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The Scout: World Cup Preview

Posted on | Posted by The Scout

WORLD CUP PREVIEW

Four years after Argentina went out at the first knockout stage of the World Cup, they are in good shape to help Lionel Messi get his hands on a trophy that, so far, has been elusive. Arguably the greatest player ever, Messi, now 35, could be the man to inspire success in Qatar, just a year after Argentina ended a 28-year wait for Copa America success. Their win in Brazil against the hosts was a big deal for the country and for Messi.

But Brazil, who in Neymar have their own star, have also been in fine form as they aim to win the World Cup for the first time in 20 years. With talent in every department, they breezed through their qualifiers with 14 wins, three draws and no defeats. Defending wasn’t much of a problem – they conceded only five – while sticking the ball in the net at the other end was second nature – they scored 40 goals in 17 games.

Defending champions France also have depth in their squad, although they will be without the injured Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante. Of further concern is that even with attacking options such as Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, they have lost their two most recent matches against Denmark, who will give them a run for their money in the race for top spot in the group. Finishing runner-up is likely to result in a Round of 16 match against Argentina.

France will kick-off their tournament against Australia, whose hopes of a good start rely on grit, determination and a lot of luck. It’s not the strongest squad the Socceroos have sent to a World Cup, although players such as Aaron Mooy, Jackson Irvine and Ajdin Hrustic are capable performers. Barring a minor miracle, Australia will go into their final game against Tunisia playing for pride.

The usual optimism around England has been more difficult to stoke heading into this one, partly due to the poor performances in the Nations League and injuries to key defenders. It is a well-worn joke that England will lose on penalties but they do have a squad that can at least nudge into the quarter-finals. For that to happen, they will need another excellent tournament from Harry Kane, who won the golden boot in 2018 when England were knocked out by Croatia in the semi-finals.

Spain, Germany and the Netherlands could spring a surprise, while the current Belgium side appears to be just a little past its best.

Top four

The unusual timing of this World Cup means players will be fit and firing from their club football but cohesion might be elusive in the early games due to the shortness of pre-tournament camps. There may be a few surprises in the group stages, which will make for interesting knockout stages.

Argentina, Brazil, England and Germany.

Golden boot winner

The teams that stay in the tournament longest are most likely to provide the golden boot winner. That means Brazil (Neymar), Argentina (Lionel Messi or Angel Di Maria), England (Harry Kane), Germany (Kai Havertz or Serge Gnabry) or possibly France (Kylian Mbappe or Karim Benzema). Spain lack an obvious contender, although Alvaro Morata or Ferran Torres could surprise, while Dutchman Memphis Depay has been struggling to overcome injury and will miss the first game.

Golden ball winner

New stars always emerge from the World Cup but it’s hard to go past the tried-and-tested for best player contenders. One of Paris Saint-Germain’s MNM combination – Messi, Neymar and Mbappe – could take top honours here, although it might be the brilliance of a young star, such as Pedri (Spain) or Jamal Musiala (Germany) who catches the eye. And don’t discount Kevin De Bruyne, the Manchester City star who could inspire a strong run from an ageing Belgium.

GROUPS AT A GLANCE

Group A

The Netherlands should comfortably negotiate this group, despite the potential threat posed by Senegal, who they will face in their opening game. Senegal were dealt a blow when Sadio Mane was injured while playing for Bayern Munich. He has been included in the squad but is a long shot to play. Without Mane’s attacking presence, Senegal will need the likes of Chelsea’s Kalidou Koulibaly and RB Leipzig defender Abdou Diallo and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to keep things tight at the back. The Netherlands qualified at the top of their European group and lost only once, to Turkey. With defenders of the calibre of Matthijs de Ligt (Bayner Munich), Stefan de Vrij (Inter Milan) and Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), they should be difficult to break down. Goals might not come freely if Memphis Depay’s influence is limited through injury. Ecuador finished fourth in South American qualifying and in Moises Caicedo, Gonzalo Plato and Piero Hincapie have some bright young talent. Qatar qualified as hosts but they are also the holders of the Asian Cup having won that tournament in 2019. In coach Felix Sanchez, they have a wise Spaniard, who spent a decade working with Barcelona’s young players.

