Oldest Player: MF Axel Witsel, 37 (136 caps, 12 goals)

Youngest Player: GK Mike Penders, 20 (0 caps)

Best Name on the Team: Axel Witsel, or Axel Laurent Angel Lambert Witsel to use his full title.

Team Nickname: De Rode Duivels/Les Diables rouges/Die Roten Teufel (The Red Devils)

Coach Name: Rudi Garcia (since 2025)

FIFA Rank: 9

Best World Cup Performance: Third in 2018

How did they qualify? Winners of UEFA qualifying Group J - 5 wins, 3 draws, 0 losses

Best player? Jérémy Doku

The league where most of the team plays in: English Premier League, 6 players

Base Camp: Hyatt Regency Lake Washington at Seattle's Southport, Renton, Washington & Seattle Sounders FC Performance Center

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: Five Guys, 0.5 mi

National dish: Frites (French fries, usually served with mussels or steak), carbonade flamande (also called Flemish stew, a beef stew made with beer and mustard), waterzooi (traditional soup made with fish or chicken, vegetable broth, egg yolk, and cream), chocolate mousse, Belgian waffle

One Sickos Thing: Belgium has been ranked as the #1 team in the world by FIFA twice (Nov 2015 - March 2016 and Sept 2018 - March 2022). It is the only team to rank #1 in the FIFA rankings without ever winning a World Cup or continental tournament. The Oregon Ducks of the FIFA World???

Oldest Player: El Mahdy Soliman, 38 (0 caps)

Youngest Player: Hamza Abdelkarim, 18 (1 cap)

Best Name on the Team: Haissem Hassan, for nearly pulling off the same first/last name combo

Team Nickname: The Pharaohs

Coach Name: Hossam Hassan (since 2024), no relation to Haissem Hassan.

FIFA Rank: 29

Best World Cup Performance: Round of 16 in 1934

How did they qualify? CAF Group A Winner - 8 wins, 2 draws and 0 losses

Best player: Mohamed Salah. The winger and national team captain may be leaving Liverpool this offseason and maybe off his peak, but he’s still playing at a very high level.

The league where most of the team plays in: Egyptian premier league, 17 players

Base Camp: Northern Quest Resort & Casino, Airway Heights, Washington & Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: Fatburger (temporarily closed) and QDOBA, both in the attached casino

National dish: ful medames (commonly shortened to fūl, a stew of cooked fava beans served with olive oil, cumin, and other vegetables and spices), kushari (traditional street food mixing pasta, fried rice, vermicelli, and lentils, then topped with chickpeas, tomato sauce, vinegar, and fried onions), molokhiya (thick broth made from jute leaves), taʿamiya (Egyptian falafel, deep-fried fritters made from chickpeas or fava beans)

One Sickos Thing: Eight of the 26 players Egypt is taking to the World Cup play for the same team: Egyptian Premier League squad Al Ahly. They could almost field a team entirely from one club.

Oldest Player: DF Shojae Khalilzadeh, 37 (57 caps, 2 goals)

Youngest Player: Amirmohammad Razzaghinia, 20 (3 caps)

Best Name on the Team: Forward Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh

Team Nickname: Team Melli (National Team)

Coach Name: Ardeshir "Amir" Ghalenoei (since 2023)

FIFA Rank: 21

Best World Cup Performance: Have never made it out of the group stage in 6 prior appearances. Best group stage performance was in 2018 (1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss)

How did they qualify? Winners of AFC qualifying group A (7 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss)

Best player? Forward Mehdi Taremi plays for Greek powerhouse club Olympiacos and has scored 60 goals in 104 appearances for Iran.

The league where most of the team plays in: Persian Gulf Pro League, 17 players

Base Camp: Tijuana Marriott Hotel, Tijuana, Baja California & Club Tijuana Training Center

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: quesaburros, 450m

National dish: abgoosht (hearty mutton stew thickened with chickpeas), chelo kabab (steamed rice and Iranian kebab), ghormeh sabzi (traditional Persian herbal stew made with meat and beans), Fesenjan (sweet and sour stew made with minced meat and served over rice)

One Sickos Thing: Iran’s jerseys for the 2026 World Cup feature the Asiatic cheetah, a critically endangered species found nowhere else on Earth.

