Qatar 2022: Juan Pablo Varsky reveals his favorites to win the cup 1:46
(CNN Spanish) -
Only 8 teams have won the World Cup.
The historical teams are always protagonists of the bets and the recent international champions arrive as firm options.
The FIFA ranking, which is updated with the recent performance of all the teams, is an indicator, as well as the result of the qualifiers and the friendlies and tournaments in progress, which provide good elements to think about favorites.
In 2022 Latin America has its eyes on Brazil and Argentina, undefeated in qualifying for Qatar and dominant for years in Conmebol.
In Europe, France - the defending World Cup champion - and Belgium come to Qatar as candidates.
These are the groups of the World Cup in Qatar: classified countries, matches and dates
Based on their recent performance, world rankings, current squads and group stage opponents, these are the top favorites to win the World Cup:
Brazil
On paper, he is the absolute favourite: he is first in the official FIFA ranking, he was first and undefeated in the Conmebol qualifier for the World Cup (and having played one game less, along with Argentina) with 14 wins and three draws. and it has a luxury squad, with experienced players in the World Cup and top-level players in their clubs, led by Neymar, the 29-year-old striker for PSG and the second greatest player in history for the 'canarinha'.
Casemiro, Vinícius Júnior, Gabriel Jesús, Fabinho, Éder Militao and Alisson Becker are just some of an all-star squad.
Tite has a very good record leading Brazil and has the experience and tools to be champion.
He lost the Copa América final with Argentina in 2021,
In the World Cup they will be in Group G with Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon, which seems to be an affordable first phase for a team of the weight and figures of Brazil.
It is the fourth time that the 'canarinha' will play a World Cup as the leader of the FIFA list, but they have not been champions in any.
Damn?
In France 1998 they lost the final against the locals, in Germany 2006 they came out in the quarterfinals and in South Africa 2010 they came out in the quarterfinals.
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It is worth saying that the leader of the ranking, which has been recorded since 1994, has never managed to win the World Cup.
Before Russia 2018, for example, the leader was Germany, who came out last in their group in the first phase.
France, which came out champion, was in 7th place.
Argentina
The 'Scaloneta' arrives with a memorable undefeated —35 games without losing—, a happy streak and a consolidated team.
It is third in the world ranking, only behind Brazil and Belgium, and also qualified for the World Cup with an unbeaten tie: 11 wins and six draws.
For the first time in years, after a string of finals with defeat (one World Cup and two Americas Cups), a compact team is noticeable, making the most of star Lionel Messi (who smiles every time he is on the field with his team). but which in turn makes a team of splendid players shine, such as Ángel DiMaría —author of the 2021 Copa América title goal—, Rodrigo de Paul and Lautaro Martínez.
In addition, they won the Finalissima against Italy and have a passionate fan base.
They will play in Group C along with Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland.
Although Mexico and Poland are rivals that could complicate, Argentina is expected to overcome that first phase without major difficulties.
Argentina's group in the World Cup in Qatar 2022: rivals, dates and matches
When will Argentina play its Qatar 2022 World Cup matches: calendar and dates
France
They are the current champions, a good part of the 2018 title squad in Russia is still active and they arrive with several players at their best level.
The undisputed stars are Karim Benzema, winner of the Ballon d'Or and who has made the national team triumphant, and Kylian Mbappé, the PSG goalscorer and one of the architects of the title four years ago.
Didier Deschamps is still the coach and already has the formula to win.
It is difficult for a team with Raphael Varane, Lucas Hernández, Aurélien Tchouaméni, N'Golo Kanté and Antoine Griezmann not to have a leading role for France in the World Cup.
France is the current champion of the League of Nations – in the final of the 2021 edition they beat Spain – but in this edition they are last in Group A1 and arrive with a series of poor results.
It is head of Group D in the World Cup, which is completed by Australia, Denmark and Tunisia, one of the easiest groups in theory for a favorite team, although it has already been defeated by Denmark in the League of Nations this year.
