| Team |
Average Ranking |
#1 Rankings |
Highest Ranking |
Lowest Ranking |
Standard Deviation |
Boosters (Top Ranked By) |
Commentary |
| The Favourites |
| Brazil | 2.42 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 2.08 | Amin, Andy, Anita, Benjy, Denisson, Jeff, JonK, JonP, Pavlo, Tarek, Trevor, & Victor | Not too surprising that the top-ranked side in the world tops nearly half of all entries... |
| Argentina | 3.08 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 2.16 | Craig, George, Rory, Shubham, & Trevor | Five entries have Messi favoured to add a World Cup to his resume and bolster an argument for him as the best ever... |
| The Dark Horses |
| France | 4.92 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 2.92 | AlexK & Chris | Injuries have perhaps dimmed hopes for France to repeat as champions, but their depth gives two entries faith that it could happen... |
| England | 5.12 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 3.33 | Erin, Kirk, & Zahir | The third-ranked team in the world is the highest one with an average pool ranking lower than their world ranking, but there are still three entries with England atop... |
| Spain | 6.58 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 3.18 | George (followed by Benjy, Jeff, JonK, & Zahir at 2) | Winners in 2010, the Spanish have one pick to win again, and could be a difference-maker... |
| Netherlands | 6.73 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 1.95 | Pavlo (followed by Armin & Jeff at 3) | The top average-ranked team that nobody actually picked to win, the Oranje have the lowest standard deviation (except for consensus no-hoper Saudi Arabia) meaning that their fate may actually not make a big difference to the pool... |
| Germany | 6.92 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 4.24 | Armin (followed by George at 2) | The 2014 winners top one entry, but have an average ranking below Group E competitor Spain... |
| Portugal | 7.85 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 3.47 | JonK, Pavlo, Shubham, & Trevor | Portugal seems to be a consensus pick to win a single knockout match but little more... |
| Belgium | 8.15 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 4.67 | Trevor (followed by Amin, Anita, & Trevor at 2) | The team whose average pool ranking is farthest below their world ranking, the Red Devils presumably suffer from being in Group F with Canada, and the resulting anti-homer effect... |
| The Longshots |
| Denmark | 10.23 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 3.03 | Trevor (followed by Rory at 5) | The low standard deviation seems to indicate consensus that most people think they'll get out of the group, and only a few think they'll win any knockout matches... |
| Croatia | 11.92 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 4.03 | Shubham & Trevor | Finalists in 2018, nobody has them predicted to make the final four this time around... |
| Uruguay | 12.42 | 0 | 6 | 26 | 4.24 | AlexK (followed by George & JonK at 7) | The third-highest ranked South American team, Uruguay seem to be a perpetual longshot, despite having won twice (albeit a long time ago)... |
| Switzerland | 13.85 | 0 | 5 | 20 | 3.06 | George (followed by Victor at 10) | With a very low standard deviation for a team near the middle, it looks like there's a fair bit of consensus that Switzerland will emerge from their group, but likely no more than that... |
| Senegal | 14.46 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 3.98 | AlexG (followed by Jeff at 4) | There's one bold top ranking calling for the first African World Cup win, but most people don't think they'll do any more than get out of the group stage... |
| Mexico | 14.54 | 0 | 6 | 24 | 4.18 | AlexG (followed by Erin at 7) | Mexico seems to have a pattern of emerging from the group stage, but going no further, and that seems to be the consensus predicted outcome again this time around... |
| The Faint Hopes |
| United States | 17.08 | 0 | 10 | 25 | 4.12 | Andy & Chris | The Americans occupy a familiar spot toward the middle of most entries... |
| Serbia | 17.42 | 0 | 8 | 27 | 4.03 | Jeff (followed by Trevor at 11) | Serbia seems to be a fairly popular spoiler pick to perhaps emerge from Group G with Brazil... |
| Wales | 17.96 | 0 | 9 | 27 | 4.73 | AlexK (followed by Rory at 11) | Featuring the third-highest standard deviation, the Welsh could make a significant difference to the outcome of the pool... |
| Poland | 19.00 | 0 | 8 | 26 | 3.87 | Trevor (followed by Shubham at 13) | With perhaps not much depth beyond Lewandowski, most people don't think Poland will make it out of the group stage, and they end up the lowest average-ranked European team... |
| Canada | 20.69 | 0 | 8 | 28 | 5.70 | Erin (followed by Jeff at 11) | Erin wins the competition for who's the bravest patriot, but unsurprisingly there's a wide variety of rankings for Canada, giving them the second-highest standard deviation... |
| Japan | 21.65 | 0 | 13 | 29 | 3.59 | AlexG (followed by Tarek at 14) | Japan are another team toward the middle of most entries, but few are calling for them to get past Germany or Spain to advance beyond the group stage... |
| Iran | 22.54 | 0 | 8 | 32 | 5.78 | Trevor (followed by George at 13) | The only team with a higher standard deviation than Canada is Iran, indicating they'll have a significant impact on the outcome of the pool...I suspect the political situation there is making some people think they'll be distracted, while others think they'll be inspired, so we'll see who's right... |
| Ecuador | 22.73 | 0 | 14 | 30 | 4.61 | Chris & Trevor | Group A looks like one of the weaker ones on paper, but few think Ecuador can even make it out of the group... |
| South Korea | 22.73 | 0 | 16 | 31 | 3.81 | Jeff & Trevor | Only a couple of entries even think the Koreans can make it out of their group... |
| Morocco | 23.46 | 0 | 18 | 32 | 4.06 | AlexG, Benjy, & JonK | Perhaps suppressed a bit by being in Group F with Canada, Morocco is in the bottom half of every entry... |
| Tunisia | 25.69 | 0 | 21 | 32 | 2.63 | Pavlo (followed by Trevor at 22) | Tunisia has the third-lowest top ranking, meaning no one is really even hedging that they have a hope of emerging from Group D... |
| Costa Rica | 26.38 | 0 | 18 | 32 | 4.27 | Shubham (followed by George at 20) | Costa Rica look to be at the bottom of a tough Group E... |
| Australia | 26.46 | 0 | 11 | 32 | 4.55 | Erin (followed by Kirk at 20) | Erin's Commonwealth-heavy entry is the only one calling for the Socceroos to advance from Group D... |
| Cameroon | 27.31 | 0 | 18 | 31 | 2.95 | Pavlo (followed by JonP at 23) | There doesn't appear to be much hope of Cameroon reprising their surprise run of 1990... |
| Ghana | 27.69 | 0 | 16 | 32 | 3.90 | Pavlo (followed by Trevor at 20) | The lowest-ranked team at the World Cup only gets a couple notches higher in average pool ranking... |
| Qatar | 29.50 | 0 | 22 | 32 | 2.22 | Shubham (followed by Jeff at 25) | Plenty of ink has been spilled over how questionable it is for the World Cup to be played in Qatar, for a whole host of reasons, but it's pretty clear there's not much chance of the hosts hoisting the Cup... |
| Saudi Arabia | 30.50 | 0 | 27 | 32 | 1.50 | Trevor (followed by Benjy, Jeff, JonK, & Victor) | The only team given less chance than the host is their neighbour, although four years ago they picked up a win, so we'll see... |
