Last week, we covered the three teams with the next best odds to take home the coveted 2026 World Cup Trophy following the three favorites. This week’s watchlist has a special place in my heart, and if you are looking for a team to root for this year, look no further. These four countries are inking their names in the World Cup’s long history books for the first time.
Cape Verde
Cape Verde is coming into the tournament as the No. 69 country in the world rankings and will be a part of Group H. The small country, with a population of roughly 529,630 people, will be playing their first ever World Cup match against the country who may potentially take it home, Spain on June 15 in Atlanta at 9:00 AM PST.
The Tubarões Azuis, or Blue Sharks have a few players that will be key to their success and getting the countries first ever win in a World Cup; Ryan Mendes, Logan Costa, and Nuno da Costa. Mendes is the nation’s all time leading scorer at 22 total goals as well as the squad’s captain. He will be joined on the attack by the veteran forward Costa who is known for his strength on the field.
The defense will be directed by Logan Costa who currently plays for Villarreal and is considered one of the squad’s most talented defenders and players overall. Lastly, the keeper for Cape Verde is Bruno Varela who the team will need to be a strong presence in the back to keep the team in it.
The team is on the older side in comparison to the other squads when it comes to average age, being 28.4 years, so hopefully the experience will take this team to their first win.
The manager for the team is Pedro Leitão Bubista. He has been the head coach since 2020, and used to play for the national team as a defender and captain from 1991 to 2005. Bubista’s coaching style was very much influenced by how he played, and the team plays a very tactical, strong defense with its main offensive weapon being the counter attack. His focus on defense makes the team less likely to score, but much harder to beat as opposed to an offensive mindset.
With the country’s population being six times smaller than Los Angeles, they can use all of the supporters they can get on their visit to the United States for their first ever World Cup.
Curaçao
Curaçao comes into the tournament ranked No. 82 and will be competing in Group E. They will be playing their inaugural World Cup game on June 14 at 10:00 AM PST in Houston against Germany. Not only is this Curaçao’s first tournament, but they make history becoming the smallest nation to ever compete in the tournament. The “Blue Wave” have an easier group than Cape Verde, but the goal for this team seems to be the same: to get their first tournament win and if possible make it to the knockout stage.
The players to look out for as Curaçao makes their run in the World Cup are Rangelo Janga, Leandro Bacuna, and Eloy Room. These three veterans are the key leaders for the team and Janga is the teams all time leading goal scorer at 24 goals. Leandro Bacuna is the longtime captain for the team and leading the defense and midfield, and the team’s goalkeeper Eloy Room.
The management story for the Blue Wave is the other major storyline for the team. Their head coach Dick Advocaat who achieved history for his country later resigned in February due to his daughter’s health, and has been recently replaced by Fred Rutten, a talented coach, but he hasn’t been coaching for the last three years, and also, never led a national team. He was originally contacted by Curaçao but recommended Advocaat as he himself was dealing with medical issues and has now been reoffered the role in Advocaat’s stead.
The team has welcomed him with open arms with friendly messages from the team’s veterans and the team is gracious to have him for their historic moment.
With their unique coaching situation and veteran squad, we are all hoping the team has a good showing in the tournament.
Jordan
Jordan is listed at No. 63 on the World rankings list and will be in Group J competing against Austria on June 16 at 9:00 PM PST in Santa Clara for their first game. They will also face Algeria and Argentina. Jordan’s appearance has been a long time coming, improving rapidly in recent years doing better in different tournaments until this year where they finally qualified for the World Cup.
Argentina isn’t the only team with a Messi, Jordan’s own Musa Al-Taamari is nicknamed the Jordanian Messi and will be who the team looks to to lead the Al Nashama, or “The Chivalrous Ones” to their first ever World Cup win. He got the nickname when play in Cyprus, where fans considered him the best in the country’s league. The two-pronged Jordan offense also includes striker Yazan Al-Naimat assisting Al-Taamari in the final third. The defense will be anchored by Yazan Al-Arab with Yazeed Abu Laila in between the sticks.
The manager is Jamal Sellami who has been coaching since June 2024. He was a former Moroccan international team player and head coach for the team before securing the role with Jordan. While this is Jordan’s first time at the World Cup, it isn’t Sellami’s. He played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Sellami is a new addition to this squad — replacing Hussein Ammouta in 2023 following Jordan’s Asian Cup Final where he had to resign due to personal circumstances.
It will be interesting to see if Jordan’s very own Messi will be able to lead the team far into the tournament, but no matter what, this is a major accomplishment for Jordan to make it into the tournament.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan, like Curaçao, enters the tournament already making history, being the first ever country from Central Asia to qualify for the World Cup and are ranked No. 50. They are in Group K and their first game is on June 17 at 7:00 PM PST in Mexico City against Colombia, and will face Portugal and DR Congo after that.
The “Oq boʻrilar” or the White Wolves are the highest ranked of the 4 Fifa First-Timers, and seem to have the most decent shot at making it out of the group stages. The White Wolves will be led by Manchester City’s Abdukodir Khusanov, who has become a recent fan favorite after they beat Arsenal in the Carabao Cup. The 22 year old defender is paired with Husniddin Aliqulov who is 27 and a talented Süper Lig defender.
This duo will be manning the defense while the team’s captain and veteran attacker from Serie A, Eldor Shomurodov, will be leading the offense. He holds the nation’s all time scoring record with 41 goals for the country, and they will be looking for him to add to that total as they compete to earn their first World Cup win in the country, and Central Asia’s history.
Uzbekistan’s manager has been Fabio Cannavaro since 2024. He has a broad coaching portfolio, coaching in Italy, Saudi Arabia, and China, but is much better known for his playing career where he became one of three defenders ever to win the Ballon d’Or when he won it in 2006. He then went on to captain Italy to their last World Cup Championship later that year in Germany. His defensive prowess no doubt has an impact on the team’s discipline and vertical strong attacking strategy.
These four teams have already made history in their own right, and will each be gunning to go as far as they can in the tournament. Hopefully each one can have their moment and get a win, and potentially make it to the knockout stage, think of them as your Cinderella stories for the tournament.