All teams in the 2026 World Cup ranked by height

There are no big surprises apart from the nation that shares first place on the list with Norway.

All 48 teams that will participate in the 2026 World Cup, which is being held in collaboration between the USA, Mexico and Canada, have now appointed their 26-man squads for this summer’s tournament.

Argentina enter the tournament as reigning champions and will undoubtedly do everything they can to lift the trophy once again – at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.

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However, they are not favourites to win the tournament. Euro 2024 champions Spain, two-time winners France and Thomas Tuchel’s England all have better odds.

With the tournament now just a few days away, FIFA has announced the height of all 1248 players who will participate. Using this data, X user “Out of Context Football Manager” has figured out the average height of each team. While height isn’t everything, their findings make it fascinating to watch.

48th–41st place

If Argentina are to retain the World Cup title, they will do so with the fifth-shortest squad in the tournament. The average height of their 26-man squad is just 179.7 cm, with Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez being the smallest players – both 170 cm tall.

Only four World Cup nations have a shorter squad than Argentina: Mexico, Qatar, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. The latter is the smallest team in the competition with an average height of 178.4 cm.

Colombia are also among the smallest nations in the World Cup in terms of height, despite goalkeeper Álvaro Montero being 201 cm tall – making him the second tallest player in the tournament.

Average height of each World Cup team (48-41)

40th–31st place

Two of the favourites for the tournament, Portugal and Spain, are also on the low side when it comes to height. Roberto Martínez’s Portuguese squad has an average height of 181.5 cm, while Spain is two cm taller at 181.7 cm.

Portugal’s star Cristiano Ronaldo is one of their bigger players with a height of 185 cm, while Pedri is one of Spain’s shorter players with his 174 cm.

Panama has the smallest player in the tournament among its squads. Winger César Yanis is only 160 cm tall, while teammate Alberto Quintero is the fourth shortest player in the tournament at 164 cm. Despite the fact that these two players have lowered their averages, 15 nations have a shorter squad than them.

One of these 15 is DR Congo, where Noah Sadiki and Parfait Guiagon are both 165 cm tall.

Average height of each World Cup team (40-31)

30th-21st place

Canada is also one of the lower teams in the competition with its 182 cm. Their average height is lowered by Marcelo Flores, who is the second shortest player in the tournament at 164 cm.

Brazil wants to end their 22-year World Cup drought and emerge victorious in North America. They have the 23rd largest squad in the competition, with Alisson Becker (193 cm), Gabriel Magalhães (190 cm) and Igor Thiago (190 cm) as their tallest players.

Average height of each World Cup team (30-21)

20th–11th place

Thomas Tuchel has been entrusted as the man who will lead England to World Cup triumph and end 60 years of pain. He likes to play physical football and has therefore selected a large team, with Dan Burn (201 cm) as the second tallest player in the competition.

England’s average squad height of 184.2cm makes them the 14th tallest team in the tournament – just slightly shorter than bitter rivals Scotland (184.5cm).

Austria’s Florian Wiegele, who is a whopping 205 cm tall, has become the tallest player to ever be in a World Cup squad. Saša Kalajdžić is also 200 cm tall. Despite the height, Austria is not among the top ten teams in the competition.

Average height of each World Cup team (20-11)

10th–1st place

The ten highest teams in the competition are, interestingly, all European. Croatia, led by the short Luka Modrić, has an average height of 184.8 cm – just below two of the favourites to win it all: the Netherlands and France (both 184.9 cm).

Switzerland (185.2 cm), Germany (185.4 cm), Czech Republic (185.7 cm) and Belgium (185.8 cm) are the seventh, sixth, fifth and fourth highest teams in the competition, respectively.

In third place is Sweden (186.2 cm). Graham Potter has taken out a number of physically dominant players, including Gustaf Nilsson and Jacob Widell Zetterström (both 197 cm).

While Norway and Bosnia are the tallest teams in this summer’s tournament, with an average height of 187.2 cm each.

Erling Braut Haaland, one of the best strikers in world football, is 195 cm tall. He is Norway’s third tallest player – behind striker partner Alexander Sørloth (196 cm) and Brentford’s Kristoffer Ajer (198 cm).

Bosnia, on the other hand, has brought in the second tallest player in the competition: HNK Rijeka centre-back Stjepan Radeljić (201 cm).

Average height of each World Cup team (10-1)

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