Ghana really is that low. Yes, they topped their qualifying group, but with the only threats in their group consisting of Mali (chronic qualification chokers, inarguably the best national team to never qualify for a World Cup but they always do everything in their power to make sure they don't make it), Madagascar (very predictable team, they tend beat everyone below them and lose to everyone above them), and Comoros (very underrated national team but simply aren't at the level where they can qualify out of CAF yet), there wasn't really much challenge for them in their path to qualification. They haven't looked good in quite a while, though... they failed to make the AFCON this year, and got grouped in the two previous editions. They played 6 matches in the leadup to the World Cup... they lost 5 of them convincingly, and barely scraped a draw against Wales. They have a lot of pride, and a couple top level players (people will point to Semenyo, Kudus, Partey, Williams, etc.), but they just don't play well as a team whatsosever. This isn't the Ghanaian golden generation from 15 years ago, and frankly this team isn't even good by continental standards anymore. Hopefully they can improve in future years, but as much as I hate to say it, I don't think the Black Stars are doing much this time around
Sweden are a really weird team, didn't really know what to think about them other than that they were definitely the worst team to qualify out of Europe. Their potential's high, we saw that in the playoff matches against Ukraine and Poland, but they just have not looked anywhere near good outside of that. The fact that they even qualified is dodgy... they got only 2 points in 6 matches in a group with Switzerland, Kosovo, and Slovenia (4 losses and 2 draws), and only made it into the playoff because they farmed Estonia and Azerbaijan in Nations League C. It's the same situation as Ghana, where they've got a couple REALLY good players but those players don't do much for the national team, and in general they just don't play as a team. I thought that changed with Potter's appointment but we saw the EXACT same problems against Norway and Greece in the tune-up friendlies. The 5-1 against Tunisia doesn't change anything, either. I don't like to reference player ratings but if you look at the ratings for that match, Isak, Ayari, and Gyökeres are wayyyy above everyone else, and that's because they didn't play as a team... they just had a couple individuals have their go at an incredibly weak Tunisian team and they scored 5. Sweden are a team that are less than the sum of their parts... they do not play well together, as it has previously, it's going to get them punished against teams that do.
I didn't really pay attention to which teams were inside the top 16, 32, etc. when I made this power ranking... the USA, Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador are all pretty popular dark horse picks, and rightfully so. Ecuador are arguably the strongest defense in world football currently, Colombia are a perennial dark horse every time they qualify and not without reason, Mexico have a very doable group and a clear path forward in the knockouts should everything work out, and we all saw what the USA are capable of on home soil against Paraguay last week.
I'm super excited for all the debutants! Curaçao got a reality check unfortunately, but Cabo Verde showed the world who they are yesterday, and Jordan and Uzbekistan will look to do the same tomorrow and the following day as well. :)
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