England ended 2025 as the fourth-placed team in the FIFA Men's World Rankings, a position that earned them a seeded position when the draw was made in early December for the 2026 World Cup, potentially keeping them apart from France (ranked 3rd) until the final and from Spain (1st) and Argentina (2nd) until the semi-finals should all of those teams win their groups.
In their group, Thomas Tuchel's side will face Croatia (ranked 10th) and Panama (30th) as well as Ghana, whose ranking of 72nd in the world may not tell the whole story of a team with plenty of Premier League experience and who won their qualifying group in good style but failed to qualify for the current AFCON tournament in Morocco.
The odds for the tournament see England as second favourites behind Spain with Argentina next in the betting as they look to retain the trophy they won in Qatar.
