Check out your country’s football team ranking in our 2018 FIFA World Cup fearless prediction, there’s no United States here or Chile in case you don’t know. Also, we take a look at their announced 23-man (preliminary) squad list and you’ll be the judge if those players are worthy of being included there or not. Let’s begin!
Top 16 Egypt
Essam El Hadary, Mohamed El-Shennawy, Sherif Ekramy, Mohamed Awad; Ahmed Fathi, Saad Samir, Ayman Ashraf, Mahmoud Hamdy, Mohamed Abdel-Shafy, Ahmed Hegazi and Ali Gabr, Ahmed Elmohamady, Karim Hafez, Omar Gaber, Amro Tarek; Tarek Hamed, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Shikabala, Abdallah Said, Sam Morsy, Mohamed Elneny, Kahraba, Ramadan Sobhi, Trezeguet, Amr Warda; Marwan Mohsen, Ahmed Gomaa, Kouka, Mohamed Salah
The thing that Egypt has to do is to beat host Russia in the group stage to salvage the second ticket. Uruguay is too good for them and we think they could easily beat Saudi Arabia. Will be beaten soundly by World Cup favorites Spain in the Round of 16.
Top 15 Nigeria
Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Daniel Akpeyi, Francis Uzoho, Dele Ajiboye; William Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun, Olaoluwa Aina, Kenneth Omeruo, Bryan Idowu, Chidozie Awaziem, Abdullahi Shehu, Elderson Echiejile, Tyronne Ebuehi, Stephen Eze, John Obi Mikel, Ogenyi Onazi, John Ogu, Wilfred Ndidi, Uche Agbo, Oghenekaro Etebo, Joel Obi; Mikel Agu; Odion Ighalo, Ahmed Musa, Victor Moses, Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Moses Simon, Junior Lokosa, Simeon Nwankwo
The best African team but with bad luck in the group stage. They will lose to Argentina of course, but they need to beat Iceland, the second European favorite for its fairytale football story, to get past the group stage. Will be beaten by France in the Round of 16.
Top 14 Switzerland
Switzerland’s World Cup 2018 squad: TBC.
A promising team that has gone bad, they will place second to another World Cup favorite Brazil in the group stage, but first, they need to beat Costa Rica. Sadly, they will face the holders Germany in Round of 16 so no chance of advancing there.
Top 13 Uruguay
Fernando Muslera, Martin Silva, Martin Campana, Diego Godin, Sebastian Coates, Jose Maria Gimenez, Maximiliano Pereira, Gaston Silva, Martin Caceres, Guillermo Varela, Nahitan Nandez, Lucas Torreira, Matias Vecino, Federico Valverde, Rodrigo Bentancur, Carlos Sanchez, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Diego Laxalt, Cristian Rodriguez, Jonathan Urretaviscaya, Nicolas Lodeiro, Gaston Ramirez, Cristhian Stuani, Maximiliano Gomez, Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez
One of the South American favorites, Uruguay will top the starless Group A which includes the host Russia. Will face Portugal in Round of 16 but they need some work to do if they want to get past that round.
Top 12 England
Jack Butland, Nick Pope, Jordan Pickford; Fabian Delph, Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harry Maguire, John Stones, Phil Jones, Gary Cahill; Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ashley Young, Dele Alli, Raheem Sterling; Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
The curiously top European favorite though we don’t see why. England will place second to Belgium in the group stage in another easy bracket (with Panama and Tunisia) but will seriously 100%, be knocked out by Colombia in Round of 16.
Top 11 Denmark
Kasper Schmeichel, Jonas Lossl, Frederik Ronow, Jesper Hansen; Simon Kjaer, Andreas Christensen, Mathias Jorgensen, Jannik Vestergaard, Andreas Bjelland, Henrik Dalsgaard, Peter Ankersen, Jens Stryger, Riza Durmisi, Jonas Knudsen, Nicolai Boilesen; William Kvist, Thomas Delaney, Lukas Lerager , Lasse Schone, Mike Jensen, Christian Eriksen, Daniel Wass, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Mathias Jensen, Michael Krohn-Dehli, Robert Skov; Pione Sisto , Martin Braithwaite, Andreas Cornelius, Viktor Fischer, Yussuf Poulsen, Nicolai Jorgensen, Nicklas Bendtner, Kasper Dolberg, Kenneth Zohore
A promising team which is one of the dark horses in the World Cup, they will sadly place second only to a strong France in the group stage before they will be eliminated by Argentina in Round of 16 unless they knocked Lionel Messi out with a strong performance. If they advance they will meet yet another strong team, Spain, and we don’t see any way for them to move past that.
