NYT places Brazilian team in the top 3 of the World Cup after game against Japan

Brazil x Japan
Reuters/Troy Taormina
The Athletic, the sports division of The New York Times, ranked the Brazilian team as the third best team in the 2026 World Cup this Tuesday (30). An unprecedented placement in this tournament occurred after the comeback victory against Japan in the round of 32.
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The newspaper has been ranking daily since the start of the World Cup and this is the first time that Brazil appears among the top three.
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To justify the placement, the newspaper pointed to the midfielder as a Brazilian highlight.
"The Brazilian midfield, which instead of being seen as the team's main weakness ended up being a strong point, played a decisive role: Casemiro scored the equalizer, while Bruno Guimarães provided the assist for Martinelli's winning goal. Now, Norway or Ivory Coast will be Brazil's opponents in the next phase", states The Athletic.
World Cup 2026: Brazil beats Japan
"Carlo Ancelotti looked like the calmest man in Houston, and it was one of his substitutes, Gabriel Martinelli, who scored the winning goal in stoppage time for Brazil. The team matched Japan's intensity and showed enough offensive quality to guarantee qualification", he says about this Monday's game (29).
At the start of the tournament, after the draw with Morocco, Brazil was in sixth place. Since then, after three victories, the team has not stopped gaining positions.
What are the other teams in the Top 3?
According to the newspaper, only France and Argentina surpass Brazil at the moment. Regarding the Argentine team, in second place, the newspaper states that the three victories in the group stage and Lionel Messi's artillery justify the position.
As for France, first in the ranking, The Athletic pointed out that the team's stars, Kylian Mbappé, Désiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé make the difference in the team being the best in the tournament currently.
Top 10
For the newspaper, the ten best teams of the 2026 World Cup are:
France
Argentina
Brazil
Spain
England
Morocco
Mexico
Colombia
Norway
United States

Source: G1