Which of the four Sunni schools of thought is the soundest, and does following a specific school of thought exclude a person from being among the Victorious Group?

The four Imams and other trustworthy scholars are from among Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah (the People of the Sunnah and the Community) and the Victorious Group, which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, informed us would continue to uphold the command of Allah. They were in agreement regarding the fundamentals of religion and concurred with the righteous predecessors. Their differences were in subsidiary matters due to the variance in their ijtihad (independent reasoning) based on differing texts. The common person has the latitude to emulate whomever they wish among them without fanaticism. And whoever emulates one of the four Imams and adheres to their madhhab (school of thought) does not depart from Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah, as long as they agree with the righteous predecessors in the fundamentals of creed. Ibn Taymiyyah said: "Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah are those who adhere to pure Islam, free from any impurity, and they are the Victorious Group."