Just like yesteryear tournaments, the teams heavily tipped to lift football’s most prestigious accolade, in Russia this time around, are the usual suspects from Europe and South America.
In fact, the World Cup has been alternating between these two continents since its existence, with Europe leading South America 11 titles to 9.
Having said all of that, I’m tipping holders Germany to add one more title to its continent and become the joint most successful team in the tournament’s history along Brazil (5).
Should the Germans manage to defend their crown, they will only become the third nation to win back-to-back titles after Italy (1934, 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962).
Joachim Low’s squad were on the money in their triumph in Brazil four years ago after easing through their group – which included a 4-0 drubbing of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and a 7-1 humiliation of the host nation in the semi-final – which could’ve easily been more had they not taken the foot off the pedal.
Favourites (in order):
- Germany
Germany is Germany when it comes to the World Cup. They have the pedigree, they have the coach and they have the players – who are anchored by the world’s best goal minder in Manuel Neuer.
- Brazil
The same reason given about Germany can be given in Brazil’s case: Brazil is Brazil. They’re the most successful team in the World Cup and thus have the best knowledge of how to win it.
They have exciting players too – as per norm – and are led by one of the very best in Neymar.
But I have Germany just above them because the Selacao are not as talented as before – and they lack vital components to win a tournament as big as this one. Their big match temperament has been suspect since the beginning of their current new era led by Neymar. It was exposed by the Germans in Brazil four years ago in that drubbing where the camera flashes simply got too bright for them.
In their 1994 and 2002 triumphs, they were led by Dunga as captain and heavyweight coach Carlos Alberto Perreira; and Cafu and Luiz Felipe Scolari respectively. The leadership in those teams was in abundance, something they currently lack.
In their last triumph in 2002, defensive and offensive responsibilities were not shared lopsidedly compared to the current group – where a lot will be expected from the likes of Thiago Silver and Neymar.
When they won their fifth title, their offense was fuelled by the unfairly talented ‘Three Rs’ of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo – with the former all but winning the final single-handedly and winning the Golden Shoe as the tournament’s scorer with eight goals.
The Triple R’s base included the likes of captain Cafu and Lucio and Roberto Carlos; the responsibilities were more equally shared.
Going into the 2006 tournament in Germany, the Samba Boys retained the core of the squad and their forward fire power was as hot as usual – this time dubbed the ‘Magical Four’ of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Adriano and Kaka. They, as expected, maintained a 100 per cent record until the quarter-finals where an overly-confident Brazil side was knocked out by France.
Ronaldo scored a goal against Ghana in the round of 16, which was his 15th World Cup strike and broke the record. However, it wasn’t just the end of the World Cup for the Samba Boys, it was an end of a hugely talented and dominant era.
- Argentina
With an attack including the best footballer in the game in Lionel Messi, along the likes of fellow forward stars in Paulo Dybala and Sergio Aguero to name a few – and also considering that they were the runners-up in the last tournament – Argentina has a strong case.
Their route to the final is going to be a challenging one with Spain and Germany their likely opponents if all the favourites win their games, but their agonising short coming last time should add extra fuel to their case this time around.
It should be a close semi-final should they meet the team that denied Lionel Messi World Cup glory last time, Germany, but Germany’s know-how and chemistry is a huge factor as demonstrated in the 2014 final.
That’s why Argentina is third on this list. – @SabeloBoksburg
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