Round 2, The Quarterfinals 2018 World Cup Quick Guide

   The round of 16 concluded two days ago with England breaking their world cup curse and defeating Colombia in a penalty shootout. The 2018 World Cup has been exciting to watch, the drama is unmatched and it seems as if this world cup is scripted, the writers have no idea of continuity. There are 8 teams left after the round of 16 and the matches will only become more tense and dramatic. Russia, Croatia, Sweden, England, Uruguay, France, Brazil and Belgium are among the 8 world's best international teams in the 2018 world cup edition.

July 6

     Uruguay vs France

     The first match of the quarterfinals will be Uruguay and France facing off. This is an enticing match due to the quality of the teams. France destroyed the Argentina side to reach the quarterfinals. Kylian Mbappe demonstrated to the rest of the world that the next footballing star is here. The French side has talented players across the field from their veteran captain goalkeeper to Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann. I can understand why the sports websites I visit tend to favor the French. 

     

     Uruguay may share a border with Argentina but that's the only similarity that I can think of that their soccer teams share because of how far these two national teams are in terms of structure and consistency on the pitch. Uruguay is a team that is well organized and that can tactically defend any opponent that they face. Uruguay's head coach, Oscar Tabarez, has been in charge since 2006 and has implemented from the youth to the national team level on how he wants his side to perform. Do not let this confuse you into believing it's due to lack of quality. This is done with purposeful intentions and following their game plan. Uruguay's first goal against Portugal was the longest one-two between Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani that resulted in a beautifully executed goal. This match is worthy of a semi-final, but only one will advance. I do not understand the numbers I see in the sports websites that I visit in having France as clear favorites. Uruguay have a game plan and a coach who can adjust his team accordingly. I personally want and think Uruguay will win, but France are the favorites here. But the odds should be closer to 50-50 than 63-37. 

     Brazil vs Belgium 

     The next match later that day will be between two early tournament favorites, Brazil vs Belgium. Any time Brazil enters an international competition they can be easily be penciled in as tournament protagonist. The 5 time world cup winners pride themselves in their footballing abilities and their approach to play the game in a Brazilian fashion. That being said this Brazilian side share a very good defensive record this tournament. The Brazilians have only conceded 1 goal this world cup. The only other team left in the quarterfinals to do that is their South American neighbors, Uruguay. 

     Belgium has an insane overabundance of talent in their squad. Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, and Kevin De Bruyne are the three intelligent and talented players that easily stick out on any roster sheet. This Belgium side is considered by some a "golden generation" that should be challenging to win the tournament and I can understand why. For me this talented Belgium side have not clicked or found a unison rhythm in their play. However, this team can definitely challenge tournament heavyweights. I don't have a clear bias in this match and can see Brazil winning the match. However, Casemiro is out for Brazil due to suspension. If Marcelo starts over Felipe Luis in this match I can see Brazil getting easily countered by the Belgium side. It won't be a 7-1 humiliation or necessarily a defeat, but I see it as a tactical mishap that increases Belgium's probability in winning the match.

               

     

     

2018 FIFA Men's World Cup (Group E)

Group E

Brazil (2)

Switzerland (6)

Costa Rica (25)

Serbia (35)

                Brazil headlines Group E in this summer’s World Cup. Brazil comfortably finished first in the CONMEBOL qualification with a 10-point lead over their closes rivals, Uruguay, who finished second. The 2014 World Cup was hosted in Brazil that ended in a manner that most Brazilians wish didn’t happen. There were protest on the streets by the Brazilian people who preferred improvement in social services than FIFA’s white elephant gift. Adding to the devastation Brazil went on to infamously lose 7-1 to Germany in the semi-finals. I am pretty sure as the tournament looms closer none of the Brazilians need a reminder of their painful exit from the previous world cup. Brazil are favorites to come out as the winners of group E given that they are an improved team and that their competition isn’t up to par with the selecao. Not only are they favorites to come out first in their group Brazil is also -as in most, if not every world cup-  favorites to win the tournament.

                Brazil’s most difficult hurdle to get through will be Switzerland. I don’t necessarily believe Switzerland is the currently the 6^th best team in the world, but they provide a different challenge to the Brazilian national team. Switzerland has players such as Xherdan Shaqiri, Stepham Lichtsteiner, and Ricardo Rodriguez that play in big clubs or in Shaqiri’s case a league with a high-quality level. Switzerland isn’t the most exciting national team to watch, but they have been consistent qualifying for their fourth consecutive world cup. Which is impressive given that the UEFA qualifications can come down to a bit of luck for smaller nations based on which of the more traditional powerhouse teams are in the group. In Switzerland’s case it was Portugal. Both teams finished with 27 points, but Portugal finished first due to tiebreaker rules. Switzerland can maneuver their way into finishing second and reaching the round of 16.