Oldest Player: DF Michael Boxall, 37 (61 caps, 1 goal)

Youngest Player: DF Tyler Bindon, 21 (23 caps, 3 goals)

Best Name on the Team: New Zealand has a surprisingly deep name pool. Defender Liberato Cacace has to take home the title, but I dearly love midfielder Ben Old as well.

Team Nickname: All Whites - to contrast with the All Blacks, New Zealand’s national rugby team

Coach Name: Darren Bazeley (since 2023)

FIFA Rank: 85

Best World Cup Performance: Eliminated after group stage in both prior appearances, 1982 and 2010. Drew all three group stage games in 2010

How did they qualify? Won OFC qualifying (5 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses)

Best player: Forward Chris Wood has the most caps (89) and goals (45) in New Zealand national team history. He’s also the only player to play in multiple World Cups, having appeared as a substitute in all three of their 2010 games.

The league where most of the team plays in: Australian A-League, 10 players

Base Camp: Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine, San Diego, California - San Diego Torreos Soccer fields

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: Chick Fil-A, .7mi

National dish: meat pie, bacon and egg pie, lamb, pavlova (baked meringue dessert)

One Sickos Thing: New Zealand and Australia have a traveling rivalry trophy, The Soccer Ashes, that was lost for over 70 years before resurfacing in 2023.

Oldest Player: FW Borja Iglesias, 33 (6 caps, 0 goals)

Youngest Player: FW Lamine Yamal, 18 (25 caps, 6 goals)

Best Name on the Team: Marc Cucurella Saseta

Team Nickname: La Roja (The Red One)

Coach Name: Luis de la Fuente (since 2022)

FIFA Rank: 2

Best World Cup Performance: 2010 World Cup Winners

How did they qualify? Won UEFA qualifying Group B (5 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses)

Best player? Absolutely loaded team, Lamine Yamal or Rodri would get the nod

The league where most of the team plays in: La Liga 15 - 8 from Barcelona alone.

Base Camp: The Read House Hotel, Chattanooga, Tennessee & Baylor School, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: Starbucks attached to the hotel.

National dish: Tortilla de patatas (Also known as Spanish tortilla, an omelette made with eggs, potatoes, and onion

One Sickos Thing: As noted 8 players from the Barcelona team and absolutely none from their main La Liga rivals in Real Madrid. Not even sure if this has happened before in the Spanish National team’s history.

Oldest Player: GK Vozinha, 40 (85 caps)

Youngest Player: DF Sidny Lopes Cabral, 22 (8 caps, 3 goals)

Best Name on the Team: DF Pico

Team Nickname: Tubarões Azuis, the Blue Sharks, Creoles

Coach Name: Bubista (since 2020)

FIFA Rank: 69 (nice)

Best World Cup Performance: This one! This is their first World Cup!

How did they qualify? Won CAF qualifying Group D (7 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss)

Best player? Captain Ryan Mendes

The league where most of the team plays in: Primeira Liga in Portugal - 7 players

Base Camp: Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, Tampa, Florida & Waters Sportsplex, Tampa, Florida

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: Bahama Breeze, 1.8mi

National dish: Cachupa - slow cooked stew of corn, beans, fish or meat, and morcela (blood sausage).

One Sickos Thing: The only direct flight between the United States and Cabo Verde departs from Providence, Rhode Island. Providence is also the site of the largest Cabo Verdean population outside of the country itself.

