Who do you think will win the World Cup and why?

Skills said:
That sounds so uninspiring. Unless the front three go into Rivaldo-Ronaldo-Ronaldinho level, it'll be a difficult watch.

It's a shame one of Sandro or Felipe Luis isn't a RB. Any chance Fabinho will go?
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I dont think Fabinho is in his agenda. Nobody think about him as RB anymore. Danilo could be an alternative, but for some reason he is better in the left or as CB.

Maybe Brazil could play with three at back and use Willian as RWB. I really believe he is defending better than Dani Alves these days. Tbf Dani Alves is awful this season, but he is a player with hierachy, so he could very well be good in his last world cup, who knows.
 
Mr Smith said:
Portugal have the best squad since 2004
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No we don't, we have the worst CB's ever, impossible to win short tournaments with crap defenders, particularly if your DNA is to play counter attacking football.
 
Between Germany, Brazil, Spain and France.

My guess is Germany. They will be there when it matters most.
 
Germany is my team but it is unpredictable. if Messi is in top form this time, they can go all the way. Same with Neymar and Brazil. Spain may look breathtaking at times but their team is aging: Iniesta and Silva are 34 and 32 respectively, Busquets 30, Pique and Ramos 31, etc. Not sure they have the energy to perform consistently good over a month. France have huge talents but are not ready yet. Basically, it is Germany vs Brazil/Argentina for me. England can reach the quarters. Portugal don't have quality defenders.
 
Germany and Brazil are the two big favorites for me. Experience plus star quality together with good management are among the reasons I think one of them will go all the way. They might play against each other already in the round of 16 though if one of them end up second in the group.
 
Think France have the best squad, but don’t have a great coach which might be there downfall
 
You always need to take into account who the nt will probably face in knockout games.

Example: France and Brazil are in the "same side" of the wc. So if both finish their groups in first place, this will probably be the path to the a semifinal Brazil x France:

- France x Croatia.
- France x Uruguay or Portugal
- Brazil x Mexico
- Brazil x Belgium or Poland

Now compare with Spain who will probably face Egypt, then Argentina to reach a semifinal against GERMANY!

I think France have time and quality to be a top contender.
 
Belgium have several great players and a great squad but Martinez is unlikely to get them to the final.
 
Germany and Brazil as obvious choices. Their WC historical record is miles ahead of any other NT. Both have a great present and a favorable draw without a tough contender (maybe Belgium ir Colombia) until SF. The whole tournament looks like an excuse for those 2 to have their showdown.

From the rest France, Spain and Argentina might have a chance, but they will have to survive facing the likes of Portugal, Uruguay and each other meaning they will probably be exhausted when they get to face the big 2.

France gets a lot of hype but, Zidane apart, they usually don't deliver. I don't see Belgium defeating any of the big 2 in QF -they may even struggle against England or Colombia.
 
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Don't know much about the managerial quality of Tite and Lopetegui, but I find Low and Deschamps particularly uninspiring. All 4 teams are pretty similar regarding their player quality, so could come down to the managers.
 
Spain for me. A squad full of great players, but more importantly players who know how to win big games.
 
Charles Miller said:
You always need to take into account who the nt will probably face in knockout games.

Example: France and Brazil are in the "same side" of the wc. So if both finish their groups in first place, this will probably be the path to the a semifinal Brazil x France:

- France x Croatia.
- France x Uruguay or Portugal
- Brazil x Mexico
- Brazil x Belgium or Poland

Now compare with Spain who will probably face Egypt, then Argentina to reach a semifinal against GERMANY!

I think France have time and quality to be a top contender.
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Who would England most likely face? Which side of the draw are they?
 
abdo99 said:
Who would England most likely face? Which side of the draw are they?
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I think England will be likely to face Japan, Poland, Colombia or Senegal in the round of 16 and England will get tough two draws for the Quarter-final - Brazil or Germany then the rest is easy for England to eliminate - Mexico, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia and Costa Rica and going through to the semi-final.

Tough draw for England - France, Spain, Argentina and perhaps Portugal/Uruguay in the semi-final. Easy draw for England - Nigeria, Iceland, Australia, Peru, Denmark, Morocco, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Croatia (could be tough but not tough as the likes of Brazil, Germany, France, etc.)


