I can't believe that nobody started this thread already, so let me do the job. I think that some top European team will win again, even if the tournament is being played in the heat of Qatar. They are far beyond in organisation and tactics. Brazil can only threat them if they hire an European coach.
I will go further and predict four European semi-finalists. I voted for England though; I think they have a great opportunity to do the EC-WC double like West Germany, France and Spain before them.
It's too early in qualifying for me to make a good observation. For now I think only Brazil looks decent.
it is far too early to tell this, I wouldn't talk about it before spring 2022 but it won't be any different than every time, usual suspects plus one or another up and coming team
Which four though? There doesn't seem to be too many strong teams apart from France, England and maybe Portugal. It's in winter, or late Autumn. Won't be too hot at all.
I think there will be a lot of surprises in this tournament. You will all be shocked. Definately wont be 4 European semifinalists.
we just had big surprise three years ago, doesn’t happen that often in the world cup. even though it is going to be non-standard world cup I do not expect anything but final with usual suspects.
Remember also the reigning champs have been knocked out in the first round every WC going back to 2010. Germany, Spain, Italy. Will France continue the trend ?
Right now I'd say no, but then I thought Germany of all teams would be able to end the curse last time around and they didn't, so...
Re the prediction that there will 4 UEFA semifinalists, I'd like to see more of the South American qualifiers first. Until then we're just talking in broad generalizations about UEFA/CONMEBOL/whatever. I don't think we'll see any non-UEFA/CONMEBOL in the semifinals, I think most people would probably agree with that. So if you don't think it will be 4 UEFA semifinalists, for most people that means CONMEBOL will have a team or two. That really means we're probably only guessing about the fate of two or maybe three CONMEBOL teams. I don't see anyone from CONMEBOL outside Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay having a chance. Of these Brazil seems the most likely, based on the last few years. As disappointing as 2018 was for Brazil, at the end of the day it still took Belgium's best ever team in peak form to barely get past them. I don't really trust Argentina at the moment, but we'll get a better idea in the qualifiers. I actually like Uruguay better personally (maybe I'm basing this too much on 2018, though). Does anyone think we'll have a surprise package from ROW?
Unlike Argentina, Uruguay will not beat themselves with either poor tactics or poor roster selection. I wonder what would have happened had Uruguay had Cavani for the France QF. Come to think of it, Uruguay have yet to lose a WC game with both Suarez and Cavani on the field. (except maybe the third place game in 2020) I wonder if they will have the legs for one more run. As for the ROW, nobody is standing out right now as much of a possibility, from the little international soccer that I have seen recently. Mexico may be the most likely of ROW bunch at the moment. I give them about a 10% chance of making the semis. They have a good coach. But they will need to get over their R16 curse and will need a healthy Raul Jimenez for scoring punch. West Africa usually sends one fairly good team, but we never really know who it is until the WC starts. I would also give that team about a 10% chance.
I think you will see a lot of surprises. Qatar is a total wildcard and I dont see a typical Worldcup at all. Even looking at some of the crazy results this past FIFA window and I'm definately sensing a lot of surprises. with regards to ROW I think there are a number of teams building strong sides. Of course there is always Mexico, but I think the US is quietly building a strong side, probably a bit too young and inexperienced but I think they will be good, and I tip them to beat out Mexico in the upcomming gold cup. Africa will be strong this time around, depending on who they send. Virtually all of the teams are better than they were last edition. Nigeria is building a solid squad filled with youth, Senegal is stacked and improved from 2018, as is Morocco. Algeria is also in deadly form right now, and we saw glimpses of what they can do when they beat Colombia 3-0 in a friendly, and followed that with a 2-2 draw against Mexico, where they played almost half of the match with 10 men and still outplayed the Mexicans. Form comes and goes, but if Algeria keeps their current form, they will be tough to beat, and they may have an advantage playing in Qatar (some of their players are based there, although others are former French youth players) I think ROW will rep well in Qatar. With teams like Nigeria, Mexico, USA, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Japan, I think there is plenty of opportunity for these teams to cause upsets, or "upsets". I dont know if any of these teams make the semis, but I think we will definately see one or two of them in the quarters.
