Chris Sutton has never been shy with a prediction, and the BBC Sport columnist has called all 16 of the last-32 ties at the 2026 World Cup — installing France as the side everyone else should fear. Didier Deschamps’ team topped Group D without conceding, Kylian Mbappe already has four goals, and Sutton sees them powering through against Ivory Coast. “France are the team to beat,” he writes. “They have a gear nobody else has shown yet.” England, meanwhile, are handed what looks a kind draw against DR Congo — but Sutton warns against complacency.
France set the standard
The expanded 48-team format means a bloated 32-team knockout round for the first time, and Sutton’s central argument is that the group stage has already separated the genuine contenders from the rest. France lead that list. Their 3-0 dismantling of a well-drilled group, capped by Mbappe’s double against Norway, has been the tournament’s most complete performance, and Sutton backs them to see off an Ivory Coast side that scraped through as a best third-placed team.
He is not alone in his reasoning. France reached the final in both 2018 and 2022, winning the first and losing the second on penalties to Argentina, and Deschamps has built a squad with the depth to rotate without dropping off. Sutton points to Aurelien Tchouameni’s control in midfield and a back line marshalled by William Saliba as the foundations of a side that, unlike four years ago, looks defensively secure as well as devastating in transition.
His other tips to advance comfortably include holders Argentina against Jordan, Spain past a stubborn Morocco, and Brazil — quietly impressive in their group — over South Korea. Germany, Sutton suggests, face the first real banana skin of the round against a Uruguay team that has rediscovered its bite.
England handed a kind draw
For Thomas Tuchel’s England, DR Congo represents an opportunity rather than a threat, and Sutton predicts a 2-0 win. The Three Lions came through their group with Harry Kane in form and Jude Bellingham increasingly influential, and on paper the gap in pedigree is significant: DR Congo are at their first World Cup since 1974, when they competed as Zaire.
But Sutton’s note of caution is pointed. “England have made hard work of these games before,” he writes, recalling the round-of-16 scares against Colombia in 2018 and Senegal in 2022. The concern Tuchel has spoken about publicly — England’s lack of a settled, natural right-back — is the kind of structural weakness a quick, direct opponent can exploit. DR Congo’s pace on the counter is their clearest route to an upset, and Sutton expects England to be tested before their quality tells.
The significance for England runs deeper than one fixture. A nation still waiting for a major trophy since 1966 has a genuine path opening up: the bracket on their side looks more forgiving than the half containing France, Spain and Brazil. Win this, and a quarter-final beckons. Sutton’s verdict is that England have the talent to reach the latter stages — but that the manner of their performances, not just the results, will determine how far they go.
What the predictions tell us
Sutton’s broader read of the bracket is that the tournament’s traditional powers have largely held firm, with only a handful of genuine surprises surviving the group stage. He tips Morocco, semi-finalists in 2022, to push Spain hard, and earmarks the United States — co-hosts alongside Mexico and Canada — to ride home support past a fancied Croatia.
The recurring theme is margins. In a knockout round this large, Sutton argues, the difference between the elite and the rest is the ability to win without playing well — exactly the quality France have shown and the one he questions in others. For neutrals, the appeal is a draw that could deliver a France-Brazil or France-Spain collision well before the final in New Jersey.
Predictions, of course, exist to be torn up, and Sutton’s record across previous tournaments has been a mix of shrewd calls and spectacular misses. But his central claim is hard to dispute on current evidence: France have set a standard nobody has matched, and every other contender — England included — is, for now, chasing them.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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