I have talked about the kits. Twice. I have talked about the venues. Now it is time to talk about the action on the pitch. With eight groups and thirty-two teams, there promises to be a lot of action. Each team will play the other three teams in their group once. The top three teams in each group move on to the elimination stage. The elimination stage continues until someone is crowned FIFA World Cup Champion. In this post I will talk about the groups, kits (again), venues (again), the schedule, and my predictions.
In Group A are Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, and the Netherlands. The Netherlands are probably the best team in Group A. Group A is probably the weakest group in Qatar 2022.
In Group B are England, Iran, the United States, and Wales. England is the team to beat in Group A. However I think Group B is fairly even.
In Group C are Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Poland. Argentina is probably the top Group C team. However I think Mexico is just as good.
In Group D is France, Australia, Denmark, and Tunisia. France is probably the best team in Group D.
In Group E is Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, and Japan. Group E is probably the toughest group in Qatar 2022. Spain, Germany, and Japan are really good. If I had to pick one as being the best in this group it would probably be Germany.
In Group F is Belgium, Canada, Morocco, and Croatia. Canada is really good. I don’t even know how they play soccer up there. Their fields are frozen until June. Canada might be the surprising favorite in Group F though.
In Group G is Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, and Cameroon. The best team hands down in Group G is Brazil. They should easily make it out of their group. If they don’t make it out of the group stage, it will be a huge upset for Brazil.
In Group H is Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, and Korea. Portugal is probably the best team in Group H. I know a lot of people would like to see Portugal and Argentina in the final. Cristiano Ronaldo said he would retire if Portugal won.
I have talked a lot about the kits already. Germany has the best. Cameroon has the worst. The United States kits are disappointing at best.
US Soccer Launches Their 2022 Uniforms
Kits | FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
Kits Ranked | FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
The venues are beautiful. Something I found out after I made my post talking about them is that each team also has its own custom hotel and training facility. It is a lot of excess. The United States has a palace on an island. It cost like 15 billion dollars. Just for the place, they are going to stay for a month. It’s unreal. Like I said though in my post about the venues, 6,500 people died during construction of the venues. It is a huge issue. Everyone is looking the other way though. Humanity needs to do better though.
Venues | FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
Above is the whole world cup schedule. The world cup starts tomorrow at 8am PST. Qatar is playing Ecuador to start the tournament. The rest of the tournament will start on Monday, November, 21st. The Elimination stage will start on December 3rd. The final will be on December 18th.
The United States will play Wales at 11am PST on Monday, November, 21st. Their second game will be against England at 11am PST on Friday, November, 25th. Their last game of the group stage will be at 11am PST on Tuesday, November, 29th.
Mexico will start its tournament against Poland on Tuesday, November 22nd at 8am PST. Then they take on Argentina on Saturday, November, 26th at 11am PST. They end their group stage against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, November, 30th at 11am PST.
All games can be watched on TV on Fox, Fox Sports 1, Telemundo, and Universo. foxsports.com will also be streaming games. Hulu + Live TV, YouTubeTV, Tubi, and Peacock will also have games.
In Group A I think the Netherlands will win the group. I think Ecuador and Senegal will make it out of the group stage. I don’t think Qatar will make it out of the group stage.
In Group B I think England will win the group. I want the United States to win though and would love to be wrong here. I think the United States and Wales will make it out of the group stage. I don’t think Iran will make it out of the group stage.
In Group C I think Argentina will win. Mexico has a good shot at winning it too. I think Mexico and Poland will make it out of the group stage. I don’t think Saudi Arabia will mak it out of the group stage.
In Group D I think France will win. I think Australia and Denmark will make it out of the group stage. I don’t think Tunisia will make it out of the group stage.
In Group E I think Germany will win. I think Spain and Japan will make it out of the group stage. I don’t think Costa Rica will make it out of the group stage.
In Group F I think Canada will surprise everyone and win. I think Belgium and Croatia will make it out of the group stage. I don’t think Morocco will make it out of the group stage.
In Group G I think Brazil will win. I think Serbia and Switzerland will make it out of the group stage. I don’t think Cameroon will make it out of the group stage.
In Group H I think Portugal will win. I think Korea and Ghana will make it out of the group stage. I don’t think Uruguay will make it out of the group stage.
Round of 16
The United States beats the Netherlands. Argentina beats Australia. Germany Beats Belgium. Brazil beats Korea. England beats Ecuador. Mexico beats France. Spain beats Canada. Portugal beats Serbia.
Quarterfinals
Argentina beats the United States. Germany beats Brazil. Mexico beats England. Portugal beats Spain.
Semifinals
Argentina beats Germany. Portugal beats Mexico.
Final
Argentina beats Portugal to claim to win Qatar 2022.
A lot of the matches in the round of 16 in my bracket could go either way. I don’t expect myself to be right at all when comes to predicting this. I didn’t start out with the idea of Argentina vs Portugal in the final. I asked myself who I thought would win each match and went from there. Of course I want the United States to win. I think it would take a miracle for that to happen. I think the United States is still a few generations of players away from being a contender for the world cup. We missed the last one. We barely qualified for this one. we can’t play well consistently. There are a lot of issues in the organization itself. I just think we are a long way off.
Zac Electrifly 