As many of you noticed, this afternoon the World Cup groups for 2022 were drafted. And although there are still three teams to be determined I wanted to share with you my predictions for this year’s World Cup. I will roughly go through the groups and explain my decisions based on the draft I put together down below. Furthermore, I marked the proceeding team with a red path so that you can understand which team goes through to the next round. With that being said, I would love to see your predictions as well!

Group A

I think that with Netherlands, this Group has a clear favorite, which is why I am absolutely sure that they will demolish this group. Unfortunately for Qatar the other two teams are no easy opponents either because in Senegal they will face the current Africa Cup Champion and Ecuador played a solid qualifying session. I think that Qatar will have the euphoria on their side for the first game which is why they will score one point in it but afterwards I do not see much hope for them in this group. I also think that Senegal will stand above Ecuador just because they are not playing Qatar first.

Group B

This group has the interesting match up between England and the United States! In my opinion this game will be an absolute highlight for every football fan. Because the third team in the group will either be Scotland, Wales or Ukraine I do not think that this group is a very difficult one for England which is why they will progress there as the leader. After that there will be a very difficult battle between the US and the European country but because the derby character of the US-England game will bring US one point they will manage to proceed into the next round.

Group C

This group has some players to watch in the person of Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski. Unfortunately, for Lewy their path will end in the group stage. Maybe I am overrating Mexico in this phase but the Mexican teams tend to do very well in World Cups which is why they will proceed. Furthermore, I do not think that Lionel Messi will let his team go out in the group stage in his probably last World Cup which is why they will proceed as well. Saudi Arabia is the clear outsider in this group which is why they will go out in the group stage.

Group D

This is a very strong group in my opinion. With France, Denmark, Tunisia and probably Peru this group is an absolute difficult one to predict. Saying that France will comfortably proceed is the safest choice which is why I go with them. Furthermore, I think that Denmark will lose very unlucky against Peru which will destroy their dream to go into the play offs. I think Tunisia has a solid team but this group will be too strong for them.

Group E

This group is an absolute madness. With two World Cup winners in Germany in France, they are clearly the favorites in this group. Unfortunately for both of them Japan are a solid squad that does not take any hostages. The last team is either Costa Rica or New Zealand that are the clear outsiders. I think that we could see a surprise in Japan going through against Germany just because Germany is currently in the finding stage of their team and are not playing the best football.

Group F

This group looks like a easy walk for Belgium. Behind them I see no clear favorite for the second place. With the experienced but old Croatian team, a very interesting looking Canadian team and well versed Morocco either of these three could proceed which is why I think that marginal mistakes could decide who goes through. With that being said, I hope that Canada will make it.

Group G

The no-brainer in this group is Brazil. I think everybody agrees that this team will make it trough this group. Behind them there will be again a very though fight. While European teams are usually favored to go through I think that this time Cameroon can make this jump. I believe they have a very solid team and if they manage to play without mistakes I can see them proceeding far into this tournament.

Group H

The last group will have Portugal as the leader. They do have the best team out of the four teams. The second place will be played out between Uruguay and Ghana but because Uruguay has more experience in these situations and definitely more experienced players they will go out on top of Ghana. I do not really see any chances for South Korea although their best player is Heung Ming Son from Tottenham. Unfortunately, one player alone can not carry a South Korean team.

The Play-Offs

With the play offs the true fun begins where marginal errors can decide whether a team wins or loses. In first match between Netherlands and the US, the Netherlands will go through very easily. I think they are having the better team and will just outplay the US. Mexico against Peru is a difficult one to predict. I think that Mexico can win this game but again, maybe I am just overestimating Mexico by a lot. Spain versus Canada is a no-brainer, with Spain proceeding into the next round. The match up between Brazil and Uruguay will be a very interesting one as Uruguay knows how to play against Brazil. Nevertheless I think that Brazil will make the way trough to the quarter-finals.

On the other side of the tournament tree we could see England against Senegal. In my opinion England will have their problems but will make it trough in the end. France against Argentina will be the revanche for Lionel Messi and Argentina for their WC 2018 defeat as well as the next game. Japan will knock out Belgium as response to the knockout in 2018 WC. Last but not least we will see a surprising win by Cameroon against Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo getting sent home.

In the Quarter Finals we will see the best football so far when Netherlands will outplay Mexico to go trough into the semis. Brazil will beat Spain in probably the best game of the tournament. On the other side: England will beat Argentina with their will power and determination, sending Lionel Messi home as well. The last quarter final is the battle between the both surprises of the tournament where Cameroon will make their way into the semis.

Unfortunately for Cameroon, this will be the end as they lose against an England team that is starting to reach their peak in this tournament. On the other side Brazil has to fight for every inch to beat the Netherlands in extra time.

This leads us to the final where England are facing Brazil. To be honest this game can go either way but I think that England will get its comeback story from the Euros and will beat Brazil very close 1:0. This game will not be the prettiest and will be decided with a goal that is scored between the 60th and 70th minute. England will fight for their lives while Brazil will have no answer to that.

Conclusion

Looking back I really favored the North American teams here and really did not give any chance to Qatar or Saudi Arabia. I also think that it is a bold prediction to eliminate Germany in the group stage and make Cameroon go through to the semis, but that is how I currently feel and as far as I know there were no tournaments without surprises so far! What do you think of this prediction? I would love to see your predictions as well! 😊

Published by ga38jem on
Hive Sports Talk
On 1st April 2022