New ‘unofficial world champions’ have been named and will hold the title for over 80 days!
The World Cup excitement is building up as the knockout stages start this Sunday. After a long group stage, 32 teams are still in the running, all dreaming of becoming world champions.
But interestingly, none of these teams can call themselves the ‘unofficial world champions’ right now. That title belongs to a country that was already knocked out of the tournament.
The Unofficial Football World Championships is a fun way to figure out the world’s best international football team. It started back in 1967 during the British Home Championships when Scotland beat England, handing them their first loss since winning the World Cup a year before.
To hold this title, a country has to beat the current holder and then keep it until they lose to another team. England was the first to hold it after a 4-2 win over Scotland in the very first men’s international game in March 1873.
It’s no surprise that England and Scotland have dominated this title, with Scotland holding it 86 times! The last time Scotland had the title was in March 2007, though that doesn’t help much after their poor World Cup performance this summer.
Austria was the first team outside the British Isles to win the unofficial title when they beat Scotland 5-0. Argentina has held it the third most times, behind Scotland and England.
Now, in a strange twist, Turkiye holds the unofficial world champion title even though they were eliminated at the group stage of the 2026 World Cup.
Turkiye entered the tournament as the unofficial champions but lost the title to Australia after their opening game defeat. Australia then lost to the USA, so the USA earned the title for a few days. However, Turkiye beat the USA 3-2 in their last group match, even though Turkiye still finished last in their group.
This means Turkiye will keep the unofficial champion title for at least the next three months until their next game. Their next match is against France on September 25 in the Nations League. If France wins, they could hold both the unofficial and official world champion titles by the end of the year. France has been the strongest team at the World Cup so far and is a favorite to win the trophy next month.