Who will win the World Cup?

With eight teams still in the 2022 World Cup, the chances of winning the tournament are getting smaller and smaller.

There are the usual favourites. France and England have a tasty quarter-final. Lionel Messi and Argentina face the Netherlands in a rematch in the 2014 semifinal. Then Brazil and Portugal relieved their respective opponents in the round of 16 to advance. Finally, Croatia, number two of 2018, is back in the last eight, an example of the success strategy of four years ago.

Still, the story of the knockout stage so far is Morocco. Admittedly, Morocco is much less talented than the other teams in the quarter-finals. Hakim Ziyech, Achraf Hakimi, Sofiane Boufal and Sofyan Amrabat are a joy to watch. Yassine Bounou, or Bono for short, also won the Man of the Match award against Spain for his penalty heroics. He didn’t let a shot go by as Morocco won 3–0 on penalties.

Technically, any of the eight teams can win. Form-wise, it’s a different story. Some teams seem ripe for the challenge. As mentioned, Brazil blew through its opponents. France is looking strong as usual, as is England. Argentina may have struggled late but still looked competent against Australia.

Funnily enough, these were the four teams with the highest ranking to win the competition before it kicked off on November 20. The next three, Spain, Germany and Belgium, all had to leave the tournament somewhat embarrassingly. But Spain has at least left the group.

Who will win the 2022 World Cup?

Those bets have changed, but the favorite to win it all remains Brazil. That’s not too much of a surprise. Tite’s team entered as the deepest team in the tournament. Despite Neymar picking up a beat, his team didn’t miss a beat. This allowed Richarlison to really shine at the top of the formation. Vinícius and Raphinha are not exactly bad options on the wing either.

However, can a team usurp Brazil for that spot? Croatia is the next opponent and the Croatians have a history of success against top teams. Brazil can then meet the Netherlands in the semi-final. Louis van Gaal put together a master class against the United States, and he was able to outsmart the Brazilians. Or it could be Argentina. The two fierce rivals would put together a game for all ages steeped in passion. As a neutral, that would be my favorite semi-final.

France and England are also keen to talk to each other as neither showed any real weakness at any point in this tournament.

So, who is your pick to take home the trophy from Qatar?