© Barney
Although still up in the air as to who will be the final victor, the world cup has thus far carved out some real favorites from the varied cast of World Cup contenders.
Each team has a relatively equal chance of taking home the grand prize and winning their country a pride that each believes is sorely deserved. With the round-of-16 now coming to a close, there are several quarter-finals matches already decided with some heated competition reaching a boiling point.
What we have so far:
As a rollercoaster World Cup settles down, the quarter-finals contenders currently consist of Croatia, Brazil, The Netherlands, Argentina, England and France, with one match still undecided. Three of these teams are set to reach the semi-finals, then the finals and, eventually, take home the cup and some gloating rights. With such fantastic and historically strong competition, who will actually come out on top?As each team prepares their strategy, there is little one can do to avoid trying to puzzle through some of the already set matches and make their own predictions. Perhaps even rising to the occasion and joining in the World Cup fever by placing some educated bets on their guesses on some of the all-new betting sites in the UK, following up the hypotheses in this here article.
The East vs. Pele's pride (Brazil vs. Croatia)
With Croatia being the easternmost and only former Yugoslavian team remaining, there is a lot of national attention peering over their shoulders. Could this finally be a chance for Croatia to take home a cup and bring their region pride? Against this version of Brazil, not likely.Powered by Richarlison and Neymar's stellar performance and entranced by a visage of Pele, team Brazil decided to honor the aging legend by playing to their totality. There is little one can do to stop such a team, evoking sacred memories of Brazilian dominance in the sport. An extremely strong synergy from the entire team is present in the tournament, and isn't expected to leave soon, as they are amongst the top predictions to win even the finals.
Croatia, nonetheless, have a fighting chance behind the classic combo of strong management and a solid team. Livaja and Perišić are forces to be reckoned with with proper coordination and a history of reaching the finals in the previous, 2018 World Cup. However, just inching through to the quarter-finals with ties against Morocco, Belgium and most recently Japan may not cut it when facing a team as strong as Brazil.
The Netherlands and Argentina: Can he do it?
It is no secret that Messi is an aging superstar. Now 35 years old, Leo has one last fighting chance to cement his status as the G.O.A.T. with a World Cup win. On the other hand, The Dutch currently hold the record for reaching the finals a staggering three times and not winning once. To come so close must hurt, but does it hurt bad enough to push them to victory?Following a surprising loss from team Argentina in one of their debut games with Saudi Arabia, a lot of responsibility has been placed in the hands of La Pulga, as he contends with the ever-increasing tournament difficulty. Remaining an incredible player backed by an equally strong team, Messi represents a shining hope for the Argentines as they continued to create conclusive wins against Poland and Australia in the run-up to the quarter-finals.
Much in the same vein as Croatia, The Netherlands are not the expected winners, yet have a decent chance to win out with a close victory. In this tournament of oddities, anything is possible. The Netherlands have proven to be formidable opponents, especially with their victories over Ecuador, Senegal and the USA, setting one of the best points records in points so far. Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong and Cody Gakpo are the true backbone of the team and the ones to watch out for in the tournament, the success is riding on them!
Football's (possibly not) coming home!
In a rivalry as old as the conquests of the Normans in the 11th century, England and France come to settle their differences on the (battle)field. In arguably the closest upcoming match of the tournament so far, both England and France have shown the absolute best in World Cup performance, each fighting their own, unique battle.France seek to win back-to-back FIFA World Cups following their victory in the Russia 2018 World Cup, a feat unprecedented in the modern game. Kylian Mbappé is definitely the standout star of the whole tournament, scoring five goals, in tandem with his partner Giroud, smashing through the competition and placing themselves just below Brazil in their actual chance to take home the cup.
Team England , on the other hand, have the dream to prove themselves on a much larger scale; the pride of winning their first World Cup since 1966. In spite of being a mainstay in the football scene with the ever-famed EPL, England hasn't always performed favorably on a world-cup scale. Despite being packed with talent like Rashford, Graelish and newcomers such as Phil Foden, England have a tough match ahead as they try and remain on the biting edge of victory.
