Former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger believes France are the favourites to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup, insisting Spain are the only team capable of preventing Didier Deschamps’ side from lifting the trophy.
France have enjoyed an impressive tournament, winning all of their group-stage matches before defeating Sweden and Paraguay to reach the quarter-finals, where they will face Morocco. Spain, meanwhile, advanced to the last eight after overcoming Austria and Portugal and are set to face Belgium for a place in the semi-finals.
Wenger believes France have been the standout team but says Spain’s technical quality and collective style make them their biggest threat. “France will win the World Cup. I know you will say, ‘Of course you say that, you’re French,'” Wenger told Sky Sports.
Explaining his reasoning, the former Arsenal boss said the intensity of the tournament has separated the strongest teams from the rest. “When you analyse the World Cup, the train goes at a certain pace and you have to be capable of getting on the train.”
He pointed to the elimination of several Asian nations as evidence of the physical and technical demands of the competition. “The Asian teams have gone out because they could not cope with the intensity and the pace of the games. They did not have enough to technically compete.”
Despite backing France to go all the way, Wenger believes Spain possess the qualities needed to challenge the tournament favourites. “The real question for me is Spain. If one team is capable now of beating France I would say it is Spain because their technical level is better than France. They have quality and a culture of collective football that nobody else in the world has at that level. That could be the decider between these two, but of course France is stronger physically.”
Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, England will face Norway after their dramatic victory over Mexico, while defending champions Argentina remain on course for another deep run as they await the winner of the Colombia versus Switzerland tie. If both progress, England and France would only be able to meet in the World Cup final.
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