We're six days away from the start of the World Cup. Yes, the timing is bizarre. Yes, the body count Qatar racked up in building its stadiums is horrific. Yes, this is probably going to be the most dude-heavy World Cup ever from an attendance standpoint (because women, especially South American ones, are basically outlawed). Yet it's still a battle for eternal glory.
Here's ESPN blurbs on each team: https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-wor...iews-for-qatar.
Full squad lists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_F...rld_Cup_squads.
Brazil is heading into this installment with what looks like their best team since 2002 (the last time they won). We'll get to see early on whether they can overwhelm a low block, because that's all they're going to see in their group (Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon).
My rando predictions:
- The U.S. wins its group, then loses to Ecuador or Senegal at the start of the knockout rounds.
- Big name teams that could be in trouble: Spain (they have no clue what their starting 11 is), Belgium (golden generation getting old). Both are in very tough groups.
- Sleeper team: could be Croatia again (because Luka Modric is still a genius), but I really like Uruguay to make some noise. It's got to beat Portugal to win its group, but it's got what might be a golden generation just hitting its prime.
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