Our much awaited football tournament, the 2022 FIFA World Cup has arrived. It began right from November 20 at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar and will run until December 18 with the final taking place in Lusail Iconic Stadium in Doha. This tournament will see 32 national teams competing for the one FIFA World Cup trophy including the bestest from Brazil to Messi’s Argentina.
A total of 64 matches will be held during the course of 28 days. Most prominent teams of this World Cup are considered to be host Qatar, the current football champion, France and Brazil, the nation with most wins. Well, among 32 teams, it is going to be difficult to say who will win the World Cup and have their name written on the gold World Cup trophy. Some predictions are being made by several researchers, enthusiasts and many more people sitting in high positions. 
Brazil, the first in the list
Several Researchers and Analysts predict that the Brazilian team is on the list of favorites in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Brazil has already won the World Cup five times more than any other nation (Germany and Italy – four times winner). It is said that Brazil is in the best form and expected to perform well. It is all ready to take its place back lifting the World Cup trophy after two decades in the Qatar World Cup.
Analyst Opta Million has predicted Brazil to be one of the favorites in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, followed by Argentina, France, Spain and England. Another Analyst,Joshua Bull who is also a mathematical modeler has also predicted that Brazil is going to be the winner of Qatar FIFA World Cup using the Oxford Mathematics 2022 World Cup predictor. Top better Caesars Sportsbook has named Brazil as one of its favorites to win the World Cup at 4-1 followed by Argentina (11-2), France (13-2), England (15-2), and Spain (15-2).
Even FIFA is also supposed to think that way. As it tweeted “Ronaldo stole the show in the 2002 #FIFAWorldCup final!” two days before the World Cup began in Qatar.
Another major metric which indicates the strength of Brazil is that Lionel Messi, the Argentine football legend admitted that Brazil is one of their biggest threats to his dream of finally getting a World Cup winners’ medal for his country.
Brazil has a long list of talented players in their official team which consists of three goalkeepers, eight defenders, six midfielders and nine forwards.
Goalkeepers: Ederson, Alisson and Weverton.
Defenders: Danilo, Alex Telles, Eder Militao, Thiago Silva, Dani Alves, Alex Sandro, Bremer, and Marquinhos.
Midfielders: Bruno Guimarães, Everton Ribeiro, Fred, Casemiro, Fabinho, and Lucas Paqueta.
Forwards: Gabriel Jesus, Neymar, Raphinha, Rodrygo, Antony, Gabriel Martinelli, Pedro, Richarlison, and Vinicus Jr.
Base of the Prediction
When it comes to Prediction, anyone can predict anything but how do we consider one legit. There has to be a relevant base of the Prediction to call it legit in any way. According to Analyst Opta Million’s artificial intelligence Prediction model, Brazil has a 16.3% chance of winning the tournament and lifting the trophy while the model suggests the highest probability of Brazil reaching the final is 25%. Brazil will play in the Group G along with Cameron, Switzerland and Serbia.
As per the FiveThirtyEight Soccer Power Index, Brazil also topped the list of predicted winners. The Brazilian squad has many superstars from the world’s biggest and most competitive leagues including Casemiro (Manchester United), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Thiago Silva (Chelsea), Alisson (Liverpool), Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal), and Raphinha.
Argentina, second after Brazil
As per the FiveThirtyEight Soccer Power Index, Argentina could be the winner of Qatar FIFA World Cup if Brazil comes unsuccessful to lift the gold trophy. Messi’s hometown Argentina is the second probable winner of this tournament having the football legend, Lionel Messi on his side.
After Brazil, this South American state has a 13 percent chance of winning the tournament as being one of the favorites. Messi is in his best form with Argentina in Group C along with Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Poland.
In the 2014 World Cup, Messi lost the game, being one step away from the trophy. He reached the final but was defeated by Germany in extra time. At present, Copa America Champion Argentina is in its best form and Messi would probably be playing his last World Cup. So, it has to be a special event for both of them and they are also prepared to make it remarkable.
Argentina’s probability of winning the tournament seems more true when we look at the players in their team who have undefeated talent. Argentine team:
Goalkeepers: Geronimo Rulli, Franco Armani and Emiliano Martinez.
Defenders: Nicolas Tagliafico, German Pazzela, Nicolas Otamendi, Nahuel Molina, Juan Foyth, Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, and Lisandro Martinez.
Midfielders: Rodrigo De Paul, Exequiel Palacios, Guido Rodriguez, Enzo Fernandez, Leandro Paredes, Marcus Acuna, Alejandro Gomez, Alexis Mac Allister.
Forwards: Angel Di Maria, Julian Alvarez, Paulo Dybala, Lionel Messi, Nicolas Gonzalez, Joaquin Correa and Lautaro Martinez.
Messi, The Greatest
Messi is considered the greatest footballer in the world. Everyone, especially Argentina, looks up to him to win most of the best games. There’s a possibility that this could be Messi’s last World Cup and that’s why everyone has their eyes on him. What Messi did in the 2014 FIFA World Cup makes people have greater expectations from him. Though he has struggled a lot against European teams, fans are confident that Messi will be the player of the year to lift the famous gold trophy for Argentina.
France
After Brazil and Argentina, France ranks third as one of the favorites in the FIFA World Cup 2022. The current football champion has won the tournament two times in the history but yet it made it to the favorites in Qatar. Apart from being favourites, France is also predicted to lift the gold trophy once again and hold on to its title. There is a possibility that France will lift the trophy if Brazil and Argentina fail to score the victory.
France won its first World Cup title in 1998 and second in 2018 two decades later. France has also hosted the tournament once in 1938 where it was defeated by Italy in quarter finals. The French national team is full of great players who have or are a part of Major football clubs like Tottenham, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, etc.
French squad for Qatar World Cup:
Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (West Ham), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), and Steve Mandanda (Stade Rennes).
Defenders: William Saliba (Arsenal), Raphael Varane (Manchester United), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Axel Disasi (Monaco), Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich), Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan), and Jules Kounde (Barcelona).
Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Matteo Guendouzi (Marseille), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Jordan Veretout (Marseille), and Youssouf Fofana (Monaco).
Forwards: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Marcus Thuram (Borussia Monchengladbach).
Facts
Here are some interesting facts to note regarding these World Cup wins. Did you know that the nation with the most World Cup wins, Brazil, has only played one world cup final with Germany ( country with second most Soccer wins -4) between 1950 and 2002. Yes, the FIFA World Cup final never featured both of these countries together from 1950 to 2002 except for one time. This exception is when in 1978 Argentina defeated the Netherlands. 2002 was the sole tournament finals in which Brazil and Germany played each other.
