Best and Worst Picks for the 2018 World Cup

Now that the field for the 2018 World Cup is set, it’s time to start taking a look at who we think will advance out of group play and who we think will be hoisting the trophy at the end of the tournament. This quadrennial tournament is the culmination of a qualification process that started two years ago (and has left such usual attendees as Italy, the Netherlands, Ghana and the United States on the outside looking in). As you consider your World Cup odds strategy for this tournament, take a look at some of our predictions.

Best and Worst Picks for the 2018 World Cup

The 2018 World Cup fixture schedule 🏆 pic.twitter.com/oLAohWPPsg

— World Cup 2018 (@WCGoalz) December 6, 2017

First of all, who will advance? Group play can end up being more difficult to survive than some teams think. Portugal found this out in 2014, when the United States and Germany emerged from group play but Portugal did not.

Our Predictions for Group Play Survivors

• Group A: Uruguay and Egypt
• Group B: Spain and Portugal
• Group C: France and Peru
• Group D: Argentina and Croatia
• Group E: Brazil and Costa Rica
• Group F: Germany and Sweden
• Group G: Belgium and England
• Group H: Colombia and Poland

You might be wondering who the seeded team was in Group A. That would have been Russia — seeded as a host team but also the lowest ranked team that appears in this World Cup. So the other teams in that group get a nice break with no titans of world soccer in it. The other team in Group A is Saudi Arabia. Uruguay has dug out a solid reputation in soccer over the years, and Egypt has striker Mohamed Salah, who can score goals in bunches.

What sleeper teams can make a surprising run?

In addition to Egypt, Croatia is a team that has drawn some buzz. Their midfielders (including Mario Mandzukic and Luka Modric) have experience in the highest echelons of the game. Argentina is the seeded team in the group, but they have enough problems of their own. If Croatia wins the group, they could come out against a fairly easy second-place team in the first round of knockout play and end up poised on the brink of making the semifinals. Iceland has made headlines for being the team that qualifies from the smallest country in terms of population in the entire field. They knocked off Croatia in qualifying within UEFA. There’s also Peru, who will be waiting to find out if Paolo Guerrero can play. They also have Edison Flores, Raul Ruidiaz and Christian Cueva. Denmark and Australia are winnable games for Peru, and if France pulls one of their choke jobs in that group play match, Peru could emerge as the group’s winner.

What favorites are likely to end up heading home after group play?

Denmark will also have a hard time getting past Peru. Mexico has two solid defensive European teams in their group (Germany and Sweden), and European teams tend to do very well when the Cup is played on their continent. Germany routed Mexico at the Confederations Cup last summer, 4-1, and Sweden also plays solid defense.

Who do we like to win the whole thing?

Well, there’s always Brazil, who may be ready for redemption after that humiliating loss to Germany on their own home soil back in 2014. France has considerable depth, with starter-level quality running two deep on their roster. But can they overcome their penchant for choking? Spain has upped their play under manager Julen Lopetegui. You can’t overlook Germany, either, who look to repeat as World Cup champions. If we had to pick a team today, we like Spain, who comes in on nice roll and isn’t getting a whole lot of buzz yet. One thing that you can count on in the 2018 World Cup is that there will be surprises, and that there will be upsets — but that one of the elite teams will end up on top. The World Cup features lots of surprises, but the final is almost never one of those.