Argentina also boasts attacking depth through Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez, and Nico Paz.
England, Portugal, Brazil, Germany in Transition
England enters under new manager Thomas Tuchel after consecutive runner-up finishes in the European Championships.
The squad aims to rebound from recent friendlies where they drew with Uruguay and lost to Japan.
Portugal’s qualification campaign included a loss in Ireland where Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off, but they recently secured a 2-0 friendly victory against the United States in Atlanta without Ronaldo.
Brazil, managed by Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, finished fifth in South American qualifying with six losses in 18 games.
The squad features Vinicius Junior as the primary attacking leader alongside veteran Neymar, who plays for Santos and has not been capped since 2023.
“The World Cup won’t be won by a perfect team — because a perfect team doesn’t exist,” insisted Ancelotti.
“It will be won by the most resilient team,” he added.
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Germany looks to advance under Julian Nagelsmann following consecutive group-stage exits in 2018 and 2022, currently sitting behind the Netherlands, Morocco, and Belgium in the international rankings.
