What Would a 2026 Wrestling World Cup Look Like?

We’re right in the middle of the 2026 World Cup. Judging by our recent mailbag, I’m not the only one who was wondering about the status of the wrestling World Cup. The most recent version of this event took place in 2022 and it has faded away since. 

As someone who enjoyed the World Cup and would like to see a marquee dual event at the Senior level, I wanted to present what a World Cup could look like in 2026. 

The previous versions of the event were sort of like the soccer version that uses pool play before a tournament. I will demonstrate with that version along with a straight tournament format. 

Below are possible rosters for 12 of the top men’s freestyle countries. The #1 seed was given to the country with the most world/Olympic champions on its roster (Russia). The remaining seeds were generated by a number of past world/Olympic medalists on the potential roster- with world/Olympic champs as a tiebreaker. Since this is not official, there were no further tiebreakers and I gave Japan the nod over Kazakhstan, strictly because I think they’re better!

Have fun!

#3 United States (25 world/Olympic medals - 11 world/Olympic titles)

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