The top four favourites have qualified for the next round of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and while most of them know who they will face in the elimination round, Brazil is still waiting to find out who they will face next week.
The Brazilians are still playing Cameroon in their final group-stage match. They advanced to the next round, win or lose.
But how likely are their chances? And who are the top four contenders for this year’s trophy?
Aside from Brazil, we chose France, the defending champions who were defeated by Tunisia in their previous group match and will face Poland, Argentina, the country of Lionel Messi, the GOAT in the arena, and England, the country that invented football and once won the title.
Brazil on top
We begin with Brazil. The odds are stacked in Brazil’s favour, and an AI predicts the Selecao will win the trophy this year.
They breezed through their group, winning the first two games. They did, however, lose Neymar, on whom their entire offensive strategy is based.
Brazil is rarely displaying the radiance and vigour of the offensive samba with which it is synonymous, and this could be because they have a conservative coach in Tite, who has had a good run with just 27 goals against his side in 78 matches.
The current squad is not playing like the flamboyant Brazil of Socrates and Zico, and it appears that they are focusing on winning, even if only by a single goal, to advance their cause.
The plus of this side: It lost very few matches under Tite. It has a balanced defensive and attacking lineup with veterans behind and younger players in front.
Note that both Serbia and Switzerland could not place any shots on target against Brazil.
Now, they are without Neymar who is expected to be back in the elimination round.
If Neymar is ruled out for the remainder of the competition, Brazil can still rely on Gabriel Jesus, who has been consistent for both club and country.
Argentina and Messi
Argentina was shocked and the world too was shocked by their 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia. While it looked like they took the Saudi team for easy prey, the latter played the match their match of the year. It was their final and they gave everything against the Argentinians and won.
This defeat puts Lionel Messi’s mission to conquer the cup in doubt.
Messi scrambled in the next two matches winning them for Argentina but will he be able to continue on this run against bigger opponents? They do look good at times and this is what has given their fans hope that Argentina is still a big contender in this tournament.
Too much dependency on Messi shows that something is not right with Argentina but we never know.
England with set pieces
England has big goals and wants to go further than the 2018 semifinals. They can if they keep playing like they did against Iran and Wales.
Experts argue that they are better with set pieces, which they heavily used during the 2018 World Cup.
They are lower on set pieces this time, but that should not be a problem because they can easily turn on the goals from free kicks and corners.
So far, they are the team with the fewest odds stacked against them, thanks to their incredible frontline.
France Double?
Brazil won the World Cup back-to-back in 1958 and 1962, with Pele as the star player.
France is missing many of its star players, but it still has the potential to advance to the next round if it can defeat its next opponent, Poland, the surprise team at the tournament.
Kylian Mbappe, young and fabulous, is the reason they can win this World Cup. They went through the second round in a breeze beating Australia and Denmark and gave Tunisia a chance to grab three points with an extremely light squad in their last group match.
Not surprising at all that France is still strong in the competition four years after winning it big in Russia. They have young talented players who can win it.
But experts say they give too much chances to opponents and they keep the ball less than the other top favourites, which could be a problem when they advance against tougher sides that are excellent in keeping the ball during elimination matches.
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