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The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to deliver some jaw-dropping moments! Join us as we count down the underdog nations most likely to cause shocking upsets at football's biggest stage. From Caribbean debutants to Scandinavian powerhouses, these teams are ready to shake things up. Which dark horse do you think will go the furthest? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00I'm much more a believer in Japan than I am South Korea, given what I've seen this window.
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo. And today, we're exploring the underdog nations that could go on to cause
00:10shocking upsets at the 2026 edition of international football's biggest event,
00:16the FIFA World Cup. People are talking about Morocco more, and it's not just the way they
00:21play. They have strong results that has boosted them up the FIFA rankings.
00:28Whether the country was known as Netherlands Antilles or Curacao, the World Cup never saw
00:35the Caribbean perform. Well, until 2026. Unbeaten throughout CONCACAF qualification,
00:46Curacao has progressed to its debut World Cup. With a population of just over 150,000,
00:53the blue wave will sweep into the tournament's history books as the smallest nation to qualify
00:58and having the oldest manager, Dick Advocat, who will be 78. While Curacao has one of the lowest
01:06odds of winning the competition, fate loves an underdog. To qualify is already a big thing.
01:12So everything else is a bonus. And now, you know, we're going to get there and really show our best.
01:19In a group alongside Germany, Ecuador, and the Ivory Coast, it doesn't look great for them. Yet,
01:25with Leandro Bakuna and Tahit Chong leading Curacao, an upset or two isn't out of the question.
01:31Obviously, we are excited to be there, but I think we're also going there for vacation,
01:36like he says. We're obviously going there to win football games, really.
01:40Ecuador. With the pressure of playing the first game of the 2022 tournament against host country,
01:46Qatar, Ecuador got off to a great start, thanks to the legendary Ener Valencia.
01:52It's 1-0. This time, the goal will count, and Ecuador can celebrate.
01:59While they were gone in the group stage, the South Americans quietly gathered a star-studded
02:04squad of youngsters mixed with veterans. With stars such as Captain Valencia,
02:09Kendri Paez, and Moises Caicedo, Ecuador had an impressive conmebol qualification,
02:16despite having a three-point penalty for fielding an ineligible player.
02:20The big one is going to be how they start the tournament, and they have a generational
02:25talent in Moises Caicedo. They also have some game changers. The biggest question mark,
02:29though, Nico, we've always had is, can you get other goal scorers other than Ener Valencia?
02:35Ending in second place, La Tricolor beat reigning world champs Argentina, who finished top.
02:42With a strong defense, Ecuador only conceded five goals in qualification.
02:47The next least, Argentina and Paraguay, had 10. As such, teams will struggle to break Ecuador down.
02:54The expectations that the fans have right now are huge.
02:58Turkey. It's been a long wait for the European nation. The last time Turkey was in the World Cup
03:04was in 2002, when despite Brazil's Rivaldo sullying the experience, they finished in shocking third
03:12place. This golden generation of Turkish talent had made their country proud and taken bronze
03:18against all odds. With Vincenzo Mantella in charge, the Turkish team in recent years has become a serious
03:26threat with stars such as captain Hakan Chalhanoulu, Arda Guller, and Boris Alper Yilmaz. After finishing
03:35second, only three points behind Spain in UEFA qualification, the Crescent stars had to go
03:42through the playoffs. Yet they left Romania and Kosovo in their wake to qualify for the World Cup.
03:54Turkey has been placed in a group featuring U.S., Paraguay, and Australia. With little between the
04:01nations, Turkey, with their venomous front line, is going to cause problems.
04:06It's a difficult team to play against. I think you have to be really careful with the front three
04:10that they have, and you have to be able to manage moments in the game.
04:13Colombia. Over a decade since the 2014 World Cup, everyone still fondly remembers James Rodriguez's
04:20phenomenal goal for Colombia.
04:23Alvaro Pereira hit by James! Oh, what a goal! One of the greats!
04:31My word, this boy's a star!
04:33With him still representing his country as captain, he may provide another shock in
04:382026. Having missed out on the 2022 World Cup, Colombia finished third in Conmebol for the
04:452026 tournament. The icing on the cake was that Los Cafeteros surprisingly beat Brazil on
04:51their way to doing so.
04:52You look at the quality of the team, and I think some of these results don't match up to
04:57the quality of the team.
04:58While Colombia conceded the most out of the automatic qualifying teams,
05:02only Argentina scored more goals. So expect goals galore whenever they're playing.
05:08Every area of their squad is brimming with talent, such as Yacer Asprila, Luis Diaz,
05:15and Daniel Munoz, alongside the experience of David Ospina and Juan Cuadrado.
05:21The real strength of the team, and this is what I think every international team wants
05:25to be able to say, is the spine of the group. The midfield is really strong.
05:30USA. Starting with Uruguay in the first World Cup in 1930, altogether six host nations have
05:38gone on to win the tournament.
05:39What?
05:40You think the U.S. is gonna win the World Cup?
05:43It could happen.
05:44Never gonna happen.
05:44What?
05:47You don't believe in miracles?
05:49Except in two incidents, the hosts have progressed from the group stage each time.
05:54So with that, it's looking good for the U.S. as one of the 2026 co-hosts.
05:58However, despite the U.S. women being a dominant force at their World Cup,
06:02it hasn't been the case for the men.
06:04We know we're gonna play against, and we have to finish, obviously, the top half of
06:08that group, and that's our first goal. And then once we get there, it's a knockout tournament.
06:14After all, they haven't gone further than the round of 16 since 2002. Yet with home advantage
06:20and host pressure, we could see something magical. With a decorated Mauricio Pochettino managing,
06:27the U.S. team features exciting talent like Anthony Robinson, Weston McKinney, and Christian
06:33Pulisic, who will be looking to leave their mark.
