Boys from Brazil prepare to net a record sixth World Cup trophy
Brazil will arrive in Qatar 2022 as the overwhelming favourites to end a 20-year drought of lifting the FIFA World Cup, with their goal to be crowned champions for a record sixth time.
The South Americans will kick off the lucrative tournament brimming with confidence, having bagged 35 goals and conceded just five times from four stalemates and 11 victories.
Even Argentina superstar Lionel Messi, set to compete in his fifth World Cup with the most in-form nation, believes that Brazil and defending champions are the teams most likely to clinch the showpiece tournament’s top prize.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner told DirecTV: “I think Brazil and France are the two big candidates for this World Cup, as they’ve both had the same group [of players] for a long time that are working well.”
Brazil, the only country to qualify for every edition of the tournament, possess a set of fearsome forwards for head coach Tite to choose from. Their plethora of strikers includes Roberto Firmino, Gabriel Jesus, Vinicius Junior, Gabriel Martinelli, Neymar and Raphina.
They will tackle Cameroon, Serbia and Switzerland in Group G. Serbia are in fine form and a physical side, while Switzerland knocked out France on penalties at the 2020 Euro Championships held last year.
Yet Brazil are expected to progress as group leaders, which will mean that they should face Ghana or Uruguay in the last 16. However, should Portugal slip up, or South Korea spring a surprise, then either nation could finish runner-up and be Brazil’s first knockout opponent.
A quarter-final showdown with a team from either Group E or F could see Belgium, 2018 World Cup runners up Croatia who boast veteran Luka Modric, Germany or Spain potentially awaits Brazil.
The route to glory for the South Americans does not seem too tricky until the semi-finals, which is partly one reason that the boys from Brazil are priced as favourites to win the sport’s biggest prize at odds of 4/1.
FIFA rankings have Brazil as the world’s top team followed by Belgium (no.2), Argentina (no.3), out-of-form France (no.4), misfiring England (no.5) and substandard Spain (no.6).
Argentina appear to be Brazil’s biggest threat, as they beat their rivals to claim last year’s Copa America. They will arrive in Qatar on a remarkable unbeaten run of 35 games.
With so many leading European nations failing to fire on all cylinders – which includes England, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain – then there will be huge aspirations from some sides to become shock winners of the tournament.
Looking at the FIFA World Cup predictions then the best outsiders from Europe include Croatia (50/1), Denmark (28/1), Netherlands (12/1), Serbia (100/1) and Switzerland (66/1).
Yet the odds on Australia to triumph have suddenly been dramatically slashed to 500/1 as the Socceroos tackle their fifth World Cup finals on the spin.
Although they last won a match at the sport’s biggest stage in the 2010 edition in South Africa, this is a different ball game with the heat and humidity in Qatar that suits the Australian squad. They surprisingly failed to qualify automatically, so had to fend off the challenges of UAE and Peru in the play-offs.
The state-of-the-art US$700m Al-Janoud Stadium in Al-Wakrah will play host to all three of their Group D matches. The Socceroos face familiar opposition as they tackle France and Denmark in group games for the second tournament on the bounce. Australia were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Les Bleus then held Denmark 1-1 four years ago. Tunisia join the trio of teams bidding to progress.
For those who fancy the Socceroos to make an impression at Qatar 2022, then it is worth checking out match by match odds with online bookmakers.
The team is not just there to make up the numbers under head coach Graham Arnold. He will be confident of the Socceroos registering their biggest ever success at a major tournament, especially as France have netted just one victory from their past five games and have recently looked shaky.