It’s finally here.. The 2018 World Cup kicks-off in Russia on Thursday and it promises to be a belter of a tournament leading up to the Final on 15 July.
The bookmakers have thus far failed to identify a clear favourite with Brazil, Germany, Spain & France all available to back at single figure prices.
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BRAZIL will be lead out by the World’s most expensive footballer and the nations talisman, Neymar. The Selecao qualified as the number 2 seeds after topping the table in their qualification group- winning 12, drawing 5 and losing just 1 en route to Russia under the tenure of new head coach Tite who took over from Dunga in 2016.
Brazil are in Group E alongside Switzerland, Costa Rica & Serbia and they ought to qualify for the last-16 at the very least with little troubles. |
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GERMANY are the reigning world champions and unsurprisingly are seeded as the number 1 seeds for the Summer’s World Cup and nothing shows the strength in depth Joachim Low has at his disposal more than the fact he was able to leave Leroy Sane out of his 23-man squad for the tournament.
Die Mannschaft qualified with a perfect record of 10 wins from 10 matches, scoring an impressive 43 goals and conceding just 4 times. Their results in friendlies since hasn’t been quite so impressive- winning just once in 6 matches, however they didn’t shy away from a challenge during that time playing against England, France, Spain and Brazil. |
The last time a German national side didn’t make it to at least the semi-finals was France ‘98 and therefore the one thing punters will get is a run for their money.
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SPAIN, the Champions from South Africa 2010, spectacular crashed out in the group stages in 2014 but Spanish football still remains a dominant force- highlighted by the fact La Liga teams have won the last 5 renewals of the UEFA Champions League.
7 of La Roja’s most probable starting-11 play their club football at either Camp Nou or the Bernabeu with the exceptions to that rule being De Gea, David Silva and Atleti duo Koke & Costa.
Spain qualified with a near perfect record of 9 wins and 1 draw with a goal difference in qualification of a mere +33.
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Lopetegui’s men have continued their good form since with a particularly eye-catching 6-1 win against Argentina in March which saw Isco, currently a general 50/1 shot for Top Goalscorer in Russia- bag a hat-trick.
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FRANCE are something of the hipsters choice for World Cup glory this summer with Deschamps’ 23-man squad boasting an average age of just 26- the 2nd youngest in Russia this summer behind Nigeria.
France were favourites to claim European glory on home soil 2-years ago and they almost rewarded favourite backers before being pipped by surprise packages Portugal in the final. Les Bleus qualified in rather unspectacular fashion scoring just 18 goals in their 10 matches and 0-0 draws against minnows Belarus & Luxembourg as well as a defeat to Sweden does leave a little to be desired in a tournament such as this with so much strength in depth. |
Of the rest, ARGENTINA have all the attacking firepower you could possibly ask for in an international side with of Messi, Aguero, Dybala & Higuain bagging 93 league goals between them in 2017/18. However, Sampaoli’s side look a touch suspect defensively and first-choice goalkeeper Sergio Romero has been ruled out through injury.
BELGIUM are another side worth consideration. The Red Devils were widely tipped as dark horses for the Brazil World Cup 4 years ago before succumbing to Argentina in the quarter-finals and likewise they failed make it further than the last-8 in the Euro’s 2 years ago.
Roberto Martinez has done very little wrong since taking over the helm, guiding them through qualification with 9 wins and 1 draw from their 10-matches. It’s not difficult to see a side containing Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard going deep into the tournament and odds of around 5/1 for them to reach the final seem perfectly fair.
Roberto Martinez has done very little wrong since taking over the helm, guiding them through qualification with 9 wins and 1 draw from their 10-matches. It’s not difficult to see a side containing Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard going deep into the tournament and odds of around 5/1 for them to reach the final seem perfectly fair.
*All prices mentioned correct at time of publishing (17:30BST 09/06/2018)
