Hello all, welcome back to the blog! Today, I will show you my predictions for the 2026 year in football, from major trophies to the World Cup to transfers, this is your comprehensive guide for everything that’ll happen in 2026. So join me, and let’s get into it.
Major Leagues
Ligue 1: Lens
No PSG??? Well, the reigning sextuple winners go into the new year 2nd in Ligue 1, and I think it might stay that way. Out of nowhere and making a title charge absolutely nobody’s talking about is little old Lens. led by an unassuming unit including Odsonne Edouard, Florian Thauvin, and Matthieu Udol. This team very well could upset the French balance of power for the first time in half a decade, and I back them to do so.
Serie A: Milan
Currently second in Serie A, Milan may just have the best possibility of making a Serie A title charge. With no European football, they have just domestic football to worry about, and I believe they’ll jump Inter sometime in February and stay top. The great work of Christian Pulisic will save them, and this will be remembered as the American’s best ever season.
Bundesliga: Bayern
Do I even need to explain this?
La Liga: Barcelona
4 points clear, I don’t see my Blaugrana fumbling this lead. While it’ll be a tough push, Barca are currently on 8 league wins in a row, and I see them being able to push that at least 6 more games, nearing the record of 16 straight victories. I just think Real Madrid are more susceptible, at the moment, to dropping matches against smaller teams, and that’s what’ll win it for Barca in the end, regardless of the result of the May Clasico.
Premier League: Arsenal
Finally, just finally, the Gunners may do it. While City and Aston Villa are close, Arsenal will just have too much stability in the long run for the two of them. While some say Arsenal winning the title will be a plague for football, I say nobody wants to see City win it for the seventh time in nine seasons. Arsenal win it.
European Competitions
Europa League: Porto 3-2 Villa
Conference: Rayo 2-0 Sparta Praha
Not too much explanation here, just the two finals that I think will happen. Neither of these competitions are particularly stacked this year, no major teams, as all have qualified for the Champions League, so I don’t know if I’ll watch any of these competitions this year.
Promoted Teams
England – Coventry, Middlesbrough, Preston
Spain – Racing, Deportivo, Castellon
Italy – Frosinone, Venezia, Modena
Germany – Schalke, Elversberg
France – Troyes, Red Star, Le Mans
Champions League Standings (1-24)
This is the Champions League table based on how I think the rest of the league phase matches will go.
Arsenal
PSG
City
Bayern
Atleti
Atalanta
Barcelona
Chelsea
Liverpool
Inter
Spurs
Madrid
Newcastle
Leverkusen
Dortmund
PSV
Juventus
Monaco
Marseille
Sporting
Qarabag
Napoli
Brugge
Galatasaray
Missed Out:
Pafos
Benfica
Bilbao
Copenhagen
Olympiacos
USG
Villarreal
Frankfurt
Bodo
Slavia Praha
Ajax
Kairat
Playoff Round
*While you can’t exactly simulate a draw, I tried to make the matchups in a fair way.
Tottenham 5-1 Qarabag (2-1, 3-0)
Newcastle 4-5 Marseille (2-2, 2-3)
Liverpool 5-2 Brugge (1-2, 4-0)
Dortmund 6-5 Juve (3-3, 3-2)
Madrid 3-2 Napoli (1-1, 2-1)
Leverkusen 6-1 Sporting (3-1, 3-0)
Inter 6-0 Galatasaray (3-0, 3-0)
PSV 1-4 Monaco (0-2, 1-2)
We see some interesting results here, such as a classic unfolding between Juve and Dortmund, as well as Newcastle and Marseille, Madrid barely scraping by Napoli, and Liverpool making a comeback against Brugge. We also see a systematic demolition of Sporting at the hands of Leverkusen. A pretty solid round of results, but nothing compared to what we see later in the competition.
RO16
Atleti 5-3 Spurs (2-1, 3-2)
While the boys from North London put up a fight, Atleti and Julian Alvarez are just too much, putting up a great resilient performance at home in the second leg to vanquish the 2025 Europa League winners.
Man City 7-1 Marseille (3-1, 4-0)
New year, same City draws. The 2023 winners dispatched Marseille pretty easily here. Haaland gets four goals across the two legs as well.
Barcelona 6-5 Liverpool (2-3, 4-2 AET)
This tie becomes an instant classic, and Barcelona finally gets revenge for Anfield a whopping 7 years later. Liverpool beat the Blaugrana in England again, but this time Barca get a couple goals. They struggle hard back at home in a back and forth, but get a late Ferran Torres equalizer, before Lamine Yamal wins it in extra time, a 4-2 win, finally vanquishing their Liverpool demons.