Oldest Player: MF Salem Al-Dawsari 34 (108 caps & captain)

Youngest Player: MF Musab Al-Juwayr 22 (33 caps)

Best Name on the Team: Sultan Mandash

Team Nickname: "The Green One", "Arabian Falcons", "The Green Falcons"

Coach Name: Georgios Donis (since April 2026)

FIFA Rank: 61

Best World Cup Performance: Round of 16 (1994)

How did they qualify? Finished third in AFC qualifying Group C (3 wins, 4 draws, 3 losses), then won playoff Group B over Iraq and Indonesia

Best player? Captain Salem Al-Dawsari

The league where most of the team plays in: The entire squad plays in the Saudi League except for one player in Ligue 1

Base Camp: Four Seasons Hotel Austin, Austin, Texas & Austin FC Stadium

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken (.2mi), PF Chang's slightly further

National dish: Saleeg (white rice dish cooked with broth and milk), kabsa (Arab mixed rice dish, usually with chicken and spices), jareesh (porridge-like dish of boiled or cracked wheat or bulgur mixed with meat and seasoned), maqshus (buckwheat pan bites topped with ghee, honey, molasses, or sugar)

One Sickos Thing: Their Head Coach Giorgos Donis coached for five of the eighteen teams in the Saudi Pro League including four straight different teams in five years before landing the National Team job.

Oldest Player: GK Fernando Musiera, 39

Youngest Player: FW Facundo Pellistri, 24

Best Name on the Team: Paul Brian Rodriguez Bravo

Team Nickname: “La Celeste,” (The Sky Blue), “Los Churrúas” (named after an indigenous people of the Southern Cone in present-day Uruguay and adjacent areas in Argentina and Brazil)

Coach Name: Marcelo Bielsa (since 2023)

FIFA Rank: 17

Best World Cup Performance: Champions (1930, 1950)

How did they qualify? Finished 4th in CONMEBOL qualifying (7 wins, 7 draws, 4 losses)

Best player? MF Federico Valverde

The league where most of the team plays in: Serie A in Brazil - 7 players

Base Camp: Fairmont Mayakoba, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo & Mayakoba Training Centre, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: Do they even have chain restaurants in Playa del Carmen????? We zoomed out so far and no luck.

National dish: chivito - sandwich made with sliced beefsteak (churrasco), mozzarella, ham, tomatoes, mustard, mayo, and olives

One Sickos Thing: Hey look it’s Luis Suarez making a save with his hands and the entire country of Ghana hates him for doing in the 2010 World Cup but hey it worked and he got a red card and Ghana missed the penalty kick. Probably the most sickos thing for sure besides Luis Suarez biting people. Luckily Luis Suarez will not be here.

Oldest Player: MF N’Golo Kante, 35 (67 caps, 2 goals)

Youngest Player: MF Warren Zaïre-Emery, 20 (10 caps, 1 goal)

Best Name on the Team: MF Maghnes Akliouche

Team Nickname: Les Bleus

Coach Name: Didier Deschamps (since 2012)

FIFA Rank: 1

Best World Cup Performance: Champs in 1998 and 2018

How did they qualify? Won UEFA qualifying Group D (5 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses)

Best player? Lawd pick one of these and you can fight about it - Micheal Olisa, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembélé

The league where most of the team plays in: Tie for 7 in English Premier League and Ligue 1

Base Camp: Four Seasons Hotel Boston, Boston, Massachusetts & Bentley University

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: PF Chang’s and things of that nature

National dish: escargot, pot-au-feu (slowly boiled meat and vegetables, served as two courses of broth and then meat and vegetables), beef bourguignon (stew of beef braised in red wine, vegetables, and beef stock), blanquette de veau (veal stew where the meat is simmered in white stock and then served with cream sauce), steak frites, baguette, cassoulet (stew of haricot beans, and several meats), cheese, crêpe, crème caramel, croissant, chou à la crème (pastry ball filled with whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream)

One Sickos Thing: One of the most talented squads in all of the FIFA World Cup but they’re a little banged up, coupled with Didier Deschamps' farewell tournament could lead to some explosive situations if things don’t go well but it seems unlikely…they should get out of the group at least…

Oldest Player: MF Idrissa Gueye, 36 (131 caps, 7 goals)

Youngest Player: FW Ibrahim Mbaye, 18 (10 caps, 3 goals)

Best Name on the Team: El Hadji Malick Diouf

Team Nickname: Lions de la Téranga

Coach Name: Pape Thiaw (since 2024)

