The road to 2026,
ranked in fives.
48 teams. 3 host nations. 16 cities. 104 matches. We're counting down to the biggest World Cup ever with deep dives, predictions and ranked lists from across football history.
Top fives, freshly served

Welcome to World Cup Top Five — Road to 2026
A brand new home for our countdown to the biggest World Cup ever. 48 teams. 3 host nations. 16 cities. One year to go.

Top Five Off The Beaten Path Destinations in the 2026 World Cup
Discovering lesser-known gems amidst the grandeur of the 2026 World Cup host cities offers a unique adventure for football enthusiasts. While iconic destinations like New York City and Los Angeles beckon, delving into off-the-beaten-path…

The Top Five Active Footballers who have never played in a FIFA World Cup
The World Cup stands as the ultimate aspiration for every footballer, a dream nurtured since childhood. Yet, despite their club-level achievements, many players, like Ryan Giggs and George Weah, have been denied this pinnacle due to thei…

Five Nations that will Benefit from the Expansion of the 2026 World Cup
The upcoming tournament will be the first ever to showcase 48 teams, a 50% increase from the format that we have come to love between 1998-2022. While many questions have been raised regarding the effect on the quality of football, it al…

Spotlight on Women’s World Cup: Legendary Moments that Define the Game
The FIFA Women’s World Cup isn’t just a tournament; it’s a grand symphony of skill, emotion, and sheer determination, where history is painted with moments of pure brilliance, passion, and grit. From heart-stopping goals to stunning upse…

World Cup Top Five Red Cards
5. Harald Schumacher – 1982 World Cup In the 1982 World Cup semi-final between West Germany and France, German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher committed one of the most shocking fouls in World Cup history. In the 57th minute, French player…

Five Players We’re Looking Forward to Seeing in the 2026 World Cup
The players we want to see breaking through and leading top teams in the 2026 World Cup

Top Five Pelé FIFA World Cup Moments
Pelé passed away at the age of 82, in almost conspicuous proximity to the end of a World Cup, the stage were he was one of the first to leave their mark.

Top Five African World Cup Campaigns
African teams struggled historically to fulfill their potentials, but still left their marks on different World Cups with memorable campaigns.

Top Five Disappointing Teams in the 2022 World Cup
Not everyone’s hopes were fulfilled in Qatar 2022, but these five teams stood out as the most disappointing.

Ronaldo doesn’t abide by the rules, he makes them
Entering Qatar 2022, it’s Ronaldo and his army of supporters against the world.

The Five Best Options for the 2022 World Cup Final
Our selection for a proper climax to this intense month of football The 2022 World Cup is packed with decade-old rivalries and modern-day stars. From the long list of veterans coming in for the last time to the exciting youngsters and de…

Power Rankings: Five Favorites to Win the 2022 World Cup
A look at the teams coming into Qatar in the best position to go all the way.

The Five Worst World Cup Title Defenders
Defending a World Cup title is hard. These are the scenarios France will want to avoid in Qatar 2022.

Top Five Players Seeking a Transfer After the 2022 World Cup
Despite all the money spent and the rise in the quality of club football, the World Cup remains the biggest stage for footballers to shine. Some of the biggest players in the history of the sport never managed to bring their A-game to th…

Top Five 2022 World Cup Debutants
There’s something special about a first experience, and there’s no second chance for a first impression. We can continue citing clichés but the bottom line is that ahead of every World Cup, there are the select players we’re looking forw…

Top Five Reasons England Will Win the 2022 World Cup
England are in a bad run of form, but it’s unfair to judge Southgate and the players without looking at what they’ve achieved in the past four years. In this article, we offer five reasons for English optimism ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

The Top Five Annoying Teams in World Cup History
There are always two sides to the coin. Football history is abundant with inspiring teams and players, uniting opposing fans, and becoming a consensus. At the same time, there are the inglorious bastards of the game, those who created de…

Top Five Players We’ll Miss In The 2022 World Cup
Some football stars stand out from their compatriots, playing for national teams that just don’t match their level, creating a huge gap between a successful club career and their international career. Here we take a look at five of the b…

Top Five Exotic Places to Have Hosted a World Cup Match
World Cups are an international celebration of football, culture, and everything in between. In this list we review some of the extraordinary places which were chosen to stage matches in the world’s biggest football event.

Top Five World Cup Troll Moments
World Cups have provided memorable situations of pure entertainment. Here is our pick of top five entertaining, trolling moments.

Ranking the Top Five Nations’ Fanbases at the 2022 World Cup
What we’ve learned from football being played behind closed doors during the pandemic, is that it just isn’t the same. There is no football without fans, and the same goes for the World Cup. In this piece we took on ourselves to rank the…

Top Five Reasons Qatar Shouldn’t Be Hosting a World Cup
It seems like people in general and football fans specifically can’t bother enough to go all the way and boycott an event that brings them joy. Otherwise Qatar 2022 would’ve simply not happened. Here are five solid reasons why this tourn…

Top Five 1994 World Cup Surprising Teams
With the two finalists from the previous World Cup lacking energy and a handful of regulars missing out, a few emerging football nations took the opportunity to shine in the summer of ’94 with both hands.

Top Five Managers We’d Liked to See In a World Cup
Coaches are sometimes even more eye-catching and influential than the players on the field. From a wealth of modern, charismatic, tactical-geniuses, we took on ourselves to pick five we would like to see leading a team in a World Cup.

Top Five Games of the Group Stage in the 2022 World Cup
Despite the group stages being considered as the “warm up” phase of a World Cup, there are always a few gems with the potential to turn to instant classics. In this list we provide our top five recommendations for games to watch in the 2…

Top Five Disappointing Performances by World Cup Host Nations
Besides the prestige, hosting a World Cup is supposed to provide a sporting advantage. However, that isn’t always the case, as shown in the examples of these five disappointing host nations.

1998 World Cup Five-a-side Team
When you think five-a-side you think about those games you played with your friends in the park, in the neighborhood or at school. Picking a five-a-side team made up of World Cup players is where fantasy meets reality, and this is our at…

Top Five World Class Players Who Never Shone in the World Cup
The 1998 World Cup was full of stars. In this post we took on ourselves the challenge to build a five-a-side team made up of players from the tournament that took place in France.

Top Five World Cup Diego Maradona Moments
Decades after he retired, Diego Maradona, one of the biggest players in World Cup history, remained in the vicinity of the tournament. The Argentine was an ambassador, fan, and had an unforgettable spell as a coach in 2010. In this list…

The 1994 World Cup 5-a-side Team
Yes, we have a bit of a soft spot for the 1994 World Cup. Picking a five-a-side team out of a pool of so many icons, was tough, but fun. We hope you’ll have as much fun reading our list.

Top Five Potential 2022 World Cup Dark Horses
We remember World Cups because of their winners, their losers, the stars, the stories, and then there’s also always the surprising team who made it further than expected. Read more on our take of top five potential dark horses.