England can go reach quarter-final so far but will be more likely to be eliminated by Brazil or Germany in Quarter-final, assuming they both win their groups but if one of them didn't win groups, there'd be Brazil vs Germany in the round of 16 which give England better 50% chance of getting easy draws in Quarterfinal and better chance for England to go through semi-final.
 
Charles Miller said:
Its impossible to play that way because Dani Alves is in decline this season and Marcelo is not great at defending.

Also, against Russia we saw that Coutinho can't play in the middle. He's always in the attack and the midfield vulnerable.

There are some new skilfull/passing midfielders arriving but they are all for 2022: Arthur, Fred, Lucas Paqueta and some others who will allow Brazil to play a more modern style. In the moment i think Tite should just lock the midfield with Paulinho-Casemiro-Fernandinho to free the attack.
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I don’t think Coutinho was the problem but Paulinho ventures forward a lot almost like he was a shadow striker. I don’t mind it because majority of the competition will defend deep against us and Paulinho runs will help. If Tite wants to tighten it up some adding Fernandinho and maybe Marquinhos at RB should suffice.
 
Fenomeno9 said:
I don’t think Coutinho was the problem but Paulinho ventures forward a lot almost like he was a shadow striker. I don’t mind it because majority of the competition will defend deep against us and Paulinho runs will help. If Tite wants to tighten it up some adding Fernandinho and maybe Marquinhos at RB should suffice.
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If Paulinho will play 2nd striker, why don’t we just play Willian José as a big target man with Jesus eating his bread crumbs? I thought Coutinho was mediocre at creating tempo/space, I think it was always obvious he’s no Iniesta. That’s why Tite always talks about losing Thiago to Spain as a big blow, he’d walk into Brazil in the Renato/Paulinho role.

I think these are issues against a parked bus though, and against big teams who allow more space, the stories’ different
 
bebeanderson said:
If Paulinho will play 2nd striker, why don’t we just play Willian José as a big target man with Jesus eating his bread crumbs? I thought Coutinho was mediocre at creating tempo/space, I think it was always obvious he’s no Iniesta. That’s why Tite always talks about losing Thiago to Spain as a big blow, he’d walk into Brazil in the Renato/Paulinho role.

I think these are issues against a parked bus though, and against big teams who allow more space, the stories’ different
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I don’t think that role is suited for Jesus. Coutinho isn’t a controller type mid but he did a great job of adding creativity to the midfield. Arthur I feel can fill that Thiago role, he is that controller type midfielder we need to complete the team IMO along with a reliable, younger RB.
 
abdo99 said:
Who would England most likely face? Which side of the draw are they?
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I've posted it in the WC general thread:

C1 X D2 France x Croacia
A1 X B2 Uruguay x Portugal
France x Portugal

E1 X F2 Brazil x Mexico
G1 X H2 Belgium x Poland
Brazil x Belgium
//////////////////////////////////

B1 x A2 Spain x Egypt
D1 x C2 Argentina x Peru
Spain x Argentina

F1 x E2 Germany x Switzerland
H1 x G2 Colombia x England
Germany x England
 
Charles Miller said:
I've posted it in the WC general thread:

C1 X D2 France x Croacia
A1 X B2 Uruguay x Portugal
France x Portugal

E1 X F2 Brazil x Mexico
G1 X H2 Belgium x Poland
Brazil x Belgium
//////////////////////////////////

B1 x A2 Spain x Egypt
D1 x C2 Argentina x Peru
Spain x Argentina

F1 x E2 Germany x Switzerland
H1 x G2 Colombia x England
Germany x England
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So England could face either Germany or Brazil but depends on where they finish in the group right? It could possibly be Belgium vs Germany and England vs Brazil quarter finals (the other way round). The top half of the draw seems easier to navigate. Bottom half seems really tough to call. Spain, Argentina, Germany and either Belgium or England. Colombia are no slouches either.
 
abdo99 said:
So England could face either Germany or Brazil but depends on where they finish in the group right? It could possibly be Belgium vs Germany and England vs Brazil quarter finals (the other way round). The top half of the draw seems easier to navigate. Bottom half seems really tough to call. Spain, Argentina, Germany and either Belgium or England. Colombia are no slouches either.
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Exactly. If the English nt finish the group as the leader they will be in the side of Brazil/France. If they finish in second behind Belgium, they go against Spain/Germany.
 