I decided to jog my memory of what Ive read about previous WC’s a little bit so I could decide if this prediction was a little overconfident. Let’s start with ‘98 since prior to the expansion to 32 there were very few ROW teams in the first place so it’s somewhat unrepresentative imo. In fact, prior to the expansion, there were only three ROW teams who made it to the QFs or later: USA 1930 (3rd place; no QF in that format), North Korea 1966, Cameroon 1990. Since the expansion to 32: 1998: none 2002: USA, South Korea, Senegal 2006: none 2010: Ghana 2014: Costa Rica 2018: none Based on this historical record, ROW teams generally don’t advance to the QFs when the WC is in Europe (ironically it happened twice before the expansion to 32), but generally it seems that we can expect at least one when the WC is held anywhere else. Generally European teams seem to worse in the group stage when the WC is not in Europe so this maybe why ROW has better chances of making the QFs when the WC is held outside Europe.
I don't know if Brazil's coach has to be European. They are a proud Footballing nation and won't let it happen that a foreigner takes charge of their national team. Personally I think Tite deserves another shot at the World Cup. They were kind of unlucky against Belguim in the 2nd half. I don't like the way Brazil plays under him though. There's not much Brszilian flair left in the team. They are playing very cautiously under him. I don't know if it's the right way if they want to win the World Cup again anytime soon. We'll have to see.
Until proven wrong I will never tip England to win a major tournament anytime soon. It's always a psychological burden on them when they enter the EUROs or the World Cup. It's as they would play with a chip on their shoulders. England might have a very talented crop of players in the coming years but this might be still not enough as you need so much more in order to win the World Cup.
Surprised to see that nobody mentioned Italy so far. I think Italy will win some silverware in at least one of the next three major tournaments. EURO 2020 World Cup 2022 EURO 2024 They usually win some silverware at least every 14-18 years. They have a promising team and Mancini made them playing more offensively without losing too much of stability in defence.
Looking at their sheer amount of young talents Portugal is another name I want to throw in. It will be also Ronaldo's last World Cup. They broke through in 2016 when they finally won their first ever silverware with EURO 2016. They backed it up with another, the Nations League in 2019. Most of the players are in their prime or should be in their prime by winter 2022. Even if Ronaldo were not at his best anymore I see them having enough attacking power in order to challenge seriously for the title. An important question is who will be the partner of Rúben Dias at the centerback position. Fonte and Pepe might not have the level required anymore.
Without knowing yet who will make it to Qatar I say that we'll have at the very least one ROW team in the quarterfinals. Mexico or a CAF team. Maybe even the hosts themselves? Who knows... Qatar was very strong at the last Asian Cup. I would say they were the most dominant Asian Cup winner of all time.
in no universe! it is the world cup, not kirin cup!! only if they pull korea with referees and that is not going to happen again!!!
Hopefully we'll never see a repeat of South Korea 2002. Thank god Italy and Spain went on to win the two World Cups after that.
But that's the problem with Brazilian coaches, they all play like that. Look at what Jorge Jesus (Portuguese) did with Flamengo in 2019. The team played a modern brand of attacking football, with intensity, possession and flair that we had not seen in a very long time, and won almost everything. He's now worshiped not only by Flamengo fans, but Brazilians in general. I would take him as Brazil National Team coach in a heartbeat. Brazilians are losing their patience with our native coaches. If Tite fails in the next World Cup, I don't see anyone here who can do a better job.
I feel like CONMEBOL lost a lot of quality as a whole. Who would be realistically able to get to the semi-finals as of now? Only Brazil. Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia or Chile all of them have their best days behind them. If there are ROW teams in the quarterfinals it will be probably at the expense of some CONMEBOL teams.
They don't have the talent in the attacking third to do that. You say England can't be tipped to win, but they have better players than Italy in virtually every position plus more depth.
Curious - What is your opinion on Gareth Southgate? Do you think he’s actually a good manager or has he been a bit lucky so far? There seems to be a feeling among some that England has been a little overrated since/due to their 2018 run, and that Southgate’s deficiencies were papered over a bit by that “lucky” WC run (the argument being England had an easy draw but wasn’t actually that good).