Only two teams have won consecutive World Cups: Italy in the 1930s and Brazil in 1958 and 1962 (by Pelé and Garrincha).
Will France succeed 60 years later?
Is not easy.
France is fourth on the FIFA list.
Belgium
Belgium was the first in group E in the European qualifying round, unbeaten: 6 wins and two draws.
It is second in the FIFA list.
Despite not shining in the Euro Cup that was played in 2021 (eliminated in the quarterfinals by what would be champion, Italy), he comes from thrashing losing to the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League, where he is second in the group A4, and has a stellar squad: Thibaut Courtois in goal, Kevin de Bruyne as a benchmark in midfield and Romelo Lukaku as a striker (and waiting for Eden Hazard to recover his level this semester at Real Madrid).
In Qatar they will face Canada, Morocco and Croatia (runners-up in 2018) in Group F, from which they are expected to come out on top.
He is the only favorite that does not have a world title.
Spain
After the mess of 2018 with the arrival and dismissal of Julen Lopetegui and after Luis Enrique's forced absence due to a personal issue, the coach has achieved a new identity for La Roja with young players and an ideal tie (6 wins, a draw and a defeat).
Spain is seventh in the FIFA ranking.
In the Eurocup that was played in 2021 Spain was a semifinalist, eliminated by the eventual champion Italy, and in the League of Nations it is the leader of Group A2.
In 2021 they lost the final of the last edition of that League against France, but since then they have only lost one game (against Switzerland).
Spain leads Group E in Qatar 2022 and will have a challenging path against Germany, Costa Rica and Japan.
Group of Spain in the World Cup in Qatar 2022: rivals, dates and matches
When will Spain play its Qatar 2022 World Cup matches: calendar and dates
Germany
The 2014 champion arrives with renewal.
After the successful era of Joachim Löw, Hans-Dieter Flick is tasked with replicating his wins at Bayern Munich with a team that combines experienced World Cup champions Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller and young players like Leroy Sané, Serge Gnabry , Joshua Kimmich and Timo Werner.
Germany is 11th in the FIFA ranking (behind Italy, which did not qualify for the World Cup), third in Group A3 of the UEFA Nations League and had a Euro Cup to forget last year, being eliminated by England in the round of 16 .
The challenge this year is huge, but Germany's credentials and players mean that it cannot be ignored as a favourite.
The Germans have not lost since June 2021.
They will be in what is perhaps the most competitive group, Group E, with Spain, Costa Rica and Japan, and if they manage to start the group stage forcefully they will be a favorite for the rest of the tournament.
England
The fifth in the FIFA world rating was a semifinalist in the 2018 World Cup and a finalist in the Eurocup in 2021. It has had a reinvention to return to being the protagonist of international championships after many years and has a team of young stars with good level in clubs.
The scorer is one of the oldest in the team: Harry Kane, still 29 years old, and arrives in top form.
Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Phil Foden are other standouts.
England had a remarkable World Cup qualification: Group I leader with eight wins and two draws, without defeats.
It arrives, however, with a bad streak: it comes from drawing with Germany, losing with Italy and being beaten by Hungary in the League of Nations, a tournament in which it already went to relegation as last in group A3.
In the World Cup they are the top of Group B and will face Iran, the United States and Wales: an interesting initial phase in which the English must validate that in principle they are superior.
The last FIFA ranking before the World Cup
1- 🇧🇷
Brazil:
1,841.3 points
2. 🇧🇪
Belgium:
1,816.71
3. 🇦🇷
Argentina:
1,773.88
4. 🇫🇷
France:
1,759.78
5. 🏴 ,
England:
1,728 47
6. 🇮🇹
Italy:
1726.14
7. 🇪🇸
Spain:
1715.22
8. 🇳🇱
Netherlands:
1694.51
9. 🇵🇹
Portugal:
1676.56
10. 🇩🇰
Denmark:
1666.57
In the FIFA ranking prior to the start of Qatar, Italy (which will not go to the World Cup) rose one place, taking sixth place from Spain.
The rest of the top 10 remained the same as the previous list.
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