Group prediction: 1. Netherlands, 2. Senegal, 3. Ecuador, 4. Qatar

Netherlands

FIFA ranking: 8

Player to watch: Steven Bergwijn (Ajax – Netherlands)

Senegal

FIFA ranking: 18

Player to watch: Edouard Mendy (Chelsea – England)

Ecuador

FIFA ranking: 44

Player to watch: Moises Caicedo (Brighton – England)

Qatar

FIFA ranking: 50

Player to watch: Akram Afif (Al Sadd – Qatar)

Group B

England have more than enough of an attacking threat to get through the group, although a run of six competitive games without a win doesn’t exactly speak of a team in form. But given that all but one of their players ply their trade in England’s Premier League (Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham is the odd man out), this is a squad of high-quality individuals. Expect the United States to spring a surprise with Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic and Turkey-based Haji Wright (Antalyaspor) in goalscoring form. Wales will again pin their hopes on the talismanic but ageing Gareth Bale. They will relish the opportunity to upset England’s campaign by getting one over their neighbour. Mehdi Taremi, who has scored six goals for Porto this season, is the standout star for Iran.

Group prediction: 1. England, 2. United States, 3. Wales, 4. Iran.

England

FIFA ranking: 5

Player to watch: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur – England)

United States

FIFA ranking: 16

Player to watch: Christian Pulisic (Chelsea – England)

Wales

FIFA ranking: 19

Player to watch: Gareth Bale (Los Angeles FC – United States)

Iran

FIFA ranking: 20

Player to watch: Mehdi Taremi (Porto – Portugal)

Group C

It’s hard to see how Argentina could be troubled by any of their group opponents. The 2021 Copa America winners should top the group. They will also take with them the emotion and sentiment around Lionel Messi playing in his final World Cup.

Robert Lewandowski is Poland’s main threat, but he won’t get the service he became used to at Bayern Munich and continues to get at Barcelona this season. Mexico, who reached the quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986 when the tournament was played on home soil, have become accustomed to getting out of the group stage. They’ve done so every tournament since 1994 but that is as far as they’ve gone.

Saudi Arabia, who lost just once in their final round of qualifiers, have won only three World Cup matches in their 16 at five tournaments. Their most recent win was at the last tournament in Russia where they beat Egypt 2-1.

Group prediction: 1. Argentina, 2. Poland, 3. Mexico, 4. Saudi Arabia.

Argentina

FIFA ranking: 3

Player to watch: Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain – France)

Poland

FIFA ranking: 26

Player to watch: Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona – Spain)

Mexico

FIFA ranking: 13

Player to watch: Hirving Lozano (Napoli – Italy)

Saudi Arabia

FIFA ranking: 51

Player to watch: Salem Al-Dawsari (Al-Hilal – Saudi Arabia)

Group D

Scoring goals should not be a problem for France but there are no guarantees they will top the group. Among the favourites to win the tournament, France have attacking options coming out of their ears. Take your pick from Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and Kingsley Coman. They won’t all play, of course, but coach Didier Deschamps will be glad of the headache. Denmark, inspired by Christian Eriksen, can challenge for top spot, which is likely to bring with it the bonus of not having to face Argentina in the first knockout round. Tunisia have never reached the knockout stages of a World Cup and that’s unlikely to change. The Scout would love to give the Socceroos some chance of progressing to the Round of 16 but whatever grit they apply to their games will require equal amounts of luck for them to stick around beyond the group stage.

Group prediction: 1. Denmark, 2. France, 3. Tunisia, 4. Australia.

Denmark

FIFA ranking: 10

Player to watch: Christian Eriksen (Manchester United – England)

France

FIFA ranking: 4

Player to watch: Kylian Mpappe (Paris Saint-Germain – France)

Tunisia

FIFA ranking: 30

Player to watch: Wahbi Khazri (Montpellier – France)

Australia

FIFA ranking: 38

Player to watch: Ajden Rustic (Hellas Verona – Italy)

Group E

Spain have been in fine form under coach Luis Enrique whose team reached the semi-finals of Euro 2022, the final of last year’s Nations League and are into the final four of the ongoing European club competition. Spain are anchored by Sergio Busquets with midfield fizz provided by his Barcelona teammates Pedri and Gavi. The absence of a regular, national team goal scorer is something of a concern. Germany are still licking their wounds after bowing out of the last two major tournaments without reaching the quarter-finals. In Jamal Musiala, they have a midfield star in the making, while Leroy Sane, Thomas Muller, Kai Havertz and Serge Gnabry can all score goals. Japan are good enough to sneak an upset, although goals may be hard to find in a team where winger Junya Ito offers pace and creativity behind Celtic’s Daizen Maeda. Costa Rica arrived at the World Cup having qualified via a nail-biting 1-0 play-off win against New Zealand. Teenage midfielder Jewison Bennette provides attacking intent but Costa Rica scored just 13 goals in 14 qualifiers.