PSG 6-3 Dortmund (2-1, 4-2)
Will this result be a show of how far PSG’s come since 2024, or how much Dortmund’s fallen? I don’t know, all I do know is that this match always delivers, and that while it will seem messy and goal-filled, PSG will never really look like losing this tie.
Atalanta 0-5 Real Madrid (0-3, 0-2)
Two cleansheets? Yes, Madrid will finally get some confidence back after a couple big wins, and continue building confidence here. Pretty routine, Mbappe gets some goals, just fun times.
Bayern 7-0 Leverkusen (3-0, 4-0)
I’m pretty sure this is almost an exact copy of last season, but teams fall where they fall. Another tea pretty easily dispatched by Bayern.
Chelsea 4-3 Inter (2-2, 2-1 AET)
Beating Inter is no small feat, just ask Barcelona and Bayern. Chelsea are a team that can put it together in big games though, so I think they’ll be able to beat a tough Inter side. It may take extra time, but Chelsea will come out on top.
Arsenal 8-1 Monaco (4-0, 4-1)
Should I really explain? Easy win for one of the world’s best teams against arguably the weakest team in the RO16.
QTR
Man City 5-2 Atleti (2-1, 3-1)
Atleti is the only team in the Quarters who isn’t one of the favourites to win it all, and City will breeze by them pretty easily. It won’t be a memorable tie, but City will be in control the whole time.
PSG 5-5p Barcelona (1-2, 4-3)
The first instant classic of these quarterfinals, I see Barcelona getting a 2-1 win, finally snapping a 3-match losing streak against PSG at home. However, it’ll be an incredibly hard second leg at the Parc, PSG at one point will lead 3-1, 4-3 on aggregate, but Barcelona will get a second half equalizer to send it to extra time. Both will score in the extra period, ending in a 4-3 classic at the Parc, that I think Barca will squeeze through on pens.
Bayern 6-4 Real Madrid (2-3, 4-1)
After years of one-sided finishes to this rivalry, Bayern will finally get past Real Madrid’s juju. In a quarterfinal that includes two famous European rivalries, Bayern will finally get the upper hand on Madrid this time. I can see a Madrid team that finally looks scary again actually beating Bayern at the Bernabeu, but back in Germany, we’ll see a historic collapse from Madrid. After Mbappe nets the opener in 5 minutes and Madrid goes into halftime 2 up on aggregate, we’ll see a massive collapse from this Madrid team, conceding 4 in 25 minutes, and ending their Champions League campaign stunned again, and missing the semifinals for a second straight year.
Arsenal 5-3 Chelsea (2-2, 3-1)
An all-English matchup, Arsenal will have trouble but will beat Chelsea eventually, after some trouble. It’ll be 5-3, but not all that memorable. The 2-2 will be a fun watch, but the 3-1 will be agonizing for Chelsea fans and honestly a dull watch for the neutral. But still, Arsenal advances.
SEM
Man City 6-5 Barcelona (2-3, 4-2)
Because it’s what they do, Barcelona will once again make a spectacle out of this match. Barcelona score another late winner against City at home, and at the Etihad score the opener to go up two, but City net a quickfire double and it goes into halftime 2-1, 4-4 on aggregate. The second half is a slow burner, but Barcelona gets the go-ahead with 25 to spare via a Raphinha goal from a Lamine cross. Do Barcelona learn from past mistakes and finally hold out? Nope. For the fourth straight year, they throw it away, conceding twice after the 85th minute after subbing on Ronald Araujo. It wrenches my gut just thinking about it, but sadly it’s the script. Man City will be added to the list with Roma, Liverpool, PSG, and Inter as the most gut wrenching losses in recent memory.
Arsenal 3-4 Bayern (1-1, 2-3 AET)
Arsenal’s run finally comes to an end, as they once again fail to vanquish their Bayern demons. The first leg will be a very tense 1-1, where both sides are once again just feeling each other out, the second leg will be an end-to-end dogfight. Crushingly for Arsenal fans, I predict a 2-0 lead going into halftime crushed by the German club’s resilience. Harry Kane scores a double in the stadium of his old rivals as it goes to extra time. My prediction? Lennart Karl, already having established himself as a major threat in this match, scores a beautiful solo goal to send Bayern to the final. Once again, Barca and Arsenal lose in the semifinals, starting the question of if they have the late-stage UCL mettle.