Top 10 Poland
Bartosz Bialkowski, Lukasz Fabianski, Lukasz Skorupski, Wojciech Szczesny; Jan Bednarek, Bartosz Bereszynski, Thiago Cionek, Kamil Glik, Artur Jedrzejczyk, Marcin Kaminski, Tomasz Kedziora, Michal Pazdan, Lukasz Piszczek; Jakub Blaszczykowski, Pawel Dawidowicz, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Jacek Goralski, Maciej Rybus, Sebastian Szymanski, Piotr Zielinski, Szymon Zurkowski; Dawid Kownacki, Robert Lewandowski, Arkadiusz Milik, Krzysztof Piatek, Lukasz Teodorczyk, Kamil Wilczek
Another promising team for years now, Poland will place second to Colombia or maybe it’ll be another way around. If they top the group stage, they will meet England which will give them more chance to win, but if they place second, they will face Belgium and this match should be interesting. Either way, if they moved pass Round 16 they could meet Germany and Spain after that and we don’t see how they could perform two miracles, let alone one.
Top 9 Mexico
Guillermo Ochoa, Jesus Corona, Alfredo Talavera; Diego Reyes, Héctor Moreno, Miguel Layún, Carlos Salcedo, Edson Álvarez, Néstor Araujo, Jesús Gallardo, Hugo Ayala, Rafael Márquez; Jonathan dos Santos, Andrés Guardado, Héctor Herrera, Marco Fabián, Javier Aquino, Jonathan González, Jesús Molina y Erick Gutiérrez; Tecatito Corona, Hirving Lozano, Chicharito Hernández, Raúl Jiménez, Carlos Vela, Javier Aquino, Jurgen Damm, Giovani dos Santos
At first, one of the World Cup favorites, our hopes for Mexico has turned sour. They will finish second in the group stage with holders Germany topping the group. We don’t see why they couldn’t beat Sweden. They will face a hungry Brazil in Round of 16 and that’ll be some match to watch.
Top 8 Colombia
David Ospina, Camilo Vargas, Ivan Arboleda, Jose Fernando Cuadrado; Cristian Zapata, Davinson Sanchez, Santiago Arias, Oscar Murillo, Frank Fabra, Johan Mojica, Yerry Mina, William Tesillo, Bernardo Espinosa, Stefan Medina, Farid Diaz; Wilmar Barrios, Carlos Sanchez, Jefferson Lerma, Jose Izquierdo, James Rodriguez, Giovanni Moreno, Abel Aguilar, Mateus Uribe, Yimmi Chara, Juan Fernando Quintero, Edwin Cardona, Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Gustavo Cuellar, Sebastian Perez; Radamel Falcao Garcia, Duvan Zapata, Miguel Borja, Carlos Bacca, Luis Fernando Muriel, Teofilo Gutierrez
Our favorite Colombia will have no problem topping Group H. They will move pass Round of 16, beating England with ease, no problem, but will face the holders Germany which is a tough match to win, with only James Rodriguez as their star.
Top 7 Argentina
Sergio Romero, Nahuel Guzman, Willy Caballero, Franco Armani; Gabriel Mercado, Nicolas Otamendi, Federico Fazio, Nicolas Tagliafico, Marcos Rojo, Marcos Acuna, Ramiro Funes Mori, Cristian Ansaldi, Eduardo Salvio, German Pezzella; Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria, Ever Banega, Lucas Biglia, Manuel Lanzini, Gio Lo Celso, Ricardo Centurion, Guido Pizarro, Leandro Paredes, Maximiliano Meza, Enzo Perez, Pablo Perez, Rodrigo Battaglia; Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala, Mauro Icardi Cristian Pavon, Lautaro Martinez, Diego Perotti
We really like Argentina to lift the Cup this year but Lionel Messi’s team has had some rough roads this past couple of years. With no members to help him, they will have a hard time moving in the Round of 16 and Round of 8. They might survive Denmark, but Spain? That is the question.
Top 6 Portugal
Anthony Lopes, Beto, Rui Patricio; Antunes, Bruno Alves, Cedric Soares, Joao Cancelo, Jose Fonte, Luis Neto, Mario Rui, Nelson Semedo, Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro, Ricardo Pereira, Rolando, Ruben Dias; Adrien Silva, Andre Gomes, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Mario, Joao Moutinho, Manuel Fernandes, Ruben Neves, Sergio Oliveira, William Carvalho; Andre Silva, Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eder, Gelson Martins, Goncalo Guedes, Nani, Paulinho, Ricardo Quaresma; Ronny Lopes
Unlike Messi, his archrival Cristiano Ronaldo has plenty of help on his team although sometimes it seems that he is alone in there. They will place second in the group stage after Spain but will have no problem advancing in the Round of 16 against Uruguay. The problem is, they will face France in the Round of 8. They beat them in the Euro Cup, maybe they could do it again in the World Cup? But this time, we don’t think so.