No clear favourite IMO with class players evenly spread around several nations which makes for a really intriguing tournament.

If forced to pick I'd go for Brazil.
 
Charles Miller said:
You always need to take into account who the nt will probably face in knockout games.

Example: France and Brazil are in the "same side" of the wc. So if both finish their groups in first place, this will probably be the path to the a semifinal Brazil x France:

- France x Croatia.
- France x Uruguay or Portugal
- Brazil x Mexico
- Brazil x Belgium or Poland

Now compare with Spain who will probably face Egypt, then Argentina to reach a semifinal against GERMANY!

I think France have time and quality to be a top contender.
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I better play Egypt and Argentina (they are crap and Messi won't change that) than Croatia and Uruguay to be honest.
 
Charles Miller said:
I dont think Fabinho is in his agenda. Nobody think about him as RB anymore. Danilo could be an alternative, but for some reason he is better in the left or as CB.

Maybe Brazil could play with three at back and use Willian as RWB. I really believe he is defending better than Dani Alves these days. Tbf Dani Alves is awful this season, but he is a player with hierachy, so he could very well be good in his last world cup, who knows.
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Justice for Rafinha. He deserves that RB spot and would be the best solution for the team.
 
England. Everything comes in threes.

U17s won, U20s won and hopefully now the first team.

It seems Southgate is set on playing a 352, which has seemed pretty balanced for us. Our defensive unit seems solid enough, but we do need work on our attacking play, having only scored 3 in our last 5 games.

Pickford
Jones Stones Maguire
Henderson
Walker Lallana Lingard Sessegnon :p
Sterling
Kane

​
 
Charles Miller said:
I forgot about him tbh. Yes, he can't be worse than Fagner who is in the nt right now.
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Rafinha isn't as great a player as peak Alves, but Alves has declined, while Rafinha continues to be a reliable, decent, experienced, hard working and tactically disciplined player. Your team is not short of creativity and ingenuity, but with Marcelo on the left, maybe at least the other side could need someone solid. The way I see it, Alves' ego is potentially bigger than his loyalty to team success.
 
El-Buitre said:
I better play Egypt and Argentina (they are crap and Messi won't change that) than Croatia and Uruguay to be honest.
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No, man, you can't judge Argentina based in the wc qualifiers. South America qualifiers assumed characteristics of Libertadores Cup in the last decades, so when you go into a negative dynamic is very hard to find a way out because the emotional pressure is huge and the games become a drama. Brazil 1994 and 2002 was the same thing.

But once the team is out of that environment they could very well be competitive. Argentina will be strong in the wc.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
England. Everything comes in threes.

U17s won, U20s won and hopefully now the first team.

It seems Southgate is set on playing a 352, which has seemed pretty balanced for us. Our defensive unit seems solid enough, but we do need work on our attacking play, having only scored 3 in our last 5 games.

Pickford
Jones Stones Maguire
Henderson
Walker Lallana Lingard Sessegnon :p
Sterling
Kane

​
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3-5-2 was perfect for the 98 team: loads of CBs (including Gary Nev on the right of a 3), very few FBs (either side), very few left-footed players, and Paul Scholes (who was a great creative player even then but never really had the stamina to really be box to box), indeed for every England team with Scholes in it. Do we have those ingredients now? (Of course we don't have a younger Scholes, though given Dele Alli's tackling...)
 
Germany/Brazil/France.

Germany and France have very good lineups tbh. Overall I'd say France has the better chance, good backup players all over the field.
 
Brazil are way to vulnerable defensively to win the WC. Dani Alves is a liability in defence and playing both paulinho and coutinho with casemiero will backfire. Unless Tite plays a more balanced team and takes a more pragmatic approach, i think brazil wont get past the top european teams.

Spain Germany Argentina France - one of these teams will win it.
 
Raoul said:
Argentina. They will finish the business this time and send Leo off on top of the world.
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Part of me wants it, only so he can replace that old scumbag Maradona as greatest Argentinian icon and make Ronnie fanboys cry. :wenger:
Still, the part of me that wants us to win it again outweighs it comfortably.
 
Germany.

France too young, Spain a little too old, Brazil and Argentina too soft/homesick.

I don't think Portugal will sneak a World Cup like they could the Euros. Everyone else is shite.
 
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