FIFA World Cup form guide

Learn which nations are heading into the 2026 World Cup in the best form. Find out their most recent results and which groups feature the most in-form teams!

Whenever the World Cup comes around, it’s always hard to speculate which nations are going to present the strongest challenges across the tournament. But if you want to pick out a potential victor from the World Cup winner betting odds – or perhaps sides that are going to be underdogs – looking at a team’s recent form heading into the competition can be a big help. Though not a guarantee, their prior results can help you to predict a nation’s future World Cup form.

But which countries are heading into this summer’s tournament in the best form?

Well, we’ve put together this World Cup form guide to give you a picture of the most in-form nations, running through their results in preparation for June and the tournament. We have also placed this into the context of all the groups to find out which groups have the sharpest looking teams and could present the best viewing!

Of course, you can also take a steer from the latest World Cup betting odds, to get an idea of who to back when placing your bets on in-tournament games.

Each team’s form going into the World Cup

Below is a table that summarises every team’s form going into June as they build themselves up for the World Cup: 

Nations entering the World Cup build-up unbeaten in their last five

After seeing the results each World Cup nation has had in their last five games, it’s now worth taking a look into the 13 countries that have been unbeaten in the five matches prior to June, when the World Cup kicks-off:

Argentina 10/1

First up are the current World Cup holders, Argentina, who have been on a five-match winning streak heading into June. Though their opponents haven’t been anything particularly challenging, they’ve still impressed nonetheless across all these games. After facing Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Angola, Mauritania, and Zambia, they managed to score a total of 16 goals and only conceded one.

Their best result came against Puerto Rico after they managed to win 6-0, with Mauritania being the only team to score against the Albiceleste in a 2-1 win.

Germany 16/1

Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany side are another of the nations on a hot streak heading into the World Cup, with five wins under their belt. Die Mannschaft have shown great promise across these five matches, playing Finland, Ghana, and Switzerland in international friendly matches and Slovakia and Luxembourg in World Cup qualifying games.

Throughout their last five games, Germany have scored 20 goals and conceded four, showing great attacking promise. They notably beat Slovakia 6-0 in this time, with their greatest challenge coming against Switzerland where they narrowly won 4-3.

Japan 50/1

A team that stunned many with great results during the 2022 World Cup group stage, Japan are looking ready to put up a fight again in 2026. Winning all five of their recent international friendly games, they’re on fire ahead of this summer’s tournament.

In this period, they’ve played Iceland, England, Scotland, Bolivia, and Ghana, meaning the Samurai Blue haven’t had run-of-the-mill opposition. Throughout these games, they only scored eight goals, but they proved to have great defensive solidity after not conceding any.

Their biggest winning margin came against Bolivia after they won 3-0, but their most impressive result was against England where they came away 1-0 winners at the Three Lions’ home ground, Wembley.

France 5/1

The 2018 World Cup champions are next up on this list, having had four wins and one draw heading into June. Under the management of Didier Deschamps for the last time, France will want to end his tenure with a bang as he steps down following the 2026 tournament’s conclusion.

Les Bleus have faced off against Colombia and Brazil in international friendly matches, with Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Iceland being opposition in World Cup qualifying matches. Over the course of these games, France scored 14 goals and conceded five times.

Their only clean sheet came in a dominant 4-0 win over Ukraine, with their worst result being an underwhelming 2-2 draw against Iceland.

Türkiye 80/1

Though they aren’t a powerhouse of international football, Türkiye have had an exceptional run of form after winning four and drawing once in their previous five matches. Considering that they only conceded goals in two of their games, they’ve proven to be a fairly stable unit at the back. These games have seen them play Kosovo, Romania, Spain, Bulgaria, and Georgia in World Cup qualifiers, giving them a good mix of opposition.

Over these matches, Türkiye have scored a total of ten goals and conceded three times, demonstrating a good balance as they head into the tournament. Remarkably, they beat Georgia 4-1, but their best result was a 2-2 draw against the Euro 2024 champions Spain, proving they can compete with the best of the best.

Spain 9/2

As one of the favourites to win the 2026 World Cup, it’s no surprise to see that Spain have managed a strong run of results ahead of the tournament. La Roja have managed three wins and two draws after playing Egypt and Serbia in international friendly games and Türkiye, Georgia, and Bulgaria in World Cup qualifying. 

In these last five matches, Spain have found the net on 13 occasions, only conceding two goals in the same period. Despite underwhelming draws to Egypt and Türkiye, achieving 4-0 wins over Georgia and Bulgaria has more than shown the attacking threat and quality they possess.

Mexico 50/1

Co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup, Mexico managed three wins and two draws in their fixtures ahead of June, building a positive string of results before the tournament. These recent friendly matches have been against Australia, Ghana, Belgium, Portugal, and Iceland – giving them some tough tests along the way.

