With domestic football seasons wrapping up, the 2026 World Cup is just one week away. As nations finish warming up with international friendlies, fans continue to grow more eager for the potential at this year’s World Cup.

Until the World Cup officially kicks off on Thursday, June 11, there are still international games to check into. In preparation for the World Cup, countries that qualified have a schedule to play international friendly matches which fans could potentially even look forward to.

Although international friendlies are not competitive like official national tournaments, it’s an opportunity for national teams to experiment with their team’s formation. It’s also a test for rising new talents to execute strategies without any kind of pressure, such as tournament elimination.

One of the most recent international friendlies that gathered a lot of attention was Brazil vs France on March 26. The match ended with a score of 2-1 in France’s favor, with the goals being scored by Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé and Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike.

While both countries aren’t in the same group stage for the World Cup, sports streaming service DAZN reports they could potentially face each other in the quarter-finals if Brazil clinches second in their group and France finishes first. France has historically had the upperhand in their previous meetings, winning three of their four encounters. However if Brazil finishes first, their opponents could potentially be England.

Brazil

Until then, Brazil’s potential path to the final looks difficult. On Saturday, June 13, Brazil will play against Morocco, one of the semi-finalists from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the champions of the Africa Cup of Nations. They’ve previously faced each other in an international friendly on March 25, 2023 with Morocco winning 2-1. For fans of the sport, this matchup is thought of as Brazil, the World Cup’s most successful country against Africa’s reigning champions.

If Brazil finishes first in their group, they could potentially encounter Argentina in the semi-finals, the previous World Cup winners and their South American rivals. If Brazil finishes second in their group, they are most likely to play against the European champions and favorites to win the World Cup, Spain.

Spain

Spain’s route to the final doesn’t look any easier than Brazil’s. If the country finishes first then they’ll encounter the runner-ups from Group J in the round of 32, which could potentially be Argentina. It’ll be a match between the World Cup and South American champions Argentina against the European champions Spain.

According to ESPN via X, Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni mentioned the possibility of encountering Spain in the World Cup knockout stages.

“Let’s hope we don’t get Spain in the next round,” Scaloni said.

Spain’s largest sports newspaper, Marca reported that Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez jokingly told the media waiting for his arrival at Ezeiza airport that his teammate at Chelsea, Spain’s Marc Cucurella was afraid to play against Argentina in the cancelled Finalissma.

“He told me that he was a little afraid of playing against us,” Fernandez said.

After the round of 32, Spain could potentially play against Croatia or Colombia in the round of 16 and even Portugal in the quarter-finals if they were to finish second. For the semi-finals, Spain could face France once again in a competitive competition, with Spain recently having the upperhand with a 2-1 win in the UEFA European Championship and a 5-4 win in the Nations League.

France

Although France were finalists for the previous World Cup, their route to the final begins to look difficult if they top their group and reach the round of 16. They could potentially meet Germany, the four time World Cup champions who are historically known for thrashing Brazil 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals.

Afterwards, France could encounter the Netherlands in the quarter-finals or England if they finish second in the group stage. If France and England were to meet again, fans will see it as a rematch of the 2022 quarter-finals when France eliminated England.

Portugal

One of the newest favorites to win the World Cup is Portugal. Although the country has never won a World Cup, they’ve won their first UEFA European Championship on July 10, 2016 and defeated Spain, the European champions, in the Nations League on June 8, 2025. Because the country carries one of the most creative midfields today, they’ve become favorites of the tournament.

If both Portugal and Argentina were to place first in their group stage, they would have the chance to go against each other in the quarter-finals, one of the matches fans are most eager for. For decades, fans of the sport have seen Portugal’s Christiano Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi compete against each other. The two could face each other one last time at one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world for the very first time.

Although Brazil, France, Portugal and Argentina are among the favorites to win the World Cup, they are likely to face difficult paths ahead, which makes for great sport for fans all across the world.

However, there are still other strong contenders that could bring a surprise, just as Morocco did in the previous World Cup by becoming the first African country to reach the semi-finals.