⚽ England

England are one of football's founding nations and a perennial contender. A UEFA side, they enter the 2026 World Cup rated 2020 — 6th of the 48 teams — in Group L.

World Cup winners in 1966, with recent deep runs including the 2018 semi-final. Increasingly fluid and technical, backed by Premier League-honed athleticism.

Drawn alongside Croatia, Ghana and Panama, their toughest group test on paper is the meeting with Croatia. Our model projects them to finish 1st in the group and to reach the Quarter-finals.