World Cup 2022 predictions: which national teams have the best chance of coming out on top

 

The World Cup is coming up next year and there is a lot of excitement about who is going to have the best chance of winning. We’ve taken a close look at some of the top sides in the world to see who has the best chance of winning the most prestigious prize in football.

 

France

France is without a doubt one of the top favourites going into almost every tournament at the moment. Sportsbooks are already looking closely at what France could do during the tournament. The amount of talent that their squad possesses makes them near the top of every bookies betting selections. In fact, even with the premature exit in the last tournament, France still has very short odds in place. With Mbappe, Griezmann, Pogba, Varane and Kante just a few of the world-class players in the French squad, they still have a very good chance to retain the title they won in Russia back in 2018.

 

Although the French didn’t perform quite as strongly as they would have hoped at Euro 2020, the belief is that the lacklustre performance there will inspire the squad to do better at the World Cup. A big part of whether France will go all of the way rests on Pogba. When he is at his best, he is without a doubt one of the best midfielders in the world. However, when he doesn’t perform at that level, he can often be a passenger.

 

It’s safe to say that Pogba performs to a higher standard more often with France than he does at club level, so he is more likely to bring his best performances to the World Cup. However, if he doesn’t perform at those levels, then France could be seeing an early exit again.

 

Belgium

Belgium is a team that has promised a lot but never seems to deliver. They finished third at the last World Cup and fell out of the Euros early. Many point to Eden Hazard being missing at the Euros as the cause of their early departure, but regardless of that, they still had enough talent in the squad to be challenging in the final.

 

Lukaku, Tielemans and De Bruyne are all players who would walk into most squads in world football. Belgium has an extremely strong squad and this could be the time that they make the most of the talent they have on offer and win their first international trophy.

 

Brazil

Brazil is always seen as a contender whenever they go to a tournament. Even during their leanest years, they have always had some talent available that could take them deep into the competition. With Neymar at his peak, it’s no surprise that many are expecting Brazil to perform when the World Cup starts. The main problem that Brazil has is that their roster of talent doesn’t go as deep as some of the other nations. Belgium and France have squads that are significantly stronger than the Brazil one.

 

Although Neymar can justifiably be called one of the top five best players in the world, this might not be enough to win the World Cup when there are other sides out there that have far better overall squads. France in particular has a squad much stronger than Brazil’s, and also have a player in Mbappe who can compete with Neymar in terms of pure ability. It will take something special from the Samba superstar to drag Brazil to the trophy this time out.

 

Argentina

Argentina is in a similar boat to Brazil; however, there are a few differences that help them to stand out from their South American neighbours. Firstly, Messi is on another planet in terms of football ability at the moment. As good as Neymar is, he’s not on the same level as Messi.

 

Secondly, Di Maria is playing the football of his life. It goes without saying that if these two can continue their solid link up going into the World Cup, then it might finally be Messi’s time to shine on the biggest stage.

 

England

The English media always puts England as a favourite for any tournament, whether they deserve it or not. However, this time they might have actually earned it. After a semi-final place at the last World Cup and an appearance at the final of Euro 2020, only losing on penalties, England might actually be a contender for once.

 

There is a lot of talent in this side and in Kane and Sterling they have two genuinely top-class players. With the addition of the talent that is coming through in the squad, England might actually be able to go one better this time and bring home an international trophy for the first time since 1966.