They may have only scored eight goals, but the concession of only one shows that they have an extremely organised back line. Despite getting three wins, their most impressive results came in the form of a 1-1 draw against Belgium and a 0-0 draw against Portugal. So, although they aren’t a dominant force in world football, they’re going toe-to-toe with some of the best nations on the planet.

Netherlands 20/1

The next unbeaten team ahead of June is the Netherlands, who will have their eyes on becoming World Cup winners for the first time. Their five games have yielded three wins and two draws, against Ecuador and Norway in friendlies and Lithuania, Poland, and Finland in World Cup qualifying matches.

These five games have seen the Dutch concede only three times, while netting on 12 occasions. They’ve managed to show their attacking prowess by beating both Finland and Lithuania 4-0, with tougher opposition like Norway being beaten 2-1.

Belgium 40/1

The Red Devils are one of the freest scoring teams as we head into the World Cup, with an unbeaten run of three wins and two draws in their five games. In a mix of friendlies and qualifiers, Belgium have played co-hosts Mexico and the USA, alongside Liechtenstein, Kazakhstan, and Wales.

The European nation have managed 18 goals and conceded six times over the five matches. Belgium have been able to show real dominance in a few of these matches – most notably in a 7-0 win over Liechtenstein and a 5-2 victory against the USA – proving they’re ready for the challenge ahead.

Czechia 500/1

Czechia are another of the unbeaten sides in their five matches prior to June, winning three times and drawing twice. Playing Kosovo in a friendly, Denmark and Ireland in playoffs, and Gibraltar and San Marino in qualifiers, they’ve proven themselves capable of both convincing and slim victories.

Out of the 13 goals that Czechia scored, they netted almost half in their assertive 6-0 triumph over Gibraltar! Their recent games also included two 2-2 draws against Ireland and Denmark, where they achieved wins in penalty shootouts to secure their place at the World Cup this summer.

Ecuador 80/1

Though getting more draws than wins, Ecuador still managed to go unbeaten in the lead-up to June, with two wins and three draws in their recent five matches. Their international friendlies against Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Morocco, New Zealand, and Canada, have demonstrated them as a difficult outfit to break down.

Against these teams, the South American outfit haven’t conceded more than one goal in a match and have kept two clean sheets. With them also only failing to score once – in a 0-0 draw against Canada – they look like a side that’s hard to keep quiet!

Canada 150/1

Like Ecuador, co-hosts Canada also have two wins and three draws in their five games prior to June. In their friendly games, they’ve played Tunisia, Iceland, Guatemala, Venezuela, and Ecuador, showing lots of resilience after receiving red cards in three of these matches. 

Their five goals across the five games show that they’re not the most prolific, but after only conceding twice, they’ve proven to be a tough team to break down. A 2-0 win over Venezuela was their largest margin of victory and their 0-0 draws with Ecuador and Tunisia show they can hold their own against other World Cup nations.

Bosnia and Herzegovina 300/1

After making it through the playoffs, Bosnia and Herzegovina battled their way into the World Cup after an impressive victory over Italy on penalties. Their final five games heading into June were comprised of an international friendly against North Macedonia and qualification games against Italy, Wales, Austria, and Romania.

Drawing four of these games and winning once, they’ve shown they aren’t an easy side to defeat and have earned their place in this summer’s tournament. In these matches, they scored six goals and only conceded four times, most impressively drawing 1-1 against Italy in the playoff final.

What does England’s form look like?

After covering the unbeaten teams heading into the World Cup’s starting month of June, let’s see how the Three Lions are looking. Their previous five matches were two international friendlies against Japan and Uruguay, with World Cup qualifiers against Albania, Serbia, and Latvia.

In their five games, England have won three, drawn one, and lost one, with a mixed bag of performances. Though they scored ten goals in these games, half came in a 5-0 win over Latvia – their best result in this period.

Disappointingly, England’s last two friendlies ended in a 1-1 draw with Uruguay and a 1-0 loss to Japan, with both games happening at their home stadium, Wembley. However, considering these were rotated sides that used second-string players, England can hope their first teamers will improve things when the tournament begins.

Which World Cup groups feature the most in-form teams?

Now you’re aware of which teams are performing the best ahead of the World Cup, let’s see which groups feature the most in-form teams:

 
The overall trend narrowly puts Group E in first, indicating they have the top-performing nations competing head-to-head. Combined, Group E’s members – Germany, Curaçao, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ecuador – have 13 wins and only two losses combined across twenty games, indicating all teams will be tough to beat.

Group D (USA, Paraguay, Australia, and Türkiye) and Group L (England, Croatia, Ghana, and Panama), however, have both lost nine games across all teams. This shows that these teams can be got at more and we may see some more end-to-end games with the potential for goals. It must be noted, though, that in Group L’s case, Ghana have lost each of their last five matches, which somewhat skews the overall ranking of the combined results.