I hope so. I tend to root for the South American squads, but I think there's a really good chance that a) this behaves more like a European-hosted WC than say, the previous Asian-hosted given time zones and distances and all that and b) that CONMEBOL qualifying was a little bifurcated and that perhaps Argentina and Brazil are being a bit overrated because of it.
I pick Portugal to make the final against either Brazil or Argentina. If against Argentina, it will be ironic that the Ronaldo v Messi contest will take place when Ronaldo is arguably more a liability than a plus for a Portuguese side loaded with talent.
Group A: 1. Netherlands 2. Ecuador 3. Senegal 4. Qatar Group B: 1. England 2. USA 3. Iran 4. Wales Group C: 1. Argentina 2. Mexico 3. Poland 4. Saudi Arabia Group D: 1. Denmark 2. France 3. Tunisia 4. Australia Group E: 1. Spain 2. Japan 3. Germany 4. Costa Rica Group F: 1. Croatia 2. Canada 3. Belgium 4. Morocco Group G: 1.Brazil 2. Serbia 3. Switzerland 4. Cameroon Group H: 1. Uruguay 2. Portugal 3. Ghana 4. South Korea Round of 16: Netherlands over USA Argentina over France Spain over Canada Brazil over Portugal Ecuador over England Denmark over Mexico Croatia over Japan Uruguay over Serbia Quarter-Finals: Argentina over Netherlands Brazil over Spain Denmark over Ecuador Uruguay over Croatia Semi-Finals: Brazil over Argentina Denmark over Uruguay Top 4: 1. Brazil 2. Denmark 3. Uruguay 4. Argentina Best player: Neymar Golden boot: L. Martinez Best Young Player: Gakpo
My picks: Group A: Netherlands Senegal * I think it will be a tight battle for second place. Group B: England USA * I hope we top the group like 2010 and Iran finishes second. Group C: Argentina Mexico Group D: Denmark France Group E: spain Germany Group F: Belgium Croatia Group G: Brazil Serbia Group H: Uruguay Portugal Round of 16: Netherlands over USA Argentina over France Spain over Croatia Brazil over Portugal England over Senegal Denmark over Mexico Germany over Belgium Uruguay over Serbia Quarter-Finals: Argentina over Netherlands Brazil over Spain Denmark over England Uruguay over Croatia Semi-Finals: Brazil over Argentina Denmark over Uruguay Top 4: 1. Brazil 2. Denmark 3. Argentina 4. Uruguay
Historically speaking, then Brazil is the only South American team Denmark has ever lost to in a World Cup (3-2 in the Quarter Finals of the WC-98), Uruguay Denmark on the other hand beat twice, 6-1 in the WC-86 and 2-1 in the WC-02, Denmark has never faced Argentina in the WC's, but beat them 2-0 in the FIFA Confederations Cup final in 1995.
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My power rankings, thus far, in the World Cup 1. England - Yes. England. And not just because we played them and tied them. But because top to bottom, I believe they’re the most complete team at this World Cup. They mauled Wales and Iran ~ which if FIFA rankings means anything, means that they thoroughly dominated the group of death. And, they look like they’re just getting better. But they do have a tough challenge ahead against Senegal. 2. France - How do you lose against Tunisia? Even with your B team and when first place was all but guaranteed? Because so, I had to knock France down a peg. Still, can anyone stop Mbappe? December 10th is going to be a big day in soccer history (when you should see them go against England). 3. Spain - Man, oh man, they’re rising fast. They devoured Costa Rica like I couldn’t even imagine. I knew that Spain could do that, but I don’t think anyone would think that Costa Rica could be so bad to lose by 7. Still, they ended up drawing against Germany, which brought them back down to earth; which let me remind you, who lost to a team which lost to Costa Rica. So who knows what’s going on in Group E. But we know that Spain will probably advance first in their group, and they will have as good of chance to win the tournament as anyone. 4. Brazil - Losing Neymar seems to really hurt them. They seem to be missing that special spark in offense. Also, I did not think that they looked good against a very good Switzerland team. So much so, I would say that they’re now almost more of a dark horse candidate to win the World Cup than a favorite. But who knows? I know that every team in the world hopes to avoid them if they can. They still have probably the best defense in the world right now (which is strange to say of a Brazilian team), and they still have enough weapons on offense that they’ll expect to get goals against everyone they play against. 