The Peninsula
Ten days to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and 32 teams fighting for world football’s ultimate price from November 20 to December 18. The perennial favourites remain France, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Germany, England, Belgium, Portugal, and The Netherlands.
Heading into Qatar 2022, defending champions France are obvious favourites, but ‘Les Blues’ are not the same team that entertained and stormed their way to glory in Moscow four years ago. Hit with injuries to key midfielder Paul Pogba and Ngolo Kante and uncertainty of Raphael Varene’s fitness, Didier Deschamps has his work cut out to assemble a team that can hand France their third World Cup title, especially having won just one of their last six games.
The 54-year old in a recent interview with FIFA, stressed France are at the top of the mountain, which makes it difficult to do any better. Les Blues are in Group D alongside Australia, Denmark and Tunisia for the World Cup.
“We’re the defending world champions. When you’re at the very top, it’s difficult to do any better,” Deschamps told the FIFA website.
“It’s perfectly normal for a team to go on slightly less successful runs, but France remains a competitive force and is among the top teams in Europe and the world.”
The last time France went into a World Cup as defending champions was 2002, which was a forgettable tournament as they suffered two losses to Denmark and Senegal.
Star forward Kylian Mbappe’s is undeniably France’s biggest asset, and the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) striker is in superb form, leading the French League in scoring. France also have a plethora of stars, including the mercurial Karim Benzema, reigning Ballon d’Or holder is back with the national team after his five-year absence, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, as well as young stars Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, and Christopher Nkunku all in good form.
For Mbappe’s PSG team-mate Neymar, the favourites tag Brazil carries into every competition will weigh heavy again as the Samba Boys hope to add to their five World Cup titles in Qatar. The 2014 World Cup hosts have not reached the tournament final since their last victory at Korea-Japan 2002. They lost to France in the quarter-final of the 2006 edition, lost to the Dutch team at the same stage in 2010 and were thumped by Germany at home in the semis in 2014 before a woeful campaign in Russia ended in yet another quarter-final loss to Belgium.
However, heading into Qatar 2022, Brazil are arguably in their best form with no loss in their last nine matches, seven wins and two draws. They also went unbeaten through 17 games to finish top of the single South American qualifying group. The ever-revolving door of talent for the South Americans means Neymar doesn’t have to carry the burden for the team with the likes of Vinicius junior, Antony, Richarlison, Rodrygo, Raphinha, Bruno Guimaraes and many others. Stalwarts Thiago Silva, Casemiro and Marquinhos have also been selected, alongside 39-year-old Dani Alves. Brazil coach Tite will also hope to end his time as a coach on a high with the nation’s sixth world title, but the Sambo boys must first beat Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon in Group G.
Brazil’s South American neighbours Argentina will look to end a 36-year wait to win the World Cup. Their last victory came in a 1986 Diego Maradona-inspired run in Mexico. Several near-misses after, including a painful loss to Germany in 2014, La Albiceleste’s challenge has become more of a need in what could be Lionel Messi’s last World Cup.
The former Barcelona legend, who recently said Qatar 2022 could be his last World Cup, has won every trophy at both club and national levels except the World Cup. Many in Argentina believe he has to win the elusive title in the same conversation with Maradona. Messi is expected to sit out PSG’s match against Auxerre on Sunday as he recovers from an injury that is not expected to keep him from the tournament.
Argentina face Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland in Group C.
Four-time champions Germany have finished as runners-up four times and must put behind a dismal 2018 campaign as they target a fifth title. In Russia, the Germans lost all three group games, managing just one goal while conceding five, a performance then coach Joachim Low failed to overcome until his replacement in 2021 by former Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick.
“I think they need to do that at every World Cup,” Flick told FIFA while speaking on the pressure to prove themselves.
Flick has galvanised an ageing squad with some injection of pace, youth and adventure, which saw Die Mannschaft go 10 matches unbeaten. The run only ended on September 23 in a 0-1 loss to Hungary. Flick is expected to release the final list of players on November 14, but forward Timo Werner is expected to miss out due to injury.
Two-time semi-finalist Portugal also carry a considerable threat heading into their eighth World Cup. Talisman Cristiano Ronaldo is at the end of his illustrious career as the 37-year-old targets a World Cup trophy with his beloved Portugal.
A Seleçao have been underwhelming at football’s greatest showpiece despite boasting some of the world’s best players. Miserable major tournament runs ended in a first major trophy in 2016 as coach Fernando Santos led his team to the European championship.
However, with ageing starts Ronaldo, Pepe, and Moutinho nearing their end, Santos and the Portuguese can turn to the mercurial Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and AC Milan’s Raphael Leao to power the team to a first World Cup glory. Portugal are in Group H alongside Ghana, Uruguay and Korea Republic.
Meanwhile, their next-door neighbours Spain have lost only one match all year. The Luis Enrique-led team head to Qatar 12 years after their famous win in South Africa. However, a group stage exit in 2014 and a round of 16 defeat to host Russia in 2018 means La Roja are under pressure to deliver in Qatar.
Spain in Group E, alongside Costa Rica, Germany and Japan, face the tough task of getting out of the group aloe. With youngsters like Pedri, Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres and Rodri blending well with veterans Sergio Busquets, Koke, and Morata, Spain may yet sneak up on rivals in Qatar.