The 2026 World Cup qualifying matches are in full swing here in September with the 2025/26 league seasons already all under way, and while the “international break” is usually a time when most football fans take a break of their own, these national team fixtures with World Cup stakes on the line have piqued everybody’s interest.
And if fans weren’t already keeping one eye peeled on the international fixtures with the World Cup in North America less than a full calendar year away, perhaps watching perennial disappointments Germany get upended 2-0 by Slovakia turned heads and served as a call for fans to take notice of what’s happening in the qualifying rounds.
In the spirit of Germany’s dreadful defeat to the underdogs, let’s look at five national teams that could flop at the 2026 World Cup – or even fail to qualify for the tournament entirely.
Germany
Germany actually had a pretty good showing at the last European Championships, and if it weren’t for a controversial handball from Marc Cucurella, maybe they would have won it all.
That’s unlikely, and Germany are a much worse team now than they were then. Even when Jamal Musiala returns from a Club World Cup-induced injury, the Mannschaft doesn’t have its lynchpin anymore in Toni Kroos, whose impact was made obvious by his absence – and that has indeed been the case in 2025 thus far,
Germany are disorganized, underperforming, and their players often come off as lazy. I mean, if you can’t win with Julian Nagelsmann and Hansi Flick, then, clearly, it’s a you problem.
There’s not a whole lot to like about this national team. They still don’t have a true top striker (Nick Woltemade is all hype at this point), their defense remains a mess, and the midfield is in dire straits without Kroos directing it.
Germany haven’t been relevant since they won the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, as it’s been disappointment after disappointment ever since then. So, if anything, them not qualifying for the World Cup wouldn’t be so much a flop but rather the latest nadir in a series of them.
Netherlands
The Netherlands aren’t coming off nearly as disappointing of a result as Germany’s 2-0 loss to Slovakia, but a 1-1 draw with Poland is still well below the standard of what the Dutch national team would expect for themselves.
And again, the Oranje haven’t exactly been stellar themselves over the years in either the European Championship or World Cup. They had some bright moments in 2021 and 2014 on the international stage, but, by and large, Holland have been making more headlines for horrible managers than anything else.
Current coach Ronald Koeman has made a mockery of managing over the course of his career, and the fact that the Netherlands think employing a guy whose claim to fame about Barcelona was crying about the refs every time he lost is a good idea tells you all you need to know about this country’s upper management.
The Netherlands actually have a talented young side on paper with the likes of Xavi Simons, Micky van de Ven, Cody Gakpo, Frenkie de Jong, and Ryan Gravenberch with Premier League legend Virgil van Dijk leading the back line.
But they also start quite a few players who are finished at the highest level of football, including starting center back Stefan de Vrij and striker Memphis Depay. The Netherlands should be an easy bet for the World Cup knockout stages, but with Koeman in charge, even getting to the World Cup would be an accomplishment. He is really that bad.
Belgium
Belgium are no longer the golden nation they were in the last decade, and while a few of those legends remain key figures at the elite level in Serie A champion Romelu Lukaku and 2023/24 Champions League and La Liga winner Thibaut Courtois in goal, Kevin De Bruyne’s decline and Eden Hazard’s retirement are sad stories hanging over the country’s head.
What Belgium need is for their young stars of the new generation to step up. Players like Malick Fofana, Jeremy Doku, Youri Tielemans, and Maxim De Cuyper are playing at the highest level of European football and should be ready to take on the mantle.
But when you look at the World Cup qualifying and see that Belgium are third in a group behind Wales and North Macedonia with Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein behind them, you really have to wonder what kind of coaching is going on and what the philosophy of this team is in a post-Hazard world.
Belgium don’t play positive enough, they don’t create enough dangerous chances, and they put a lot of pressure on a back line whose only experienced starter is right back Thomas Meunier – and it’s been years since he’s been a relevant footballer.
The squad is good enough to make some noise on the international stage, but like the Netherlands, they have a few starters in their XI who don’t belong at the elite level and, worst of all, their manager, Domenico Tedesco, is a disastrous egomaniac who has failed at every single high-profile job he’s held.
From Marc Wilmots to Roberto Martinez and now Tedesco, Belgium, like the Netherlands, are saddled by bad hires from an incompetent FA that drag talented squads down, and we’re seeing arguably the worst version of that now with the clueless Tedesco in charge.
Portugal
Expectations for Portugal are always high, and no country is going to face more media attention at the 2026 World Cup than this one, since this is almost certainly going to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last World Cup.
Because Cristiano is the best player in the country’s history and his rise helped lead to Portugal becoming one of the favorites at European Championships – finally winning one in 2016 – he’s the one who absorbs most of the criticism.
When Portugal get knocked out or disappoint, Ronaldo is the one who has to answer for it instead of one of the many mediocre to subpar managers in this country’s history or a midfield filled with overrated players who constantly take the wrong option on the international stage.
That Cristiano is Portugal’s best striker and most consistent forward in big 2025 is a huge indictment of many of his teammates, and players like Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes have always seemed too small for the moment at the international level where being flexible and adaptable are more important. You can’t just hide behind a rigid role or scheme in the international game.
Portugal have a bad coach, major question marks defensively, and a midfield that nobody trusts. Cristiano has gotten less talented squads than this one to the World Cup, so Portugal aren’t at real risk of missing out on the tournament. But it wouldn’t be a surprise if they miss out on the knockout stages.
Italy
Picking Italy isn’t exactly going against the grain, but while going for a country like England, France, or Spain would have been bolder, it’s not exactly a smart call to say that the literal three World Cup favorites in Europe are going to flop.
Italy, meanwhile, haven’t even been to the World Cup since 2014, and they haven’t gotten out of the group stages of the tournament since they last won it in 2006. And when you compare the quality of that squad and its insane depth to this one, the difference is beyond jarring.
The Azzurri can hire whoever they want, but their country’s problems go far beyond coaching and are deeply rooted in how lousy their academies are at producing, developing, and believing in young talent.
Look at Juventus and AC Milan. These guys have produced no relevant stars in the last decade and constantly sabotage anyone with a modicum of promise, loaning them off to mid-table Italian sides to pinch a few pennies they can rub together and turn into an overpaid 33-year-old has-been on the free agent market.
Italian football is in shambles because of greedy and incompetent outsider owners, especially Americans, and the national team has precious few players who are playing, let alone proven, at the elite level of European football.
Only Gianluigi Donnarumma, Federico Dimarco, and Alessandro Bastoni are consistently top-class players. The rest either show that talent sporadically, were at that level five years ago, or never were and never will be good enough for Italy.
Already, Italy are behind Norway and Israel in their World Cup qualifying group and at grave risk of missing out on the most prestigious tournament in world football entirely. They are a tragedy.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.