5. Argentina - Was the Saudi Arabia game a wake up call? They’ve rebounded well since this match, and seem to be coming more and more of a team as this tournament has gone on. Kudos to them. I’ve seen some of the big teams fold after an embarrassing loss like that. But Argentina don’t seem like they’re going to repeat that mistake again. And they look hungry and focused now. 6. Portugal - Portugal has seemed like one of the weaker top seeded teams. I expect they’ll finish first in their group. But I could see them being one of the few group winners to be knocked out in the round of 16 too. But at the same time, they also seem to have one of the better paths to go further in the World Cup. So, who knows yet with them. 7. Netherlands - They finished first in their group. But I just didn’t see it from them. They easily took care of business against Qatar, who showed that they weren’t up for this tournament. But I thought they struggled and got lucky against both Ecuador and Senegal. Yes, they’re better than we are. On paper. But if they look past us. If their eyes are already on Argentina. And if we’re up for it. We’re going to give them a good challenge. Hopefully, at least. 8. Germany - I’ve got to knock them for that loss against a very good Japan team. But they responded well against Spain. I expect they’ll take care of business against Costa Rica, who had no business beating Japan, and they’ll go through the group stage. Moreover, I think they’ll beat whoever comes out of Group F — convincingly. Furthermore, I think they can beat Portugal. And then; who knows what can happen? Still. You’ve got to see more from them to rank them higher. 9. Croatia - Old as they are, nobody is going to want to play Croatia because they can always go toe to toe with anybody. Luka Modric looks immortal. They play like a team. They’re so controlled on the ball. Just watch how they picked apart Canada. I believe they’ll take care of business against Belgium. 10. USA - Wow, in the top 10. Well, you have to figure. Technically, this was the group of death according to FIFA rankings, even though I think we’ll all agree that there are tougher groups. But it’s not just that. It’s going undefeated in the group stage, the solid defensive play, the ability to control the midfield, the tie against England (who I think is the best team in the world and who I thought we went toe to toe with), and dominating the play against Wales and Iran for large periods of the game. To be honest, I believe this is a very fair ranking for us. Maybe, I could rank Australia over us. Maybe Senegal. But for now, I’ve got us in the top 10. 11. Australia - I came so close to putting Australia in the top 10. They beat Denmark! And they beat Tunisia. Six points is a big deal for any team in the World Cup so give it up to them. Besides, they’ve shown a great response after they got thumped by France in their opening game. That said, they face a very big challenge against Argentina, yet, I’m rooting for an Australia v USA quarter final match up on Friday, December 9th. (Man, I’m going to have to figure out how to call out of work for that one!) 12. Senegal - Also, I came close to ranking Senegal in the top 10. They were one of the better runner up teams in the group stage. I think they were missing Mane. But who wants to face Senegal right now? I expect that they’ll give England a very difficult match up. 13. Poland - They got through their group, which already ranks them a little higher on these charts than the teams who haven’t done so yet. But they were poor against Argentina. They got it done against a very weak Saudi Arabia side which surprised the hell out of Argentina. And they got the draw against Mexico. Overall, I’d say that they will rank this tournament as a success for them. However, I don’t think anyone gives them much of a chance against France. 14. Switzerland - Switzerland are still where they are because they’ve done what you’ve expected them to do: beat Cameroon, lose to Brazil. Maybe you could say they should be higher. But I’ll wait to say so until they prove it against a very tough Serbian team which can still beat anyone on their best day. 15. Morocco - Still not through their group, but they’ve mostly looked good enough to rank them this high. From the start, I’ve said that at least one Middle Eastern team will make it out of the group, and Morocco has been my pick. They’ve got the talent. And they’ve done well so far in this tournament. I don’t expect them to proceed further than the Ro16 but I think they’ll still consider their tournament a success if they can finish business this week. And you could still see them rise on these charts. At the same time, I could also see Canada redeeming themselves with a win against them too. In fact, my bet is on that happening. 