Final
Bayern 3-2 Man City
Finally, after eight long years, we’ll have a good game in the Champions League final. Somehow, the last UCL final that saw both teams score was Liverpool against Madrid. No, not the 2022 final, the 2018 one. There’s no way we’ll see three World Cups played in the span between good games in the UCL final.
In a big Kane/Haaland clash, we’ll see both score the openers for their clubs in a first half that finishes 1-1. Then, early on in the second, Harry Kane cements his double, before Antoine Semenyo, January signing, levels it. Then, late on, around the 86th minute, Michael Olise scores a beautiful curling goal to win it for the Bavarians. Bayern win their seventh Champions League.
There are at least 7 clubs (Arsenal, Barca, Chelsea, Bayern, City, Madrid, PSG) who are in the running to win it and who have great squads, so we are DESTINED for some massive matchups.
Next up, however, is the World Cup.
World Cup
Group A
Ireland – 7 pts
Mexico – 6 pts
South Africa – 2 pts
South Korea – 1 pt
Group B
Canada – 6 pts (+3 GD, 8 GF)
Switzerland – 6 pts (+3 GD, 6 GF)
Italy – 4 pts
Qatar – 1 pt
Group C
Brazil – 7 pts
Morocco – 5 pts
Scotland – 4 pts
Haiti – 0 pts
Group D
Turkey – 9 pts
Australia – 4 pts
USA – 3 pts
Paraguay – 0 pts
Group E
Germany – 9 pts
Ecuador – 4 pts (+2 GD)
Ivory Coast – 4 pts (+0 GD)
Curacao – 0 pts
Group F
Japan – 7 pts
Netherlands – 4 pts
Tunisia – 3 pts
Sweden – 1 pt
Group G
Belgium – 9 pts
Iran – 6 pts
New Zealand – 3 pts
Egypt – 0 pts
Group H
Spain – 9 pts
Saudi Arabia – 6 pts
Uruguay – 3 pts
Cape Verde – 0 pts
Group I
France – 9 pts
Norway – 4 pts (+3 GD)
Senegal – 4 pts (+0 GD)
Iraq – 0 pts
Group J
Argentina – 9 pts
Jordan – 4 pts
Austria – 2 pts
Algeria – 1 pt
Group K
Portugal – 7 pts (+9 GD)
Colombia – 7 pts (+5 GD)
Uzbekistan – 1 pt (-7 GD, 3 GS)
Jamaica – 1 pt (-7 GD, 3 GS)
Group L
Croatia – 9 pts
England – 6 pts
Ghana – 3 pts
Panama – 0 pts
Third Place Teams
Italy – 4 pts
Scotland – 4 pts
Ivory Coast – 4 pts
Senegal – 4 pts
Tunisia – 3 pts (+0 GD)
Uruguay – 3 pts (-1 GD)
Ghana – 3 pts (-1 GD)
New Zealand – 3 pts (-3 GD)
USA – 3 pts (-4 GD)
Austria – 2 pts
South Africa – 2 pts
Uzbekistan – 1 pt
Not much to take from the groups. Any country worth their salt should make it out, as a win should be enough for most teams. Not many surprises in here for me, but it should be varied enough to be realistic.
Round of 32
Left Side
Ireland 2-3 Scotland AET
Canada 2-0 Ivory Coast
Brazil 4-1 Uruguay
Turkey 3-1 Tunisia
Germany 4-2 Italy
Japan 3-0 Ghana
Belgium 2-1 Senegal
Spain 6-1 New Zealand
Right Side
Mexico 1-2 Switzerland
Morocco 1-0 Australia
Ecuador 2-2p Netherlands
Iran 1-3 Saudi Arabia
France 3p-3 England
Argentina 4-3 Norway AET
Portugal 5-0 Jordan
Croatia 2-1 Colombia AET
A couple bigger matches, but not many upsets in the first knockout stage of the World Cup. Scotland barely beat Ireland in a thriller, my Canada upsets Ivory Coast, Germany gets past a weaker Italy side to progress, Spain thrash New Zealand, an incredibly entertaining France-England tie ends in France winning on penalties, Argentina squeak by a freescoring Norway side in extra-time, and Portugal smash Jordan.
