The last World Cup for two of the greatest players who ever lived. The first for one of the most lethal strikers on the planet. And a couple of men who have unfinished business with the trophy. The 2026 World Cup — 48 teams, 104 matches, spread across the USA, Mexico and Canada — doesn't lack for storylines, but it's these five forwards who will define the tournament.
The old guard: Messi and Ronaldo's final act
Lionel Messi arrives as defending champion. Argentina won it all in Qatar 2022, and at 38, Messi is still the axis around which their entire attack rotates. He's slower than he was, the MLS miles showing, but in his last warm-up against Iceland he played 24 minutes, scored a penalty, and was pulling off back-heels and through balls like it was 2015. The hamstring concerns are real — and they matter to Argentina's odds more than any tactical setup Scaloni can draw up.
Ronaldo at 41 is a different proposition. The raw speed is gone, the pinpoint accuracy that defined his prime has faded, but his fitness is still extraordinary and he still finds the net. Portugal won't win the World Cup on Ronaldo's back alone, but they won't get far without him either. He has never won it. At 41, this is the last time he'll have the chance.
The Messi-Ronaldo debate has fuelled a decade of football arguments. Watching both of them at the same World Cup — almost certainly for the last time — is reason enough to follow every match either of them plays.
Haaland carries Norway on his own
Here's the most intriguing situation at the entire tournament: the most prolific striker in world football is playing for a team nobody expects to win it. Since arriving at Manchester City in 2022, Erling Haaland has shattered records, collected Premier League titles, and helped deliver the Champions League. Now he steps into his first World Cup carrying Norway's entire campaign on his shoulders.
Norway are underdogs. That's not a slight — it's just the reality of who they're up against. But Haaland has made a habit of making those calculations look naive. His odds to finish as top scorer deserve a second look.
Kane, Mbappe and the weight of expectation
Harry Kane has spent his career accumulating near-misses. Two Euro finals lost. A 2018 Golden Boot with England going out in the semi-finals. A quarter-final exit in 2022. The Tottenham trophy drought followed him into international football for years. Then, finally, Bayern Munich. Back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2025 and 2026. The jinx, if you believe in such things, is broken — and Kane arrives at this World Cup in the best mental shape of his international career.
Kylian Mbappe is the counterpoint. He scored a hat-trick in the 2022 final against Argentina and still ended up on the losing side. At Real Madrid, the numbers look fine — 42 goals in all competitions last season — but Los Blancos have conceded La Liga twice to Barcelona since his arrival, and the tactical compromises his game demands have disrupted Ancelotti's setup. His former club PSG, without him, won back-to-back Champions League titles built on the high press he was never willing to run. That context matters when France's odds are being set.
France are still one of the strongest squads in the tournament — Dembele, Olise, and a deep supporting cast give them options few teams can match. But Mbappe's output has to translate to this stage. In 2018 he was electric. In 2022 he was extraordinary and it still wasn't enough. 2026 is the one he needs.
- Lionel Messi (Argentina) — Defending champion. Hamstring doubts. Still the most dangerous creative force in their squad.
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) — 41 years old, last World Cup, still capable of moments that change matches.
- Erling Haaland (Norway) — First World Cup, best striker in the tournament, carrying a nation of underdogs.
- Harry Kane (England) — Finally a league title behind him, two Golden Boot-calibre campaigns at Bayern, England's best shot at a second World Cup.
- Kylian Mbappe (France) — 42 club goals last season, a 2022 final hat-trick that ended in defeat, and something left to prove at international level.
Also worth tracking: Lamine Yamal and Raphinha could light up the group stages, Vinicius Jr gives Brazil a genuine match-winner, and Bukayo Saka and Julián Alvarez will both be central to how far England and Argentina go respectively. But the tournament's shape will be drawn by the five above — and how long each of them lasts in it.