                Costa Rica were a breath of fresh air last world cup. Los Ticos finished 1^st in a group that was made up of 3 previous world cup winners; England, Uruguay, and Italy were the three teams that made up the “Group of death.”  Costa Rica reached the quarter-finals in Brazil only to be eliminated by the Netherlands in a penalty shootout. Could Costa Rica perform a repeat of their miracle run? Of course, but it is less likely. If Costa Rica manages to get second place they will play the winner of group F, which will most likely be Germany. The Costa Rican side has more experience coming in as most players will return from the 2014 squad, yet from what I seen there are plenty of players that haven’t had a good campaign this season to reinforce them as legitimate giant slayers.

                Serbia finished first in their world cup qualification group. I wouldn’t put to much emphasis on the first place due to the strength of the group. As I mentioned before the UEFA qualifications could be brutal or giving to smaller footballing nations. In Serbia’s case it was a gift. Their group consisted of Republic of Ireland -who finished 2^nd- Wales, Austria, Georgia, and Moldova. Georgia and Moldova had a combination of zero wins. This shouldn’t be a knock on the Serbian national team. They were drawn in a group and they did what they planned out to do which was qualify for the World Cup in Russia. In the analyzing aspect it is difficult to say Serbia will come out as first or second without saying it simply to be as giving as Serbia’s UEFA qualification group.

                Brazil will finish first and second will be Costa Rica. Yes, Costa Rica!  

World Cup Power Rankings w/explanations

              The FIFA men's world cup is approaching fast. Soon the world will set their sights on Russia for the 2018 tournament. There are a few notable nations that failed to qualify for the world cup final stage. Italy, Netherlands, Chile, and the United States are the teams that disappointingly failed to reach the tournament. Of the four teams Italy is the only one to have won the world cup (4x) and the Netherlands have reached the final 3 times only to lose all three. Chile is a team with exceptional players and could have easily been a dark horse this summer. The disappointment of the United States failure is based more on the fact that the CONCACAF is a relatively easier qualification process due to the presumed lack of strength by the competition.
            But, the tournament isn't going to be won by a team that isn't there. The teams that are there, all 32, have the same chance and number of games required of them,7, to win the tournament. However, some teams are better equipped to lift the world cup.

1. Brazil 
   Why are they number 1? The 5x world cup champions eased through their qualification. The Brazilian team finished 10 points ahead of 2nd place Uruguay, in which I would argue is the most difficult region to qualify to the world cup do to their format and quality of the top 6 teams in the 10 team CONMEBOL confederation.

    Why doubt them? Brazil hasn't fared well lately in the past World Cup tournaments. Since winning the 2002 World cup Brazil has been eliminated in the quarter-finals by France, Netherlands, and in a semi-final where they were humiliated, on their on soil, by a German side that went on to win it all. It doesn't help that their star player, Neymar, will be coming back from injury right around the start of the tournament.

    It has been 16 years since Brazil last lifted a world cup trophy. For their standards that is a drought, but the reason they are my number one spot is for the fact that they are Brazil. Yes, Neymar is an excellent player and will be missed if he isn't fully fit. This team isn't the same one from four years ago who will collapse due to a few injuries. This team may not play as inspirational as past generations, but can definitely win 7 games.     

2. Germany
     Why number 2? Germany is a power house, plain and simple. Their model on developing players and how the federation invested heavily on youth programs has come into fruition. The Die Mannschaft  won the world cup four times and are the current champions after their triumph in Brazil. Most will probably have Germany as their number 1, but at this point it's just preference. Germany had a relatively easy time progressing through their group to qualify for Russia.

    Why doubt them? To summarize, you don't. The only issue I see this team having is the Goalkeeper situation as Neuer has been injured for a majority of the season and ter Stegen playing well for an undefeated Barcelona team could easily force Neuer to sit on the bench as the number 2 Goalkeeper.

   This is a problem that most managers wouldn't mind. Having two world class goalkeepers is the least of the team's problem and if that is the biggest issue the German side has than they are sitting in pretty good shape heading into the tournament.

