London: Former Arsenal manager and current FIFA chief of global football development Arsene Wenger made a prediction that Kylian Mbappe-led France will be winning the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026 and feels that if any team is capable of stopping them, it is the 2010 champions Spain, who he feels are at a better place "technically" than the two-time champions.
France will continue their dominant FIFA World Cup run against Morocco in the quarterfinal, with the match being a repeat of the 2022 semifinal, which saw the journey of the African nation ending. On the other hand, Spain will be taking on 2018 bronze medalists Belgium, boasting of names like Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, and Thibaut Courtois.
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Wenger has thrown his support to France lifting the trophy for the third time after witnessing their performances so far, which have been dominant except for a narrow 1-0 win in a highly physical match against Paraguay in the round of 16. Wenger feels that France's "speed" and momentum will make things difficult for their rivals, and they would be hard to match.
The Arsenal legend, 76, said on 'Felix and Toni Kroos Podcast' as quoted by Goal. com, "France will win the World Cup. I know you are going to say it is because I am French. But when you analyse the tournament a bit, the train is moving at a certain speed today. And you have to be capable of getting on board that train."
Despite European teams dominating the line-up for the quarterfinals, Wenger has dismissed Harry Kane-led side's chances at the trophy and also feels that Morocco and even the defending champions will struggle against France too. In his opinion, it is only the Luis de la Fuente-managed Spain that has the capability and technique to challenge France.
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''For me, the real question mark is Spain. If any team is capable of beating France right now, I would say it is Spain. Because they have a better technical level than France. They have a quality of collective play, and a culture of collective play, that nobody else in the world has at the moment. Not at this level, anyway. So it is between those two in my opinion. After that, of course, France is stronger physically,'' he signed off.
