2022 FIFA World Cup - Qatar, November 21-December 18

[Asta]

A
Qatar
Ecuador
Senegal 2
Netherlands 1

B
England 1
Iran
USA 2
Wales

C
Argentina 1
Saudi Arabia
Mexico 2
Poland

D
France 1
Australia
Denmark 2
Tunisia

E
Spain 1
Costa Rica
Germany 2
Japan

F
Belgium 1
Canada
Morocco
Croatia 2

G
Brazil 1
Serbia
Switzerland 2
Cameroon

H
Portugal 2
Ghana
Uruguay 1
South Korea

[Asta]

Everyone picked France to advance past the group stage so far, but deep down I don't feel that good about France's chance.

Four of the last five World Cup winners failed to advance past the group stage in the next World Cup. I remember how Germany thought their 2018 squad is even better than their 2014 squad and then they ended up somehow losing to my lowly South Korea.

[Asta]

Everyone picked France to advance past the group stage so far, but deep down I don't feel that good about France's chance.

Four of the last five World Cup winners failed to advance past the group stage in the next World Cup. I remember how Germany thought their 2018 squad is even better than their 2014 squad and then they ended up somehow losing to my lowly South Korea.

Well, obviously France is not guaranteed to get out of the group stage, but you have to say they are more likely than not to. Morocco is actually better than most people give them credit for (they scored 20 goals and conceded 1 in the hardest African qualifying group) but much of their team is playing for Morocco because they couldn't make it for France...

Everyone who watched 2018 World Cup realized how good Morocco is after drawing with Spain and outplaying Portugal in terms of goal opportunities.

I could easily see Morocco getting in over Croatia.

[Asta]

Morocco is overrated, and in 2018 Iran made a better impression in that group than Morocco.

The best african team (on paper) participating in the world cup is Senegal by far.

Iran has made the World Cup many times in recent years, and regularly advances past the group stage in Asian Cup so their performance was not surprising, at least for me. 2018 was Morocco's first World Cup since 1998 so I didn't even think much of them.

[Asta]

If I was a gambler, I really would have a cheeky £10 on England not qualifying from the group stage. I know it is "only" The Nations League, but that defeat at home to Hungary (who were excellent, by the way, and fully deserved to win) was the worst I have seen us as a team since THAT game against Iceland in 2016.

It's long been a mystery as to why England routinely underperforms in World Cup when, on paper, they have one of the best squads perennially. A part of it, of course, is that England is terrible in penalty shootouts, a game deciding method which I think is an abomination, even though many fans love the masochism of watching it.

Seeing that La Liga teams tend to beat Premier League in Champions League, I may be overestimating the strength of English roster though.

[Asta]

If I was a gambler, I really would have a cheeky £10 on England not qualifying from the group stage. I know it is "only" The Nations League, but that defeat at home to Hungary (who were excellent, by the way, and fully deserved to win) was the worst I have seen us as a team since THAT game against Iceland in 2016.

It's long been a mystery as to why England routinely underperforms in World Cup when, on paper, they have one of the best squads perennially. A part of it, of course, is that England is terrible in penalty shootouts, a game deciding method which I think is an abomination, even though many fans love the masochism of watching it.

Seeing that La Liga teams tend to beat Premier League in Champions League, I may be overestimating the strength of English roster though.

England is very good at blowing their own trumpets. Look back at some of those squads from the past decade in retrospect - just terrible. This squad is better than those, but many of the players will be looked at rather poorly in 10 years' time. Tactical ineptitude from a manager who got the job because the last guy was an open sleazebag doesn't help.

To be honest, I don't exactly blame them for it. Anyone would be excited at the prospect of names like Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney and Kane in their roster during the past decades. I feel as though England wised up and are becoming more of a complete team instead of trying to star-stud their team.

They need to realize goalkeeping/defense are just as important as offense. See 2006 Italy (Buffon) or 2010 Spain (Casillas) or 2014 Germany (Neuer). All world class defense and/or goalkeepers.