Group prediction: 1. Spain, 2. Germany, 3. Japan, 4. Costa Rica.

Spain

FIFA ranking: 7

Player to watch: Pedri (Barcelona)

Germany

FIFA ranking: 11

Player to watch: Jamal Musiala

Japan

FIFA ranking: 24

Player to watch: Takumi Minamino (Monaco – France)

Costa Rica

FIFA ranking: 31

Player to watch: Joel Campbell (Club Leon – Mexico)

Group F

There are household-names-a-plenty in the Belgium line-up, which might give the impression that they could be contenders in Qatar. There is a lot to admire in an attacking sense – Youri Tielemans, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and, of course, Kevin De Bruyne sounds like the makings of a dream team. But goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is likely to be busy behind an ageing defence likely to include Toby Alderweireld (33) and Jan Vertonghen (35).

Croatia are in a different position, having refreshed their squad since their second-placed finish at the 2018 World Cup. Luka Modric, at 37, is one of the exceptions. Despite his age, he continues to be a driving force that should propel Croatia into the Round of 16. In their second ever World Cup, and first since 1986, Canada will continue with the possession-based football that took them to the top of CONCACAF qualifying. Given the quality of their opponents in Qatar, it won’t be easy to keep the ball, or create much with it when they have it. Morocco are in their second successive World Cup and will fancy their chances of surprising their more fancied opponents.

Group prediction: 1. Belgium, 2. Croatia, 3. Canada, 4. Morocco.

Belgium

FIFA ranking: 2

Player to watch: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City – England)

Croatia

FIFA ranking: 12

Player to watch: Luka Modric (Real Madrid – Spain)

Canada

FIFA ranking: 41

Player to watch: Jonathan David (Lille – France)

Morocco

FIFA ranking: 22

Player to watch: Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea – England)

Group G

With players such as Neymar, Vinicius Junior, Casemiro and Alisson, Brazil have no obvious area of weakness, as they showed in their undefeated qualification run. Serbia have Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and a lot more to give this group a shake. Switzerland will be pinning their hopes on Breel Embolo’s continued influence. The Monaco striker has been scoring at a rate of a goal every two games in France’s Ligue Un. Former Liverpool defender Rigobert Song is in charge of a Cameroon side that beat Algeria in a qualifier as they cleared the final hurdle on the road to Qatar. They aren’t without quality – Napoli’s Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa is testament to that – but aside from Lyon’s Karl Toko Ekambi there looks to be a lack of goals in the squad.

Group predictions: 1. Brazil, 2. Serbia, 3. Switzerland, 4. Cameroon.

Brazil

FIFA ranking: 1

Player to watch: Neymar (Paris Saint German – France)

Serbia

FIFA ranking: 21

Player to watch: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham – England)

Switzerland

FIFA ranking: 15

Player to watch: Breel Embolo (Monaco – France)

Cameroon

FIFA ranking: 43

Player to watch: Karl Toko Ekambi (Lyon – France)

Group H

It is impossible to mention Portugal without referring to Cristiano Ronaldo, whose recent interview with Piers Morgan shone a whole new light on the faded star and his current club, Manchester United. His soon-to-be-ex-United teammate Bruno Fernandes will be more important to Portugal in Qatar, his goals having taken his country past North Macedonia in a play-off. There is a lot more to admire, too, with Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and AC Milan’s Rafael Leao just two of a bundle of talented players. The obvious standout for Uruguay is Darwin Nunez, although they, too, have talent in their ranks with Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde and Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur in good form. Ghana will be hoping Thomas Partey can take his Premier League form with Arsenal into the tournament – but it will be tough for the Black Stars. Partey was key to their qualification having scored in a 1-1 draw away to Nigeria. Korea suffered a huge blow on the eve of the tournament when Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min fractured an eye socket in a Champions League match. He has been included in the Korea squad but it is not clear just how much time he will spend playing in Qatar.

Group prediction: 1. Uruguay, 2. Portugal, 3. Korea, 4. Ghana.

Uruguay

FIFA ranking: 14

Player to watch: Federico Valverde (Real Madrid – Spain)

Portugal

FIFA ranking: 9

Player to watch: Rafael Leao (AC Milan – Italy)

Korea Republic

FIFA ranking: 28

Player to watch: Jeon Woo-yeong (Freiburg – Germany).

Ghana

FIFA ranking: 61

Player to watch: Inaki Williams (Athletic Bilbao – Spain)

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