The first team gets knocked out. Now what?
Every football fan needs a second team for the World Cup. Your first team is the one you grew up with — the country your family is from, the country your dad supported, the country whose shirt you bought when you were eight. That allegiance is fixed. You don't pick it; it picks you.
The second team is different. It's the side you adopt for the tournament once you accept your first team probably isn't winning. It's the team you cheer for in the knockouts. It's the team whose kit you wear on the days when your first team isn't playing. And done well, it's one of the most enjoyable parts of being a football fan.
Here's how to pick yours without feeling like a glory hunter.
Method 1: Pick by family heritage
The cleanest, most defensible way to pick a second team is to look at your family tree. Got an Italian grandparent? Italy would be your second team if they'd qualified — but since they didn't, the next-closest culturally is probably Spain or Portugal. Got Polish heritage? Pick a Slavic side. Got Irish heritage? Pick whichever home nation isn't England.
Family heritage gives you a defensible answer to anyone who calls you a glory hunter. "My mum's side is from Naples" stops the conversation immediately. Nobody can argue with ancestry.
Method 2: Pick the dark horse
The most fun second-team strategy. Pick a team you think is going to outperform expectations — and who would generate maximum joy if they did. Morocco in 2022 is the textbook example. Anyone who picked Morocco as their second team in October 2022 had the best six weeks of their football-watching life.
For 2026, the dark horse picks are in our six dark horse predictions. Morocco, Japan, Senegal, Ecuador, Switzerland, Austria. Any of these as a second team gives you a reason to keep watching after your first team is out.
Method 3: Pick by kit aesthetics
The lazy answer that's actually fine. Pick the team with the best kit. There's no shame in this. Football is a visual sport, you watch with your eyes, the shirt you'd wear is a perfectly valid reason to pick a team.
The 2026 cycle has produced enough strong kits to make this a real option. Japan's always-clean Adidas template. Croatia's checkerboard. Brazil's yellow x Jordan collab. Mexico's green. Browse the full kit gallery and pick whichever shirt makes you stop scrolling.
Method 4: Pick by playing style
If you're a tactical-football person, pick a team based on how they actually play. Spain for the possession football. Brazil for the attacking flair. Germany for the structural midfield. Italy for... well, Italy isn't there. Argentina for the Messi swansong if he's still playing.
This works best for people who actually watch a lot of football and have aesthetic preferences for how the game is played. If you don't, skip this method — you'll just end up parroting opinions you don't really hold.
Method 5: Pick the underdog rivalry
Pick the team that's most likely to upset the team you don't like. If you're an England fan who hates Germany, pick whichever team draws Germany in the round of 16. If you're a Brazil fan who hates Argentina, pick whichever team draws Argentina in the quarters. The "second team" becomes a vehicle for tournament-long emotional revenge.
This is the chaotic method but it works. Some of the most-watched second-team choices in football history were driven entirely by wanting to see a specific other team lose.
Rules for your second team
- You can't pick a top-3 favourite. Picking Brazil as a second team is glory hunting. Picking Argentina as a second team is glory hunting. The second team has to be at least Tier 2 in tournament expectations.
- You commit before the tournament starts. Picking your "second team" after they win the round of 16 is glory hunting. Lock in your choice before kick-off and stick to it.
- You wear the kit, or you don't get to claim them. If you're calling them your second team, buy the shirt. The £75 commitment is what makes it real.
- You don't switch mid-tournament. If your second team gets knocked out, you don't get a third team. You watch the rest of the tournament neutrally and respect the game.
The best 2026 second-team picks (in order)
Based on the methods above, here are my honest picks for the best second teams for the 2026 cycle:
- Morocco — proven 2022 dark horse, brilliant kit, deep squad, semi-final ceiling. The default answer.
- Japan — best-designed kits in the tournament, four straight round-of-16 appearances, due a quarter-final.
- Senegal — AFCON champions, Premier League-trained core, strong kit, good cultural fit for a Brit.
- Croatia — 2018 finalists, 2022 third place, the checkerboard shirt is one of the best designs in football. Knockout-round veterans.
- Uruguay — four-star history, perpetual overperformers, the celeste shirt is the best collector item in the tournament.
Pick one. Buy the shirt. Don't switch. The tournament is more fun when you have skin in every match.
If you need help choosing, the live Kit Clash leaderboard shows which kits other fans are voting for. The current dark horse popularity tracker is in our dark horse collection.