By Mahmood Hossain and Irfan Aziz
Reviewing the latest and biggest sporting tournament in the world can be trickier than one may assume. There is the obvious, defending champions of the World Cup, Germany who is always a shoe-in to reach at least the semi-final stages of the bracket. Apart from Die Mannschaft, who else has a chance to win the greatest trophy in sports history? And which of the 32 teams are considered a long-shot yet worth betting on?
POWERHOUSES
BRAZIL
The most winningest national side of the game seek to redeem themselves after their worst World Cup defeat by the hands of the defending champions, Germany. There are only two ways to go about this: let the defeat haunt you or head back to the glory days of holding the cup for a record five times. The ‘Samba Boys’ are arguably the most supported side in the tournament. However, in recent times, as fun as they are to watch and love, to win a match when it matters the most has been under harsh criticism. Regardless, they remain one of the top three teams favoured to win it all. They are the definition of ‘the beautiful game’.
ARGENTINA
Believe it or not, the South American giants are ranked 5th in the FIFA world rankings for the time being. But one thing is for sure: a very significant amount of football fans are die-hards and rooting for the team lead by one of the greatest players to have kicked a ball in Lionel Messi. While it seems our very own nation is nearly split in half between cheering for either Brazil or Argentina, their attacking options are going to be a sight to behold. Goals may come in abundance but will their midfield spine and defenders live up to the task? It’s questionable.
SPAIN
La Furia Roja was the most dominant team from 2008 to 2012, after winning the European Championship twice and the World Cup in between. Their ‘Tiki-taka’ football was suffocating; their opposition was left in awe and finally, succumbing to their absolute control of the game. While they may not live up to what many call the most dominant national side in history, they will put up an incredible fight against the other powerhouses on the list. They’ve shed off the “over-achieving” tag quite some time ago, but this transition period will be a difficult task for the Spaniards.
FRANCE
France is going in as the strongest squad on paper. Filled with pacey wingers, world-class dribblers, eagle-eyed playmakers and born goal-scorers, France is arguably the last team any country would want to be paired with. Their array of talent means that Didier Deschamps would be able to mix and match to keep opponents guessing. Players like Mbappe and Dembele would be looking to grab Russia by its scruff and making it their playground and various online simulations have already crowned France as the victors.
BELGIUM
The only squad who can rival France in terms of talent despite leaving out some star names. Belgium will have a point to prove in this World Cup. World beaters like Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, and Romelu Lukaku can all score and assist for fun while Vertonghen and Alderweireld are the backbones of Spurs’ formidable defense. With the “Golden Generation” hitting their primes at the same time, this is as good a time as any to prove to the world that they truly deserve their moniker.
PORTUGAL
The European Champions may have scraped their way to the final of the Euros but their eventual win was no fluke. Their regiment contains a combination of some of the most technically gifted players, pace merchants and of course Cristiano Ronaldo, the complete forward. This is the Portuguese last bid to win a World Cup, the only missing piece of his otherwise illustrious career. Ronaldo is always hungry for the win and his squad has the goods to back their claim to the World Cup so expect them to put on quite the show.
DARK HORSES
PERU
This might seem like an incredible long-shot of going all the way. But in the definition of a dark horse, a team doesn’t necessarily have to win it all. In fact, Peru might be the one national side that will pleasantly surprise most. Breaking it down to the basics, Peru is more than capable of getting out of the group stages and equally up to the task of defeating teams like Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria and so on. This side is more like a sleeper team than anything else. They’ll fly just under the radar, with a few stunning and entertaining moments, and may squeeze passed into the semi-finals.
SENEGAL
The African nation finds itself in a toss-up group. This World Cup is possibly the most wide-open tournament in a very long time. One or two groups may have obvious winners easing into the knockout stages, while some like the one Senegal find themselves in, will be pure drama from the start. And if you were to find a complete shocker, look no further than Senegal to create a spark that takes them into the quarter-finals.
ENGLAND
We know that calling England a dark horse would raise a few eyebrows but the three-lions are known for falling short in every major tournament despite having a world-class quad. But Gareth Southgate would hope to change all of that and has carefully assembled a squad filled with the Premier League’s best. The likes of Raheem Sterling and Marcos Rashford bring in a lot of pace and trickery with them while Harry Kane is arguably the best striker England has had since the days of Shearer and Linekar. We hope that they can prove doubters wrong.
ICELAND
The surprise package of the 2016 Euro is a much stronger squad now and it is evident from the fact that they placed the top of their group during qualification. Their manager may have been a former dentist but don’t let that fool you. His squad will bring a very hard-working flavour of football to Group D so expect to see a lot of compact defending and precise, clinical attacking. In addition to that, Iceland boasts one of the best set-piece takers of the tournament in the form of Gylfi Sigurdsson so they are going to be a major threat from corners and free kicks.