FIFA Rank: 14

Best World Cup Performance: Quarter-finals (2002)

How did they qualify? Won CAF qualifying Group B (7 wins, 3 draws, 0 losses)

Best player? Sadio Mané

The league where most of the team plays in: Ligue 1, France - 8 players

Base Camp: The Heldrich Hotel and Conference Center, New Brunswick, New Jersey and Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey - WHEN YOU THINK SENEGAL, THINK RUTGERSSSSSS BABYYYYY

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: Dunkin Donuts

National dish: thieboudienne - also known as tiep, consisting of fish, broken rice and tomato sauce cooked in one pot.

One Sickos Thing: Senegal have only lost two games on the field since the beginning of 2025, a 2-0 defeat to Brazil in London in November 2025 and a 3-2 loss to the US in a warm-up friendly last week. They’ve also notably lost one game off the field, when the Confederation of African Football ruled that Senegal had forfeited the AFCON final due to the team leaving the pitch in protest of a late penalty awarded to Morocco, despite Senegal winning the game 1-0 on the field.

Oldest Player: GK Captain Jalal Hassan, 35

Youngest Player: FW Ahmed Qasem, 22 (youngest of three players all age 22)

Best Name on the Team: MF Zidane Iqbal

Team Nickname: THE LIONS OF MESOPOTAMIA!! You must yell this.

Coach Name: Graham Arnold (since 2025)

FIFA Rank: 57

Best World Cup Performance: Group stage (1986) (0 wins, 0 draws, 3 losses)

How did they qualify? A marathon. They finished third in AFC qualifying Group B (4 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses), then finished second in playoff Group B behind Saudi Arabia. Beat playoff Group A runners-up United Arab Emirates to advance to the inter-confederation playoff, where they defeated Bolivia.

Best player? Ali Al-Hamadi

The league where most of the team plays in: Iraq Stars League, Iraq - 11 players

Base Camp: Greenbrier Resort, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: Godfather’s Pizza

National dish: masgouf (seasoned grilled carp), dolma (vegetables or leaves stuffed with rice, minced meat, herbs, and spices), Iraqi kebab, quzi (slow cooked lamb, roasted nuts, and raisins served over rice)

One Sickos Thing: This is Iraq’s second time qualifying for the World Cup. They were one of the favorites to qualify for the 2022 Cup, having gone undefeated in 19 matches between 2019 and 2021 under head coach Srečko Katanec. However, Katanec quit in July 2021, just weeks before the final round of qualifying began, after not being paid for six months. Iraq would go on to have 3 different managers over the second half of 2021 and win only one of their final ten qualifying matches, finishing 4th in the group and missing out on the World Cup.

Oldest Player: GK Ørjan Nyland, 35 (69 caps)

Youngest Player: MF Antonio Nusa, 21 (22 caps, 7 goals)

Best Name on the Team: Oscar Bobb

Team Nickname: In Norwegian, they’re colloquially referred to as the national team (Landslaget)

Coach Name: Ståle Solbakken (since 2020)

FIFA Rank: 31

Best World Cup Performance: Round of 16 (1938, 1998)

How did they qualify? Won UEFA qualifying Group I (8 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses)

Best player? It’s Erling Haaland, we all know it’s Erling Haaland, you knew it before you read the answer

The league where most of the team plays in: EPL, England - 5 players (3 in the EFL)

Base Camp: Grandover Resort & Spa, A Wyndham Grand Hotel, Greensboro, North Carolina and UNC-Greensboro campus

Closest chain restaurant to base camp: You have to drive about 3 miles but its a tie for Chik-Fil-A, Chipotle and Jersey Mike’s

National dish: fårikål - pieces of mutton with bone, cabbage, black pepper, and flour cooked in a casserole

One Sickos Thing: Norway is the only national team in the world to have played but never lost to Brazil, with two wins and two draws in four matches all-time between the two countries. This is like that trivia state where Rice is 3-0 all time against Alabama in football. Enjoy the new Norway Viking Rowing chant.