16. Ghana - Things are still tight in Group H. But I still like Ghana’s chances to go through more than I favor Uruguay and South Korea. If they do go through, I think they’ll climb this chart. They’ve been a very young, fun, and energetic team to watch. But at the same time, I don’t think at any point, someone would say that they’ve been dominant. 17. Japan - How? How do you go from beat Germany to losing to Costa Rica? Come on, Japan! That loss dropped them from probably 8 on my list, all the way down to 17. I think that loss also dug themselves in a hole, as I can’t see them beating this very good Spanish team. Good luck though. 18. Belgium - Queue chant, “overrated... overrated.... overrated.” From the jump, I said that Belgium was grossly overrated going into this tournament. They were played off the field but managed to sneak a win against a very energetic Canadian side. Then, they got beat by a better Moroccan side. I have no earthly clue how they were rated 2nd best team in the world in 2022, but it seems that FIFA rankings are stuck in 2015-2020. And, I think Croatia will take care of business against them. 19. Serbia - To be honest, I expected more from Serbia. Of course, going against Brazil was always going to be an overmatch for them. And of course, nothing was guaranteed against Cameroon. But don’t count them out just yet. They still have every bit of ability to get the win and advance out of their group. And I would not be surprised if they did. 20. Ecuador/Mexico/Iran/Tunisia - Give it up to them. All their final games went down to the wire for them to go out, and as painful as it is to go out in the group stage. I still want to honor these teams. Now, out of these four teams, I’d probably rank them (20) Ecuador, (21) Mexico, (22) Iran, and (24) Tunisia. Ecuador just seemed to be unlucky as they got edged out by the classier Senegal and Netherlands. On Mexico - Any time you go out on goal differential, you can’t be ashamed of that. Iran redeemed themselves after a very bad loss against England, and man, they gave us everything. And Tunisia got a win against France and a tie against Denmark. Going into this tournament, if you would have told Tunisia that they would get 4 points from those two games, they would have taken it. Finally, my most disappointing team would go to Denmark, followed by Canada. I thought Denmark would be a dark horse for this tournament, but they finish behind Tunisia and Australia? Wow! And O’Canada. So much there, but they showed to be more naive than they were special. They played great against Belgium, they started off hot against Croatia, two great teams, but they did not have the class to get a result out of either of these games. Plus, they crumbled at the end of the Croatia game. I expected more from both of them. And I can’t think of anyone else who will be more disappointed than these two.
I got the tie, tie, win aspect of 2010 right but that’s it. Close enough for me since we’re advancing.
Change in the power rankings.... 1. England 2. France 3. Brazil 4. Argentina 5. Japan ^^^^^ 6. Portugal 7. Netherlands 8. Morocco ^^ 9. Croatia ^ 10. Spain (man, they were bad) 11. USA 12. Australia 13. Senegal 14. Switzerland
Australia and Canada did the exact opposites. Australia wasn't expected to do much after barely qualifying thru playoffs but they ended up winning 2 matches. Canada was seen as an upcoming power with 2 of the world's best young players and dominating qualification but ended up laying an egg. Before this WC I wanted to see Canada have their Australia '06 moment (if you remember that WC) with Davies and David being the Canadian versions of Kewell and Cahill.
My sense is you are a Canadian fan, right? Do you feel the lack of success was due to tactics, inexperience, or possibly just the luck of the draw with the teams played?
My own power rankings: 1 Brazil A- 2 France A- 3 Spain A- 4 Portugal A- 5 England B+ 6 Argentina B+ 7 Netherlands B+ 8 Croatia B+ 9 Morocco B+ 10 Germany B+ 11 USA B 12 Senegal B 13 Australia B 14 Japan B 15 South Korea B 16 Switzerland B 17 Uruguay B 18 Belgium B 19 Iran B 20 Serbia B 21 Mexico B 22 Denmark B 23 Ecuador B 24 Poland B- 25 Tunisia B- 26 Canada B- 27 Costa Rica B- 28 Ghana B- 29 Wales B- 30 Saudi Arabia B- 31 Cameroon B- 32 Qatar C
Revisiting old posts. For fun. 11B got: A in reverse order (it was NED/SEN), but got both so 2 pts. B in order, 3 pts. C got 1, 1 pt. D got 1, 1 pt. E got 1, 1 pt. F got 1, 1 pt. G got 1, 1 pt. H got 1, 1 pt. 11 pts. for 11B.
Amaru: A 1 pt. B 3 pts. C 3 pts. D 1 pt. E 1 pt. F 1 pt. G 3 pts. H 1 pt. Total: 14 points for Amaru.
Crew gets: A 1 pt. B 1 pt. C 3 pts. D 1 pt. E 1 pt. F 1 pt. G 3 pts. H 3 pts. Total: 14 pts. for Crew.
Inquisitor: A 3 pts. B 3 pts. C 3 pts. D 1 pt. E 1 pt. F 1 pt. G 3 pts. H 1 pt. For a total of 16 pts. Bravo.