With the biggest competition in world football just days away, everyone is asking the question of, who will come out on top? And everyone from the average football viewers to professional pundits have had their say on the matter. So, who is the most likely to bring football home?
If we’re looking directly at betting odds, Brazil are the most likely to win the tournament at 4/1. France followed closely at 6/1, with Argentina just behind them at 13/2. These three are the countries you will probably see the most in everyone’s predictions, as they are home to some of the greatest young players and ageing icons, such as Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar Jr. Form would also agree with these possible winners as Argentina have won 4 of their last 5 games, Brazil have won 5 of their last 5, whereas France have only won 1 of their last 5. This could be a worrying sign for France as the team they usually play tends to be the team that you’d expect to be up against in the World Cup, consisting of players such as Lloris, Mbappe, Benzema, and many more great assets. In addition to this, they currently sit at 4th place in the official FIFA men’s world rankings, with the top 3 consisting of Brazil, Belgium, and Argentina. Is it really outlandish for someone to think that France may have an early exit from the tournament? Maybe, but remember that we all thought the same thing during the 2020 Euros where they were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Switzerland on penalties. Will we see a repeat of that? Only time will tell.
England. Beaten by Italy on penalties in the final of the Euros has surely made the squad want to bounce back in the World Cup, but will they make it far? Most people seem to think that they won’t. Now I get that it all depends on who you follow and watch on the internet, and of course English outlets are going to back their country, but looking at current form and the players that have been called up, this could turn out to be a very challenging tournament for England. In their last 5, they have recorded zero wins, with three draws, and two losses. They sit at 5th place on the men’s FIFA rankings, with France, Belgium, Brazil, and Argentina all being above them. It would be a surprise if England didn’t get out of their group as it consists of Iran, USA, and Wales, all of whom may be able to challenge in their own regard but England definitely appear to be the better team. As we all probably know by now though, football is very unpredictable, so you can never know who will go far, and who will fall at the first hurdle. England kick off against Iran on the 21st of November at 13:00, and this should give us a good idea of what is to come.
With all tournaments, there is always a dark horse, and the World Cup will probably be no different. I’ve seen many different picks for the dark horse, but the most popular options appear to be Denmark, Serbia, and Senegal. In my opinion, Senegal will certainly make it out of their group, most likely competing with the Netherlands for the top spot. Denmark could battle for second place in Group D as the only extreme competition most people consider is France. Serbia has a tougher group consisting of Brazil, Cameroon, and Switzerland. Serbia have won 5 of their last 5, which is better than both Cameroon and Switzerland, so you never know what they could pull off. My pick for a dark horse would be Japan as I feel they have the ability to make an impact. Admittedly, this trust is probably misplaced as they have an incredibly difficult group consisting of Germany, Spain, and Costa Rica, and they are 24th in the FIFA rankings, but regardless of all of this, I still have faith. In their last 5, they have had one draw, two wins, and two losses. Wins came against the USA and Ghana, which I believe could be a good sign of what is to come. My second pick for a dark horse has to be South Korea, it feels as if people have already written them off because of their difficult group, but people are forgetting they scored two in added time to send Germany home in 2018. It definitely won’t be easy, but more shocking things have happened before in football. They have 3 wins and 2 draws in their last 5, and they are 28th in the FIFA rankings. Their form is also better than every other country
in their group. We’ll soon find out if one of these dark horses will shock the world, and I fully believe that one of them could.
The World Cup begins on the 20th of November, 2022, and it’s going to be huge. Everyone is getting in their final predictions in hopes they will take home bragging rights, and millions around the world are going to be glued to their screens for every match. To recap, Brazil are the favourites to win the tournament, followed by France, and Argentina. The unexpected is to be expected in football however, so you never know what the outcome will actually be. It’s not long until we find out.
