Some time ago we watched a couple of National League games and the last World Cup qualifiers, and Wales qualified for the World Cup. For South America, they have friendlies, with Argentina playing Italy in Wembley's "Finalissima". Other African countries also have friendlies and AFCON qualifiers.
Brazil, France, England, Argentina, Spain and Germany are often heard when discussing possible World Cup winning favourites. That's four European powerhouses and two South American giants. If history were to repeat itself, european countries would most likely win.
However, when looking at recent international competitions, this may not be the case. European heavyweights are struggling in the new National League season. There is an argument about loose teams and no good players, but judgments can still be made.
France have not won a single of their last four matches. England have not scored in the open game in five hours, while Spain and Germany have been volatile. As mentioned earlier, the stability of the team may play an important role in this regard, as players start playing after completing their domestic season. But most of these teams' concerns are legitimate and can be traced back to previous international competitions.
While European countries are struggling to find consistency and competition plans, two countries in South America look ready to use the moment to lift the most prestigious team trophy of all sport (the World Cup). They are Brazil and Argentina.
Beautiful football in Brazil
After not winning the World Cup in the past few years, the Samba team is ready to take the World Cup home. Since the disappointing journey of 2018, Brazil won the Copa America in 2019 and lost to Argentina last summer to finish runners-up.
If there's one key difference between this Brazilian team and the team at the 2018 World Cup, it's the atmosphere and feel of the team, aside from the players.
The iteration of national team personnel over the past decade has put a lot of pressure on Brazil, especially at the 2014 World Cup, and no one felt this more than Neymar. The Brazilian Golden Boy, who will become the top scorer in Brazil's history in Qatar, is already feeling the pressure to win the title. All the great predecessors before him did it and left a deep mark on history.
Now, with the rise of Vinicius Junior, Lucas Paqueta, Rafinha and Edelmilito, with the increase in talent, the team's tacit understanding is getting higher and higher, and the players also enjoy playing with each other – you can see beautiful light passes and one-touch scoring on the pitch and feel it in the team activities off the pitch.
Neymar hinted that this was his last World Cup, and while that wasn't necessarily true, it was an extra momentum. With a group stage match against Cameroon, Serbia and Switzerland, Brazil should be confident of reaching the knockout stages.
Since their only weakness is the defender, Brazil should be confident in their chances if the team strengthens in this part. They have world-class players in every position on the pitch, which should be enough to win the game.
Offense will be a key factor as head coach Tite wants to keep them defensively compact. Therefore, the front line needs to show their talents and create a lot of chances to win. For players like Neymar and Vinicius, it doesn't look hard.
Can Argentina, with Messi, win the World Cup?
While Brazil is considered the top three most popular to win, the current Copa America title, while recently successful, does not fall into this category.
After reaching the final in 2014 and losing to Germany, Argentina experienced a tough match in 2018, losing to eventual champions France in the round of 16. With poor cohesion within the team and intermittent problems, the game was doomed from the start.
Four years later, Argentina is more similar to the team in 2018 than the team in 2014. The reputation is not great, but their performance on the pitch matches it, and most importantly Lionel Messi.
This is likely to be Messi's last match at the #World Cup, and he is certainly eager to win the final victory. After winning his first national trophy last summer, the legendary Number 10 is eager for even greater success. With the exception of him and Cristiano Ronaldo, every great star the sport has ever seen has won the World Cup. While he has won many trophies, this is the most important one missing in his brilliant career.
Argentina doesn't just have Messi, there are many other players who play alongside him. One of them was Angel Di Maria, who scored the winning goal in that Copa America. The striker missed the 2014 final and could have had a different outcome if he had been healthy then. And then there's Rodrigo de Paulo, who is the engine of midfield and has performed well last year. Defensively, they have Christian Romero and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
All in all, it's not a gorgeous team, it's a player who knows how to play together and get the results they need. It's the key to championship football and the philosophy instilled in them by head coach Lionel Scaloni.