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Who are the favorites to win the 2022 Qatar World Cup?

(CNN Spanish) — Only 8 teams have won the World Cup. Historical teams are always the protagonists of the bets and 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 qualifying rounds and of the friendlies and tournaments in progress, which give good elements to think about favourites.

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 arrive in Qatar as candidates.

Based on their recent performance, world ranking, current squads and group stage opponents, here are the top favorites to win the Worlds:

Brazil

On paper, he is the absolute favorite: he is first in the official FIFA ranking, he was first and undefeated in the Conmebol World Cup qualifier (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-highest player in history for the ‘canarinha’. Casemiro, Vinícius Júnior, Gabriel Jesús, Fabinho, Éder Militao and Alisson Becker are just some of the star squad. Tite has a very good record managing Brazil and has the experience and the tools to be champions. He lost the Copa América final with Argentina in 2021, but the team is still superior to its rivals on duty and has not known defeat since then.

In the World Cup it 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 of them. 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.

It is worth mentioning that the leader of the ranking, which has been registered since 1994, has never managed to win the World Cup.

Before Russia 2018, for example, the leader was Germany, who came out of the first round as the bottom of their group. France, which came out champion, was in 7th place.

Argentina

The ‘Scaloneta’ arrives with a memorable unbeaten record —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 series of finals with defeat (one World Cup and two America’s Cups), a compact team is noticeable, which takes advantage of the best of the star Lionel Messi (who smiles every time he is on the pitch with his team) but which in turn makes a team of splendid players shine, such as Ángel DiMaría —scorer of the 2021 Copa América title goal—, Rodrigo de Paul and Lautaro Martínez. In addition, he won the Finalissima against Italy and has a passionate fan base.

It will play in Group C along with Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland. Although Mexico and Poland are rivals that could complicate things, Argentina is expected to overcome this first phase without major difficulties.

France

They are the reigning champions, much of the squad for the 2018 title in Russia is still active and they arrive with several players at their best. The undisputed stars are Karim Benzema, the great favorite for the Ballon d’Or and who is making a triumphant return to the national team, and Kylian Mbappé, PSG’s top scorer and one of the architects of the title four years ago. Didier Deschamps is still the coach and already has the formula to become champion. 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 the 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 was already defeated by Denmark in the Nations League 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 make it 60 years later? Is not easy.

France is fourth on the FIFA list.

Belgium

Belgium was the first of group E in the European qualifying round, undefeated: 6 wins and two draws. He is second in the FIFA list. Despite not shining in the European Championship that was played in 2021 (eliminated in the quarterfinals by which would be champion, Italy), he comes from 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 reference 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 go through in first place.

He is the only favorite who does not have a world title.

spain

After the embarrassment of 2014 with the arrival and dismissal of Julen Lopetegui and after the forced absence of Luis Enrique 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 European Championship 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 tops Group E at Qatar 2022 and will have a challenging road against Germany, Costa Rica and Japan.

Germany

The 2014 champion arrives with renewal. After the successful era of Joachim Löw, Hans-Dieter Flick is tasked with replicating his victories at Bayern Munich with a team combining 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 European Championship 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 they cannot be ignored as favourites. 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 with force they will be a favorite in the rest of the tournament.

England

The fifth of the FIFA world qualification was a semi-finalist in the 2018 World Cup and a finalist in the European Championship in 2021. He 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 he arrives in top form. Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling, Mason Munt and Phil Foden are other standouts. England’s World Cup qualification was remarkable: leading Group I with eight wins and two draws, with no losses.

It arrives, however, with a bad streak: it comes from drawing with Germany, losing with Italy and being thrashed 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 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 latest FIFA ranking before the World Cup

1- ???????? Brazil: 1841.3 points
2. ???????? Belgium: 1816.71
3. ???????? Argentina: 1773.88
4. ???????? France: 1759.78
5. ???????????????????????????? England: 1728.47
6. ???????? Italia: 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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