Brazil is favourite to win World Cup but write off Germany at your peril

3 Predictions for the 2022 Football World Cup

The FIFA World Cup is right around the corner, with the biggest competition in the world of sport on the horizon. The first winter World Cup promises to be one that delivers on the thrills and spills of a tournament halfway through the regular club season.

Despite causing major disruptions for the domestic seasons of most countries, injury permitting, all of the greatest players that hail from each team that has qualified will be there.

When this sheer amount of footballing talent comes together, fireworks are almost always guaranteed. We have made three predictions for the upcoming World Cup, centring on the World Cup winner, top scorer and golden glove winner.

World Cup Winner

The big one. The World Cup is the competition every single player wants to win, with the chance at footballing immortality on offer to the stars that can lift the trophy.

This year, Brazil goes into the competition as the favourites with bookmaker Betr but are they worth being backed?

Brazil has and likely will always be blessed with some of the best footballers on the planet. With five triumphs to their name, the nation have inevitably been the side to beat, and they will once again look towards a mercurial forward in their battle for World Cup number six.

Neymar will be central to the plans of Brazil this year, but can he deal with the pressure? His exploits for PSG and his own nation in recent years would allude to the fact he can shoulder this pressure, but when the chips are down, will he come to Brazil’s rescue?

Many will question why Argentina and England are in the equation when it comes to winning the competition. Both are seen as among the favourites in the world of betting. Argentina does possess some excellent talent, but it always feels like their chances hinge too much on Lionel Messi.

While Messi is arguably the greatest player of all time, the fact he is yet to lift the World Cup shows that he has not quite been able to haul Argentina over the line yet.

When it comes to England, they are always among the favourites and rarely come through. Their array of talent suggests they should be making the last-four as a minimum, but they invariably choke at the first knockout stage.

In a betting sense, Germany are a decent choice as a dark horse as they offer good value and are not really seen as one of the big favourites. However, with Brazil in excellent form and boasting some of the best players in the game, we think they are the side to back.

All the World Cup fixtures can be seen here.

World Cup Winner – Brazil

Dark Horse – Germany

Top Goal Scorer

Pretty much every betting outlet has England’s Harry Kane at the top of the betting when it comes to scoring the most goals at the World Cup. However, Kane and England have struggled for goals of late.

With the exception of their 3–3 draw with Germany in September, England had failed to score in their last three games, while they scored once in five matches. While Kane may be excelling for Tottenham in the Premier League, there will need to be an almighty turnaround for England if Kane is to top score.

Frustratingly for most ‘back the name’ betters, Erling Haaland is missing from the World Cup after Norway failed in their qualification attempt. This means that France’s Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema, Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo are all among the favourites to top score at the competition.

While Ronaldo still has goals in him, his lack of game time and goals for Manchester United will worry most. Messi has excelled with PSG in Ligue 1, while Benzema recently won the Ballon d’Or for his exploits.

Predicting the top scorer can be tough as you are juggling whether to back a player that you think can score a lot of goals in a short amount of time, or to back a player that will likely go to the final of the competition.

With this in mind, we think that Benzema is a smart choice. France may not be in the same sort of form that saw them win the 2018 World Cup, but Benzema has an incredible knack for scoring goals and we think he will be France’s first choice striker at the tournament. As far as a dark horse goes, we would be tempted to back Neymar, who may see a lot of game time if Brazil make it to the final.

Top Goal Scorer– Karim Benzema (France)

Dark Horse – Neymar (Brazil)

Golden Glove Winner

After being so underappreciated for years, it is always good to see a position given a specific award to laud their exploits. The Golden Glove award will be given to the best goalkeeper at the tournament and has been around since the 1994 World Cup in the USA. Former winners include Oliver Kahn, Iker Casillas, Manuel Neuer and Thibaut Courtois.

This year, there are a number of excellent goalkeepers at the World Cup. The likes of Alisson, Courtois, Neuer, Lloris, Pickford and Schmeichel will all descend on the competition looking to scoop the award.

As picks go, we think Courtois is the best choice here. Belgium is a fantastic team and they have built their success on a solid defence which is founded on Courtois’ performances. The Real Madrid stopper was named man of the match against Liverpool in the Champions League final this year, showing he can star in the biggest matches. He will also be keen to ‘defend’ his crown as the Golden Glove winner from the last World Cup in 2018.

Away from the Belgian stopper, Schmeichel may be a good choice as a dark horse. The Danish goalkeeper is truly exceptional, and with Denmark themselves seen as a dark horse at the World Cup, perhaps the former Leicester City goalkeeper will help his side go deep in the tournament.

Golden Glove Winner – Thibaut Courtois

Dark Horse – Kasper Schmeichel