3. Spain
    Why number 3? Spain has a squad with talent and depth to spare.That can be seen through jealous or admirable, or even both, eyes from anyone who isn't Spanish or cares for their success.

    Why doubt them? Spain had a horrible world cup in Brazil. One can easily point out that if could have been stagnation or a world cup hang over from previously winning the 2010 world cup and 2012 Euros.

    Spain is a team that hasn't performed to their expected standard in the last two major international tournaments (2014 World Cup and Euros 2016), but with the talent this Spanish side has it difficult to see this national side repeat their failures from the 2014 summer tournament in Brazil.

4. Argentina
    Why fourth? The Argentinian side is full of attacking players. They also have in Messi arguably the best player in the world. Just give the ball to Messi and any team has a chance on winning the match. The head coach, Jorge Sampaoli, tends to get his teams to be organized and if he can do that with the  Argentinian national side for the summer then this team has a chance on reaching the final again.

     Why doubt them? The 2x world cup champions lost to Germany in the final in Brazil and were eliminated by them as well in the previous two world cups when the two sides met in the quarter-finals. And Messi had to save the team on the last match in qualifications from being one of the more recognizable national teams from failing to make the world cup. Argentina may have the best player, but the rest of the team tends to fall short when they put on the Albiceleste jersey.

5. France
    Why fifth? I am aware the French national side lost the Euros 2016 final to Portugal. However, the French national team has notably better and younger talent that makes this a team for the future. Yet, there is enough experience on the team to propel Les Bleus to reach the latter round of the knock-out stages.

   Why doubt them? The French side is hindered by having excellent players all across the board. The issue with them is how their head coach, Didier Deschamps, will line up the team, how will they play, and move them forward. Which tends to be the criticism he is getting by the French press to this day and the world cup is less than 100 days away.

6. Portugal
   Why sixth? The Portuguese won the Euro 2016 in France with Ronaldo sidelined on the bench due to injury. This means that one can't solely judge this national side solely on the status of their star player. Ronaldo is picking form again at the right time for his club team. If he can bring that form into the world cup then Portugal will be a team that can easily challenge the more well established national teams.

    Why doubt them? They tied with Switzerland on points during the qualifying stage only to get the automatic birth to the world cup due to goal difference. Yes, they did win the Euros 2016, but they did it in a fashion that most would classify their triumph to Greece in 2004 than Spain. 

7. Uruguay
    Why seventh? Uruguay finished 2nd in the CONMEBOL qualifications and have a team with a rough defense that will trouble the world's best attacking players and on the other end have goal scoring pair other teams will have trouble stopping in Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. Stuani is having an excellent season with Girona as well.

    Why doubt them? The midfield is usually designed to make sure the back line isn't easily exposed. Making the overall team play very defensive and can leave their excellent strikers to fend for themselves.

8. England 
    Why 8th? The English have a manager in Gareth Southgate and if Henry Kane is healthy and in his top goal scoring form then England has a chance to silence the critics (mainly themselves) in being great underachievers.

     Why doubt them? To keep it simple they are England. I am a harsh critic of the English in the footballing world due to a variety of factors. One of them is that i disagree that they are underachievers. I just think the English need to come to terms and realize they were never an elite footballing nation on the international stage. That being said, I actually would prefer this English side to win the tournament.

9. Colombia
   Why ninth? For the footballing romantic Colombia is the team to root for. A  team that is suppose to be more defensive than their play displays due to their Jose Pekerman, the Colombian national team coach, more tactical defensive approach towards the game. With players such as James Rodriguez, Falcao, and Cuadrado can make any team exciting to watch going forward on the counter.

    Why doubt them? The Colombian national side captured the hearts of fans during the 2014 tournament in Brazil. Only to be defeated 2-1 by Brazil in a match that displayed the brutal and physical side when two CONMEBOL sides play each other. Colombia may be fun to watch, but can't hold their own against more physical teams. Add the quality of the top European teams on this list and it's difficult to see this national side as anything but an underdog.

10. Belgium
     Why 10th? Belgium has a talented squad from Courtois in goal, a midfield with the likes of De Bruyne, and an attack that consists of Eden Hazard and Lukaku. A golden generation in some sort of way that has an opportunity to upset any of the favorites this summer.

   Why doubt them? They lost to Wales in France during the 2016 Euros. For all the talent that this Belgium side may have, the probability of them being a wasted generation seems more likely than this side lifting up any major international trophy.