The Qatar World Cup funnel is getting narrower. Of the 32 teams that started the tournament on November 20, when Ecuador defeated the hosts 2-0, only 8 remain in the race for the FIFA Cup.
There are five from Europe (France, England, Holland, Portugal and Croatia), two from South America (Brazil and Argentina) and one from Africa (Morocco).
By history, it is necessary to consider Brazil the biggest favorite.
There are five World Cup trophies (he lifted the Jules Rimet Cup three times and the Fifa Cup twice), the same number as the other seven teams combined.
French and Argentine are two-time world champions. The English triumphed once. Portuguese, Dutch (who hit the beam three times) and Moroccans never made it to the top.
Experience and tradition also count in favor of the Brazilian team, the only one to be present in all 22 editions of the Cup held – the first was in 1930, in Uruguay.
Brazil’s favoritism increases if we take into account the Fifa ranking, in which Tite’s selection occupies the first position.
Below are Argentina (third), France (fourth) and England (fifth) – second on the list, Belgium fell out of the group stage.
Morocco, considered the ranking (22nd place), is the dark horse. The first Arabic-speaking country to reach this stage of the Cup bets a lot on its defense, which conceded a single goal in four games.
The Brazilians reached the quarterfinals with a satisfactory attack: 7 goals scored, an average of 1.75 per game. Only 4 of the 7 came out in the same game, the 4-1 defeat in South Korea.
More effective than Brazil in the offensive part are England and Portugal (both with 12 goals), France (9) and Holland (8). And a Frenchman is the top scorer in this Cup: Mbappé, with 5 – for Brazil, Richarlison has 3.
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