The U. S., Canada and Mexico are the hosts of the 2026 event
Netherlands and Man Utd icon Jaap Stam has given his thoughts on the favorites to lift the World Cup in July as USA, Canada and Mexico prepare to co-host the prestigious tournament.
All eyes will be fixated on the World Cup this summer as America look to show off their soccer prowess in front of millions. It will be a tall order for USMNT and Mauricio Pochettino, but a run to the knockouts would be a successful tournament.
With the domestic seasons in Europe drawing to a close, talk is now inevitably turning to who will win the World Cup and Stam – who was in Netherlands’ squad for the 1998 World Cup – believes there are about four or five teams who could triumph and one of them isn’t the Dutch.
Stam told ComeOn: “When you look at the ability and choices a country can make, the quality of players, then you’re looking at France, Spain, Germany, because also their mentality and how they can play in tournaments.
“You look at the other countries like Argentina, all these countries that can really fight to win a trophy. I’m not mentioning Holland because I think Holland is an outsider in the World Cup.
“We have talent, we have quality, but we never know where, even when I was playing, we never knew where the team was going. And that’s the thing that we have as a country. But yeah, the teams I’ve mentioned are up there, so are Brazil.
“If you look at quality, you look at a little bit of experience that they’re bringing. Look at the manager (Carlo Ancelotti) that they have who can give some guidance to that team, to these individuals Brazil has a chance. It’s going to be an interesting tournament.”
While he dismissed his country’s chances over the next couple of months, Stam does believe Virgil van Dijk is Netherlands’ most important player over the likes of Frenkie de Jong and Jurrien Timber.
“I think Virgil is the most important player for us in Holland. He’s got the experience and he uses that experience to play. You can see that in every game that he plays for the national team. He’s guiding them.
“Everybody is following him as a player. When they talk to him, when they look at him, they all find him exceptional in how he is as a player, but also as a person. His personality is great. He’s the player for the Netherlands to help them out in the right way.
“The confidence in Virgil is still very high for everybody in Holland, also for myself.”
