Sam TigheJun 28, 2026, 04:45 AM ETCloseSam is a writer, broadcaster and podcaster for ESPN. He will write on the Premier League, scouting and transfers.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage is in the books. We know which nations succeeded and failed in their quest to reach the knockouts and keep their dreams of winning alive -- but which club sides are also enjoying great representation?
After the first round of fixtures, we ranked Europe's top teams by how well their players were performing on the global stage. Now, ahead of the Round of 32, we're doing it again.
It's a bit of fun, serving as a tracker for which clubs' fans still have plenty to cheer for -- even if their country isn't quite hitting the notes expected.
Sunderland deserve a quick shoutout before we get cracking, as no Premier League team has more goals at this tournament (6), but Napoli have dropped out of the ranking since last time, and you won't have to scroll far to see who has replaced them.
Note: Players are contracted to their current clubs until June 30, so impending free agents or expiring loanees still count toward the team they played for in the 2025-26 season. For example: Bernardo Silva still counts for Manchester City despite officially signing for Real Madrid, and Nicolas Jackson counts for Bayern Munich, not Chelsea, as his loan is not yet finished.
Chelsea are a little lucky to retain their spot in the top 10. They benefit from Marc Cucurella's strong performances for Spain until July 1, when he officially joins Real Madrid. When he's gone, and with England full back Reece James injured again, there's every chance they lack the juice to keep up.
But for now they stick, and there are other strong performances to point to: Enzo Fernández has been good for Argentina, Pedro Neto keeps starting for a stacked Portugal attack, and Caicedo is playing a huge role in Ecuador's midfield engine room -- he's winning tackles, passing positively and even taking set-pieces.
Like Chelsea, Dortmund's star feels like it's on the wane a little in this World Cup. Nmecha remains their standout performer, but his bad game in round three -- leading to a half-time withdrawal -- combined with Nico Schlotterbeck's tournament-ending injury, sees BVB drop down to ninth.
On the plus side, Marcel Sabitzer scored a beauty in Austria's 3-3 draw with Algeria, and goalkeeper Gregor Kobel is into the knockouts with Switzerland.
Dumfries has been a creative force at this World Cup, registering two assists in the 5-1 win over Sweden and forcing an own goal with a brilliant cross in the 3-1 win over Tunisia. He has reportedly agreed a move to Real Madrid, but until that transpires, Inter benefit from his performances.
Also impressing are Petar Sucic, who scored Croatia's winner in a 2-1 victory over Ghana; Manuel Akanji, who has helped Switzerland to the knockouts; and Lautaro Martínez, who is amongst the goals for a fearsome Argentina side.
Barcelona's Spanish core are powering their performance in this World Cup. But while Pedri has been predictably consistent and the likes of Dani Olmo and Lamine Yamal have had their moments, it's 19-year-old center back Cubarsí who has really led the effort. He was immaculate, near-flawless, in all three group games.
Elsewhere, France right back Jules Koundé is enjoying his role in what most agree looks like the strongest team at the tournament, while Marcus Rashford has flickered into life for England.
But there have been some low moments too: Ferran Torres' struggles in front of goal for Spain have continued, João Cancelo has been up and down Portugal, while Brazil's Raphinha is injured again.
A lot changed for Man City between the first round of fixtures and the next two, leading to a sharp rise.
Marc Guéhi stepped into the England XI and did brilliantly; they haven't conceded a goal since; Rúben Dias did exactly the same thing for Portugal; Tijjani Reijnders bounced back from a tough opener to perform well for Netherlands; and Nathan Aké worked his way into that team too. The list goes on.
What didn't change, of course, was Erling Haaland scoring goals whenever he was on the pitch for Norway, and Rodri delivering masterclasses in midfield for Spain. Those things are just constants.
Some different faces came to the fore for Arsenal post-round one, as England's Bukayo Saka started his first World Cup game and Leandro Trossard led Belgium into the knockouts, but Declan Rice missed time due to injury, and Ødegaard and William Saliba were fully rested for both sides in Norway's 4-1 defeat to France.
Arsenal drop a little in the rankings as a result, but not too much, as they can still point to the likes of Gabriel Magalhães (Brazil) Piero Hincapié (Ecuador) impressing for them.
Liverpool have fewer stars in action at this World Cup than most of the other elite clubs, but their hit rate is superb: Almost all of them have excelled every time they've taken to the pitch.
That starts in goal, as Alisson Becker has impressed with his shot-stopping for Brazil; moves through the defense with the imperious Van Dijk leading the way for Netherlands; and into the forward areas, where Florian Wirtz continues to run the Germany attack and Alexander Isak has looked a bit like his old self for Sweden, assisting three times and scoring once.
PSG ranked a lowly fifth in the first edition of these rankings due to a combination of club-captain Marquinhos starting slowly for Brazil and Portugal outright stalling against Congo DR in round one.
But since then, things have improved dramatically: Portugal perked up, beating Uzbekistan 5-0 and securing a 0-0 draw with Colombia, with Vitinha, João Neves and especially Nuno Mendes at the forefront. Willian Pacho impressed as Ecuador made it through to the knockouts, while Achraf Hakimi continued his superb tournament to date for Morocco by assisting against Haiti.
And most importantly of all, PSG's French attacking trio of Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola and Dembélé all registered goals and assists during demolitions of Iraq (3-0) and Norway (4-1).
In fact, Dembélé was the story of round three; just as everyone was falling for Kylian Mbappé's electric speed and Michael Olise's outrageous passing vision, the reigning Ballon d'Or winner netted an incredible hat trick to remind everyone of his glowing presence.
Bayern's stay at the top of these rankings was a short one. They rose to that position off the back of Olise and Dayot Upamecano's excellence in France's 3-1 win over Senegal plus a heavy presence in Germany's 7-1 hammering of Curaçao. But since then, Germany have naturally cooled off, with Manuel Neuer in particular attracting criticism for his performance against Ecuador. Also, Kim Min-Jae's form for South Korea fell off a cliff, which really didn't help.
Olise and Upamecano have at least maintained their imperious form, but it's not enough to hang on at the summit.
Both of Real Madrid's star forwards -- Vinícius Jr. and Mbappé -- are balling out on the world stage. The former has genuinely carried Brazil through the group stages with crucial goals, while the latter is enjoying his role in France's fearsome attacking trident -- first scoring beautiful goals against Senegal, then later setting up beautiful goals against Norway.
Los Blancos can also point to two strong showings from Aurélien Tchouaméni in Les Bleus' midfield, two huge performances from Jude Bellingham for England that included two crucial goals, and two neat assists for Brahim Díaz in attack for Morocco.
It was also good to see young midfielder Arda Güler score as Türkiye finally found their feet in round three, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois looked steadier post-round one.
All in all, Madrid have enough representation at this World Cup, enough quality of play and just enough peaks in performance to land them top spot in this ranking -- and they're only going to get stronger, as Cucurella, Bernardo Silva and Ibrahima Konaté are set to join on July 1.
Source: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49204950/reranking-europe-top-clubs-player-performance-world-cup-bayern-real-madrid-liverpool