Lionel Messi's Argentina, Kylian Mbappe's France Dumped; Zlatan Ibrahimovic Picks Surprise FIFA World Cup winner

FIFA World Cup 2026: While most believe Lionel Messi's Argentina are favourites to go all the way, football legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic thinks otherwise. The Swedish legend backed an unlikely team to win the FIFA World Cup. He ignored heavyweights like Argentina, France, Spain and Brazil and picked US to shock everyone and win the title. He made this comment after their 2-0 victory against Australia. The Swedish legend was asked if he thought the US had a realistic chance of going all the way; he simply replied, "Yes."

ALSO READ: Turkiye Crashes Out Of FIFA World Cup 2026 After Defeat To Paraguay

‘Start believing’

"If you didn’t believe before, I will repeat; start believing," he said.

"They have the country behind them, and when you have this support, it’s difficult to beat you. They had a good performance today. To be honest, Australia was not a threat today. I said it before, that whatever happened before the World Cup (doesn't matter). It is important what happens now. Now, the momentum they have, that is what they need. They just need to continue bringing confidence from game to game. The third game, let's see what happens now, they can rest some players now that they have qualified. It is looking good," he added.

The co-hosts are on a roll after defeating Paraguay 4-1 in their opener and then getting the better of Australia. The US team is currently topping Group D and are looking good to make it through to the knockout stage. 

Argentina Favourites

Spotlight is on Argentina as they are the defending champions and one of the hot favourites. Led by Lionel Messi, Argentina are expected to do well in the tournament. They got their campaign off to a winning start against Algeria in a game where Messi scored a hattrick. Can Messi inspire Argentina to the title?