Round of 16
Left Side
Scotland 3-2 Canada AET
Brazil 2p-2 Turkey
Germany 4-1 Japan
Belgium 1-3 Spain
Right Side
Switzerland 1p-1 Morocco
Netherlands 3-0 Saudi Arabia
France 3-4 Argentina AET
Portugal 3-2 Croatia AET
The round of 16 provides some more great games. Scotland squeeze by Canada, Turkey nearly beats Brazil, Germany get their Japan revenge, Spain comfortably beats Belgium, Switzerland gets by Morocco on pens, the Netherlands easily handle Saudi Arabia, Argentina beats France after ANOTHER absolutely thrilling match, and Portugal squeak by Croatia in Luka Modric’s final international match.
Quarterfinal
Scotland 2-1 Brazil AET
The greatest day in Scotland’s history, England’s northern neighbors score a massive upset against the record-winners of the tournament. Brazil don’t have much experience or chemistry as a unit, and are susceptible to an upset like this. Scott McTominay will go down as a legend because of this match, scoring a late extra-time winner.
Germany 2-3 Spain
Another chapter in Europe’s newest massive rivalry, Spain will once again have Germany’s number in a thriller. While it won’t be as controversial as the matchup in the Euros, it’ll be another memorable matchup. Lamine Yamal will impress down the right, creating all of the three goals as Germany frustratingly crash out.
Switzerland 1-4 Netherlands
Another easy matchup for the Netherlands, they’ll get by pretty easily. They have the England run of this tournament, but don’t worry, they’ll get their tough opponent soon enough.
Argentina 3p-3 Portugal
Yes, I predict one final clash between Messi and Ronaldo. And like the last two knockout matches for Argentina, this one will be an incredible duel. Vitinha will kick off the scoring, before a Lautaro equalizer makes it 1-1 by halftime. But don’t worry, the two goats will make their mark. In the second half, Lionel Messi will send a curling effort home to put Argentina up, but it’ll be canceled out by a Ronaldo equalizer to send it to extra time. Both teams will score, one from Ronaldo, one from Alvarez, as it heads to pens. Both goats will score their penalties, but a penalty from Nuno Mendes will be saved by Emi Martinez as Argentina progress again.
Semifinal
Scotland 1-3 Spain
While Scotland have beaten Spain in recent memory, this time Spain is driven and on a mission. Ferran Torres, now bona fide Spain striker, scores a brace as the Spanish progress to the final, pretty easily.
Netherlands 2-3 Argentina AET
The penultimate game of the World Cup as well as Argentina’s seemingly legendary run, this match will be another repeat of the classic played between these two in 2022. There’ll be fights, fouls, and cards galore, but Argentina will just grab it, a late Enzo Fernandez dagger in extra time.
Final
Spain 3-2 Argentina AET
Despite the great Argentina run, Spain will just barely win in a thriller. Messi and Yamal will both find themselves on the scoreboard, but it’ll be a winner in the first half of extra time that wins Spain its second World Cup. It’ll be another thriller of a game that brings to a close a 3-4 month span with nearly two dozen incredible games. 2026 will be the year with some of the best games in football history.
Let’s look at the tournament awards.
Golden Boot: Lamine Yamal (8 goals)
Golden Ball: Pedri
Golden Glove: Unai Simon
Best Young Player: Lamine Yamal
It’s a Spanish clean sweep of the awards, as they’re just that dominant. Like the Euros, Yamal is hard done by to be snubbed for the Best Player award, but there’s no doubting Pedri’s impact as the midfield maestro. Unai Simon gets the Golden Glove, and Yamal at least earns the best young player award, with the closest competition being from Desire Doue and Lennart Karl.
Now, let’s look at the Ballon D’Or after all this.
The nominees have 17 players who weren’t there in 2025, including Rodri bouncing back from his bad 24/25, Marc Cucurella finally getting recognition as a great fullback, Lennart Karl becoming the world’s new best wonderkid, Lionel Messi getting on it one last time for his Argentina exploits (and MLS Cup coming in handy), John McGinn getting on it after doing well for Aston Villa in a Top 4 charge and helping Scotland to World Cup semis, Nico O’Reilly even gets on it after a great year, Ferran gets on it after co-leading Spain at striker and being Barcelona’s top scorer in 25/26, Odsonne Edouard gets on it after leading Lens to Ligue 1, scoring 20 league goals, making the France squad, and even playing some games.
On the flip side, defending champion Ousmane Dembele becomes the third straight winner to miss the shortlist the following year, but not due to injury or a move outside Europe, but just missing gametime due to injury, rotation, reduced performance, and only winning the Coupe de France. Mo Salah also misses the list after a January move away from Liverpool doesn’t help his form. They’re two of 13 players who made the shortlist in 2025 who miss it this year.