Top 5 Belgium
Koen Casteels, Thibaut Courtois, Simon Mignolet, Matz Sels; Toby Alderweireld, Dedryck Boyata, Laurent Ciman, Christian Kabasele, Vincent Kompany, Jordan Lukaku, Thomas Meunier, Thomas Vermaelen, Jan Vertonghen; Nacer Chadli, Kevin De Bruyne, Mousa Dembele, Leander Dendoncker, Marouane Fellaini, Youri Tielemans, Axel Witsel; Michy Batshuayi, Christian Benteke, Yannick Carrasco, Eden Hazard, Thorgan Hazard, Adnan Januzaj, Romelu Lukaku, Dries Mertens.
The most underrated but brilliant team, Belgium will have no problem in its group composed of dull teams like that of Group A (sorry not you England). We have high hopes that it will beat Poland in Round of 16, but against Brazil in Round of 8? That will be tough.
Top 4 Spain
David de Gea, Pepe Reina, Kepa Arrizabalaga; Dani Carvajal, Alvaro Odriozola, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Nacho, Cesar Azpilicueta, Jordi Alba, Nacho Monreal; Sergio Busquets, Saul Niquez, Koke, Thiago Alcantara, Andres Iniesta, David Silva; Isco, Marcio Asensio, Lucas Vazquez, Iago Aspas, Rodrigo, Diego Costa.
The favorite to win the Cup this year, with Brazil and Germany, Spain will have no problem in the group stage, as well as in the Round of 16 against Egypt. They will have to work hard though as they will face the tough Argentina team in Round of 8. Will fall out in semifinals against Germany, we bravely predict.
Top 3 Brazil
Alisson, Ederson, Cassio; Danilo, Fagner, Marcelo, Filipe Luis, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Miranda, Pedro Geromel; Casemiro, Fernandinho, Paulinho, Fred, Renato Augusto, Philippe Coutinho, Willian, Douglas Costa; Neymar, Taison, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino
Most of the fans’ favorite to win the Cup (as if they already forgot the humiliating 7-1 loss) the carefully trimmed yet still star-studded team will have no problem in the group stage, but will face tough opponents such as Mexico and Belgium in Round of 16 and Round of 8. Will fall against France in the semifinals, we bravely predict.
Top 2 France
Alphonse Areola, Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Lucas Hernandez, Presnel Kimpembe, Benjamin Mendy, Benjamin Pavard, Adil Rami, Djibril Sidibe, Samuel Umtiti, Raphael Varane, N’Golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi, Steven N’Zonzi, Paul Pogba, Corentin Tolisso, Ousmane Dembele, Nabil Fekir, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Thomas Lemar, Kylian Mbappe, Florian Thauvin
One of the best football teams in history, France will dominate Group C before beating Nigeria in Round of 16, no problem. The match against Argentina in the Round of 8 will be tough and we will watch that closely. They will face Brazil in another must-see match in the semifinals before they will face Germany in the Final.
Top 1 Germany
Bernd Leno, Manuel Neuer, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Kevin Trapp, Jerome Boateng, Matthias Ginter, Jonas Hector, Mats Hummels, Joshua Kimmich, Marvin Plattenhardt, Antonio Rudiger, Niklas Sule, Jonathan Tah, Julian Brandt, Julian Draxler, Mario Gomez, Leon Goretzka, Ilkay Gundogan, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil, Nils Petersen, Marco Reus, Sebastian Rudy, Leroy Sane, Timo Werner.
It’s hard not to envision a team with all of its 23-man squad in a star player level lifting the Cup this year, and we are still impressed on how they won the Confed Cup with only their “C” level players in attendance. But this time, Germany assembled all their stars to win the Cup again. They shouldn’t have any problem in the group stage and with Switzerland in Round of 16. A caution though, if they place second in their group (which is likely seeing there is Mexico), they will face Brazil early on in the competition and we don’t like that. After Round of 16, there will be Colombia, Spain, and France along the way. Their path to the Cup is tough but we’re confident that they could win.
Feature image from: (https://graphicsamhd.deviantart.com/)
Geekgod Review 