With the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicking off in one week (!!!), it’s time to explore the FIFA #1 ranked men’s team – Neymar’s talented Brazil.
Every day until November 20th, we’ll explore a different team represented in this year’s tournament, from Group A to Group H, including predictions about where they’ll end up.
Earlier today, we looked at Group F’s Canada, Morocco, and Croatia. Now let’s look at Group G, starting with one of the favorite squads to win it all – Brazil.
Brazil
Group G
Nickname: The National Team, Little Canary
Colors: Yellow, green, blue
Location:
Coach: Tite (Brazil)
Top Players:
Where to even start… Brazil is so stacked that people are going to stop saying stacked and just start saying Brazilian instead.
You’ve got Alisson and Ederson of Liverpool and Man City battling it out for top GK position, two of the best in the world. They are defended by all-stars including Thiago Silva of Chelsea, Dani Alves formerly of Barcelona, Éder Militão of Real Madrid, and Marquinhos of PSG, plus three defenders from Juventus.
The midfield is just as deep with Man U’s Casemiro, Liverpool’s Fabinho, Newcastle’s Bruno Guimarães, and West Ham’s Lucas Paquetá. But Brazil’s scariest asset is their fully-loaded attack.
First, you have Real Madrid’s Rodrygo and Vinícius Júnior, which would be more than enough for most teams. Then you add on Arsenal’s two Gabriels, Jesus and Martinelli, and you think – this offense couldn’t be any more explosive. And that’s before we’ve even gotten to Man U’s Antony, Tottenham’s Richarlison, and freaking Barcelona’s Raphinha. Holy cow, Batman. And then, of course, who can forget the Batman/Joker himself, one of the most controversial and talented footballers ever, Neymar Jr. of PSG. Something to watch – Neymar is two goals away from tying Pele for Brazil’s top goalscorer of all time.
On paper, Brazil is unbeatable. But the FIFA ranked #1 team heading into the World Cup has never hoisted the trophy.
Team History:
Qatar will be the 22nd World Cup appearance for Brazil, who have won the tournament five times, most recently in 2002 over Germany on a Ronaldo (the other one) brace. Brazil may have been knocked out by Belgium in the 2018 quarterfinals, but the Little Canary hasn’t lost a game since July 2021 when they lost the Copa America final to Messi’s Argentina.
Tournament Prediction: Semifinals loss to Argentina.
Brazil may be unbeatable on paper, but on the field, Argentina’s drive to win Messi a World Cup will prove too much for the over-talented Brazilians.
Brazil will likely win every game in Group G play, with Switzerland and Cameroon being their most competitive opposition.
We think Brazil meets and beats South Korea in the round of 16, followed by a thumping of Germany in the quarterfinals. They’ll meet Argentina, the only team to beat them (twice) in the last three years, in the semis. There they’ll finally lose, probably on penalty kicks.
The match will be absolutely blockbuster. Brazilian fans can sleep a little better knowing they lost to the best, quite possibly the greatest of all time.
Featured Image: Generated Image: DALL-E 2/BrazilianFootballConfederation/DM
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