Ballon D’Or
Lamine Yamal
Harry Kane
Pedri
Erling Haaland
Michael Olise
Rodri
Marc Cucurella
Kylian Mbappe
Scott McTominay
Enzo Fernandez
Vitinha
Dean Huijsen
Luis Diaz
Lennart Karl
Nico Williams
Virgil van Dijk
Lionel Messi
Declan Rice
Antoine Semenyo
John McGinn
Raphinha
Nico O’Reilly
Mikel Merino
Bukayo Saka
Ferran Torres
Odsonne Edouard
Lautaro Martinez
Rafa Leao
Christian Pulisic
Fabian Ruiz
Lamine Yamal finally wins it this year, his first of hopefully many Ballon D’Ors. Harry Kane also finishes second after over 50 goals and the Champions League, and would’ve won it any other year, but England’s early World Cup exit effectively ends the challenge. Pedri finishes third, and debatably should’ve been higher. Erling Haaland, with a similar season to Kane, finishes fourth, and Michael Olise cements his place as a superstar and finishes fifth. Other interesting placements include Marc Cucurella seventh after a great redemption season, Scott McTominay finishing ninth, Dean Huijsen all the way in 12th, Lennart Karl finishing 14th, Messi 17th, Antoine Semenyo in 19th, Nico O’Reilly 22nd, Ferran 25th, and Odsonne Edouard in 26th.
Other football awards go like this:
FIFA The Best: Lamine Yamal
Kopa Trophy: Lamine Yamal
Golden Boy: Lennart Karl
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich
Yashine Trophy: Gianluigi Donnarumma
Manager of the Year: Luis de la Fuente
European Golden Shoe: Harry Kane
The final major thing we’ll be going over today are summer transfers. 2026 will be the year of the 50m+ transfer, with nearly 35 – a record – happening in the summer of 2026. Here is a breakdown of all the major additions for some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Summer Transfers
Major Clubs
Barcelona
Julian Alvarez – 90m
Alessandro Bastoni – 75m
Robert Lewandowski (Out) – 0m
Real Madrid
Nico Paz – 6m
Jacobo Ramon – 5m
Kenan Yildiz – 70m
Chema Andres – 15m
Rodrigo Mora – 55m
Vini Jr (Out) – 150m
Atlético Madrid
Fabian Ruiz – 60m
Givairo Read – 50m
Michael Kayode – 50m
Antonio Nusa – 60m
Julian Alvarez (Out) – 90m
Man Utd
Yan Diomande – 80m
Carlos Baleba – 85m
Karl Etta Eyong – 40m
Nathan de Cat – 60m
Man City
Antoine Semenyo – 65m (Jan)
Scott McTominay – 80m
Vini Jr – 150m
Jeremy Doku (Out) – 80m
Liverpool
Can Uzun – 65m
Marc Guehi – 0m
Ibrahima Konate (Out) – 0m
Mo Salah (Out) – 50m
Arsenal
Bradley Barcola – 70m
Rodri Mendoza – 50m
Josh King – 40m
Samu – 80m
Chelsea
Geovany Quenda – 60m
Valentin Barco – 30m
Veljko Milosavljevic – 60m
Joaquin Panichelli – 45m
Honest Ahanor – 40m
John McGinn – 55m
Spurs
Elliot Anderson – 70m
Illiman Ndiaye – 35m
Odsonne Edouard – 55m
Jeremy Monga – 25m
Andrey Santos – 65m
Newcastle
Kees Smit – 40m
PSG
Ayyoub Bouaddi – 60m
Jeremy Doku – 80m
Bradley Barcola (Out) – 70m
Fabian Ruiz (Out) – 60m
Bayern
Assan Ouedraogo – 50m
Said El Mala – 45m
Dortmund
Johan Mamzani – 50m
Kenneth Eichhorn – 35m
Inter
Marco Palestra – 55m
Assane Diao – 50m
Milan
Robert Lewandowski – 0m
Napoli
Mo Salah – 50m (January)
Juventus
Fisnik Asllani – 50m
Aston Villa
Hugo Larsson – Aston Villa (55m)
Tino Livramento – Aston Villa (50m)
Junior Kroupi – Aston Villa (55m)
There we finally have it. All of the major happenings in football in the year of 2026. Technically, I should be able to look back at this come September, but we may wait until next December. For now, though, enjoy your holidays, and I’ll see you next time.