BEST·THIRD·PLACE TRACKER An independent tracker for the 2026 World Cup.
FINAL UPDATE:
2026 · CHAMPION
Spain
La RojaThe Red One
CHAMPION
IN OUR BEST THIRDS RANKING
#1OUR RANK
22PTS
+13GD
14GF
Spain are the champions of the 2026 World Cup.

Spain's 2026 campaign started quietly with a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde Islands, 65 places lower in the world ranking, before a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia on matchday 2 sparked things into life. A 1-0 win over Uruguay, 14 places lower in the world ranking, followed on matchday 3. Seven points, a goal difference of 5 and a clean defensive record across five goals scored sent Spain top of Group H and into the knockout rounds.

Spain's knockout run was relentless in the best sense. They beat Austria 3-0 in the Round of 32, Austria being 22 places lower in the world ranking, then edged Portugal 1-0 in the Round of 16 in a tight meeting between two of the world's top five sides. A 2-1 quarter-final win over Belgium, 7 places lower in the world ranking, set up a semi-final against France, just 1 place below Spain in the world ranking, and Spain won that too, 2-0.

Spain won the 2026 World Cup, beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final to claim the title against a side ranked 1 place higher in the world ranking.

THE RUN
Champions of the world.
Their full knockout run, start to finish.
AustriaR32 · WON 3-0
PortugalR16 · WON 1-0
BelgiumQF · WON 2-1
FranceSF · WON 2-0
ArgentinaF · WON 1-0
🏆
CHAMPIONS
Won the 2026 World Cup.

PER MATCH · INCL. GROUP STAGE

2.75PTS / match
1.75GF / match
−0.75FAIR / match

Across 8 matches (group stage included), Spain has averaged 2.75 points and 1.75 goals scored per game, with 0.75 fair-play points lost per game.

PLAYED

Cape Verde Islands
Saudi Arabia
Uruguay
Austria
Portugal
Belgium
France
Argentina
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
Won the group in the end. Spain topped their group to qualify outright, so the best-thirds cut this tracker is built on did not settle where they finished.

How hard was Spain’s road towards the trophy?

Every team’s road through the tournament, on one chart. Each line shows how hard each stage is. The base is the gap in FIFA world ranking between the two sides; on top of that, current form (each team’s last three matches, and how convincingly they were won against how strong an opponent) nudges the step: a hot opponent makes it taller, a team’s own hot form makes its own steps shorter. Higher means a tougher road. In the group stage the opponents are known, so each match sits at a fixed height; each knockout round shows the average difficulty across every opponent still left in that round. Spain’s road is highlighted, along with every team it played. Hover or tap any team to compare, or pick one from the legend.

All teams