World Cup 2018: Russia

By J. Ernanny

What Is The World Cup?

It is a month-long football tournament taking place in Russia which comprises of 32 national teams from all around the world. It is regarded as the biggest sporting event in the world as it happens once every 4 years and billions of people watch it.

How is it structured?

The 32 teams are separated into 8 groups of 4. The teams in the groups play against each other once and the top 2 teams advance to the next round. After the teams have been cut down to 16, teams play a game against another team to see who advances to the quarterfinals. With 8 teams left, we have the same format as the teams play once against another side to advance to the semifinals. Once in the semifinals, the teams are pitted against each other in a game in which the winners go onto the grand final. The winner of that game will be the World Cup winners, an accolade many consider the most important in football.

Which teams will compete in this year’s edition?

Representing South America we have Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Colombia. Moving on to Europe, we have England, France, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Denmark, Croatia, Iceland, Serbia, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Poland. The representatives of North America are Mexico, Costa
Rica and Panama. Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia represent Africa. Finally, the qualified nations from Asia are Iran, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Australia and South Korea.

How should each team fare?

Russia- Aims to leave the group
Saudi Arabia- Aims to leave the group
Egypt- May surprise us
Uruguay- Dark horse candidate
Portugal- a Championship contender
Spain- a Championship contender
Morocco- Aims to leave the group
Iran- Aims to leave the group
France- a Championship contender 
Australia- Aims to leave the group
Peru- May surprise us
Denmark- May surprise us
Argentina- Dark horse candidate
Iceland- May surprise us
Croatia- Dark horse candidate
Nigeria- Aims to leave the group
Brazil- a Championship contender
Switzerland- May surprise us
Costa Rica- May surprise us
Serbia- Aims to leave the group
Germany- a Championship contender
Mexico- Dark horse contender
Sweden- Aims to leave the group
South Korea- Aims to get out of the group
Belgium- a Championship contender
Panama- Aims to leave the group
Tunisia- Aims to leave the group
England- Dark horse candidate
Poland- Dark horse candidate
Colombia- Dark horse candidate
Senegal- May surprise us
Japan- Aims to leave the group

My prediction?

In my opinion, Brazil will win this year’s tournament. Although there are relatively more talented nations like France and Germany, I see Brazil as the overall favourite due to their recent form under new manager Tite, their astonishing talent pool and
their tradition of always competing to win.