Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic app.It is nearly here. It feels like the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America has been in the planning stages for centuries, such is all the drama that has already taken place before a ball has been kicked.But it is upon us. It would be too much to say the controversies about ticket prices, visas, extortionate train fares and literal wars will fade away once it gets started on June 11, but we will at least have some football to watch alongside them.The 48 teams that have qualified for the tournament all go into it with different priorities and different levels of expectation. Here, we have ranked all 48 from best to worst, as things stand — or rather, we’ve re-ranked them, making adjustments from the last time we undertook this endeavour in April, when all the qualifiers were confirmed, to take into account managerial changes, key injuries and any other factors that might have impacted those teams.Read on, and tell us where you think we’ve gone wrong…1. SpainFIFA ranking: 1Our ranking in April: 1When it comes to most people’s favourites to lift the World Cup, it’s a toss of a coin to separate Spain and France, who look to have the strongest XIs on paper. Spain’s only issue appears to be over the fitness of Lamine Yamal, but it seems as though he’ll feature during the group stage. In theory, the Euro 2024 winners, with their array of young, attacking talent, may even have room for improvement from two years ago.2. FranceFIFA ranking: 3