While reigning French champions are surrounded by injuries and fears, perennial title favorites Brazil are having their best day ever: top contenders for the prize trophy at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have been representing different levels at the end of the year, two months before the start of the global developments.
unconvincing
France, the 2018 world champion in Russia, was content with one victory in their last six matches against modest Austria (2-0) and avoided relegation to the second tier in the European Nations League.
There is no doubt that coach Didier Deschamps has faced many absentees such as Karim Benzema, this year’s most prominent Ballon d’Or candidate, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris or playmaker Paul Pogba, who is torn between a knee injury and family problems outside of football. club. green rectangle.
England, who finished second to last year’s European champions and reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, could not avoid relegation to the second tier of the Nations League after three draws and three defeats in their group, in which they found themselves at the bottom. behind Italy, Hungary and Germany.
“It’s been a strange period, several teams have managed to find their form and level,” coach Gareth Southgate said after a 3-3 draw with Germany in the last match.
Doubts about Germany and Spain
There are also doubts about Germany, but to a lesser extent, after losing 1-0 at home to Hungary in the penultimate round, they were eliminated from the competition to reach the final of the League of Nations after being eliminated from the last eight. in the European Cup last year.
But coach Hansi Flick’s team has the resources and an ambitious younger generation, embodied in winger Jamal Musiyala, signed for the World Cup in Group E alongside Spain, led by coach Luis Enrique, who plays beautiful football despite repeated doubts about the position of an outspoken striker and goalkeeper Unai Simon.
Spain, who reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, beat hosts Portugal 1-0 on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals of the Nations League and once again raised doubts with Cristiano Ronaldo and his colleagues, who needed a play-off to reach the World Cup final.
For its part, the Netherlands, which along with Italy were most notably absent from the 2018 World Cup, arrive with a new generation and great momentum after reaching the last square in the Nations League in June 2023.
Brazil and Argentina
If there is a top contender for the title it could be Brazil, who have won their last seven matches in which they have scored 26 goals and conceded only two. His star Neymar is enjoying the best days of his career at Paris Saint-Germain and Seleção and, along with his samba teammates, he delivers great performances reminiscent of previous golden generations, with an abundance of talented players at the forefront. which can become a “headache” for coach Tite.
“We are on the right track,” captain Thiago Silva said after a 5-1 win over Tunisia on Tuesday, leaving Brazil undefeated for the 15th consecutive match, especially after losing the Copa America final against Argentina last year.
For their part, the Tango team arrives in Qatar in great shape after a 35-match unbeaten streak with an eye on breaking Italy’s record of 37.
Qatar, the 2019 Asian champions, are approaching their first appearance at the World Cup without any certainty.
Al-Annabi didn’t have a convincing showing in the last international window as he lost to Croatia for the Under-23s (3-0) and Canada (2-0) before drawing with Chile (2-2).
On the African side, recent warm-up matches have been able to calm African champions Senegal and Morocco, but both Ghana and Tunisia have lost heavily to Brazil.
