spot is theirs until the next major tournament, and our voters seem to agree, awarding a whopping 18 of 19 first-place votes to Luis de la Fuente's squad. They continue to earn our confidence, though, taking nothing for granted.
The four-game set in Nations League qualifying ran the gamut: they fell behind 1-0 to England but rallied to win 3-2, nearly doubling the Three Lions' x G (3.12 to 1.74) and showing their composure under adversity. From there, a pair of easy wins over Croatia and Czechia extended their unbeaten run to 40 games, with Lamine Yamal netting four times over that span. Then on Tuesday, they rallied from a goal down to beat Croatia thanks to a pair of goals from -- of course -- defensive midfielder/part-time center forward Mikel Merino, who has carried his scoring form from Arsenal over to the national team.
On this form, it will take a lot to dethrone them. 2. FRANCE- FIFA rank: 3- International break results: defeated Türkiye 1-0; defeated Belgium 1-0; drew 1-1 vs. Italy; defeated Belgium 4-1 (UEFA Nations League)- Next opponent: at Italy (Nov. 12; UEFA Nations League)play1:39Leboeuf: Olise and France looked unstoppable Les Bleus officially began their new era under coach Zinedine Zidane, fresh in the role after the national team's decade-plus run of excellence under Didier Deschamps, though it wasn't the smoothest window. That said, they snagged the sole first-place vote that didn't end up in Spain's count, and it's largely down to the talent and potential their settled squad has under the mercurial Zidane.
A narrow win over Türkiye -- and a brief Kylian Mbappé injury scare -- opened their four-game set, with Michael Olise (a trendy pick for the 2026 Ballon d'Or) then netting late with a superb individual effort to sneak a win in Belgium. Another sublime Olise goal should have led to victory over Italy until Adrien Rabiot's ill-judged pass led to the Azzurri equalizer, denying Zidane a first home win as manager, but normal service resumed with a 4-1 win over Belgium in Paris to keep them in charge of their Nations League group. There is something slightly off about them in these early days under Zidane, and it's not lost on their rivals that it took three second-half subs and all four goals coming after the 77th minute in their final game of the window.
While their strength in depth is to be admired and envied in equal measure, Belgium's commitment to the counter-attack nearly paid off. Are teams figuring out how to pla...
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing