England qualified for the 2026 World Cup with a perfect record, winning all of their matches without conceding a goal.
Runners-up at the past two European Championships and World Cup quarter-finalists in Qatar three years ago, there is genuine hope that this will be the Three Lions’ year under new head coach Thomas Tuchel.
The bookmakers also fancy England to do well in the summer, with the majority putting them second favourites behind Spain.
European champions Spain were close to joining England with a perfect campaign, but a 2-2 draw against Turkey in their final qualifying match put the only small blemish on their record.
Spain were deserved winners at Euro 2024, beating England in the final, and in teenage Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal they have one of the best players in the world.
Except for a penalty shootout defeat in June’s Nations League final against Portugal, they have not lost a competitive game since facing Scotland in March 2023.
France, runners-up in Qatar in 2022, are also strong competitors for their final major tournament under Didier Deschamps and went unbeaten in European qualifying.
Opta’s super-computer places the three European sides as the favourites, with Spain given a 17% chance of victory, England 11.8%, and France 14.1%.
Germany, who lost their opening qualifier but won the next five on the spin to book their place, are also highly fancied by the bookmakers and data experts, while Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia and Norway were also unbeaten in European qualifying.
Less impressive was Brazil’s qualifying campaign, as they finished fifth in the Conmebol table and lost six of 18 matches. That hasn’t stopped a lot of bookmakers placing them as fourth favourites, though, despite Opta putting them down in seventh.
Defending World Cup champions Argentina won the South American qualifying group by some way, finishing nine points above second-placed Ecuador.
Brazil are the only team to ever win back-to-back World Cups, in 1958 and 1962, but with Lionel Messi expected to feature, Argentina will be among the favourites for glory.
The standout side from the Asian qualifying rounds were Japan, who lost just one of their matches on the way to reaching next summer’s tournament.
Surprise semi-finalists in Qatar, Morocco won all eight of their African qualifying matches and could again pose a threat to the traditional big nations, while Egypt, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Tunisia were also unbeaten.
However, with Afcon beginning later this month, competing in two major tournaments in the space of six months could prove to be a tough task for the African nations.
Cristiano Ronaldo has announced this will be his final World Cup and his Portugal side should not be discounted, while Euro 2020 champions Italy will have to come through the play-offs to qualify for the World Cup but can never be ruled out on the big stage.