06:36It's very important the fans, they realize that the U.S. man national team need them.
06:42That's a duty that the population have towards the national team.
06:46Mexico.
06:47One of the 2026 co-hosts, Mexico, has added pressure since they'll be platforming and
06:54competing in the opening game against South Africa.
06:57I expect Mexico to play with a little extra motivation and those intangibles to really
07:04be felt and walk away with a win minimum.
07:06El Tri has a good record at the tournament, only missing out on five World Cups, two of
07:12which were due to withdrawing or a ban. With Javier Aguirre enjoying his third stint as Mexico's
07:18manager, the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup winners will be looking to prove a point after exiting the
07:242022 World Cup in the group stage.
07:34With a squad containing stars such as Raul Jimenez, Irving Lozano, and an up-and-coming
07:41Gilberto Mora, Mexico will be a threat. Plus, the legendary Guillermo Ochoa, who seems to only
07:48appear every four years, could make his sixth World Cup, which is incredible.
07:53It feels like World Cup and Memo Ochoa is a conversation that we just constantly have
07:59for him to be back in the fold.
08:01Canada. As a co-host, Canada got to skip any qualification chaos. And with their history
08:07in the World Cup, where they've only qualified twice, that's only made them look like write-offs.
08:12We belong. I know the results don't show that. I think we earn the respect of a lot of
08:16people around the world.
08:17After all, at the 2022 tournament, Canada scored their first and so far only World Cup goal,
08:23before exiting in the group stage. All of that is a delicious recipe for a major upset in 2026.
08:30One of the hosts, they're playing in just their third ever World Cup. Alphonso Davies made history
08:34scoring Canada's first ever goal at the tournament. Now they'll look to make more. They're searching
08:39for their first ever win at the World Cup.
08:41In a group featuring Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Switzerland, the Canucks have talent within
08:47their squad. Captain Canada, Alphonso Davies, will be looking to put the past couple of years of
08:53injuries behind him to lift his nation to success. With support from the threatening Jonathan David
08:58and the experience of Jonathan Osorio, Canada may go far.
09:03The expectations for this Canadian side are higher than they have ever been for a Canadian team.
09:09This team has the talent to win the group, and that's their stated goal to win the group.
09:16Norway. At the 1998 World Cup, Norway left a lasting impression by beating eventual runner-ups
09:23Brazil in the group stage. Thankfully, they did that, as Norwegians haven't had another World Cup
09:35memory since. Well, that's obviously changed for 2026. Landslage ran riot in their qualification.
09:43Scoring 37 goals and conceding only 5, Norway won every game to finish top above Italy,
09:50which has a storied history in the tournament. They've done it, Norway, to their first World Cup
09:57since 1998. The Scandinavians are powered by a golden generation of stars playing club football
10:04in the world's best leagues. Spearheaded by their record goal scorer, Erling Haaland,
10:10and captain by the creative, Martin Odegaard, the team also features a myriad of talent,
10:15including Antonio Nusa, Alexander Sherlot, and Christopher Eyre.
10:21I can see our team. I can see how dependent we are on Erling Haaland, and he scored 5, 6,
10:277 goals.
10:28He can do that. We know he can do that.
10:30Morocco. The most shocking nation of the 2022 tournament, Morocco, turned everyone's heads
10:37on the iconic run, defeating big nations like Belgium, Portugal, and Spain, albeit on penalties,
10:43as they finished the tournament in 4th place.
10:46It finishes Croatia 2, Morocco 1.
10:50So could they do it again? Yep, very much so. Only this time, no one knows how far they could
10:55go.
10:56Yet even with a mark against Morocco following controversially being awarded the 2025 Africa
11:02Cup of Nations, the Atlas Lions stormed through CAF qualification by winning every group game,
11:08scoring 22 and only conceding 2.
11:12And listen to the roar as he slots home.
11:17Morocco's number 10, the Real Madrid star, has made it Morocco 2, Tanzania 0.
11:26With the added pressure of co-hosting the 2030 World Cup, Morocco could upset everything again
11:31with stars such as captain Ashraf Hakimi, Brahim Diaz, and goalkeeper Yassine Bonobunu as the backbone.
11:40They feel like one of the big dogs because they are one of the big dogs.
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12:09Japan
12:10While Japan fans are known for cleaning up stadiums at World Cups, their team is ferocious.
12:16In qualification, the Samurai Blue finished top of their two groups, scoring 54 goals and
12:22only conceding three altogether.
12:25Japan are going to the World Cup.
12:28They've become the first non-host nation to qualify, and they've done so with three games
12:33to spare.
12:34They only lost once and drew twice in 16 games.
12:38In Japan's World Cup history, they haven't gone further than the round of 16, and that
12:43could be about to change.
12:45That's a massive hurdle that they must get over.
12:48That's like the benchmark for this Japanese team that's on a roll.
12:53However, there is a spanner in the works.
12:56An injury to the phenomenal Kaoru Mituma, resulting in him missing the tournament.
13:01Yet, with captain Wataru Endo, Takefusa Kubo, and Ayase Ueda, Japan still has plenty of threat.
13:09Plus, they can rely on the vast experience of Yuto Nagatumo, who'll become the first Asian
13:15player to go to five World Cups.
13:17They don't fear any team they play against, and some of the groups that they've had in
13:21previous World Cups, for the fact that they find ways to get it done.
13:24I like that.
13:25Besides from your own nation, which other country will you be rooting for at the 2026 World
13:30Cup?
13:31Let us know in the comments.
13:33Let us know in the comments.
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