World Cup 2018 Round of 16 Preview

Here we are! The best have made it to the Round of 16 and below are my picks. Brazil and Spain will disappoint, especially with all of the chaos behind the scenes for La Roja. Firing your coach the day before the World Cup starts, WOAH!! I think Belgium’s got that magic this year. Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku is an incredible trio. They are no longer a dark horse and know they have a lot of prove. But did I pick them to win it all? NO!!

Round of 16

• France – Iceland
• Uruguay – Portugal
• Spain – Egypt
• Argentina – Denmark
• Brazil – Sweden
• Belgium – Poland
• Germany – Serbia
• Colombia – England

Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini during the UEFA Super Cup final soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester United at Philip II Arena in Skopje, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski) ORG XMIT: XPG134

Quarterfinals

• France – Uruguay
• Brazil – Belgium
• Spain – Argentina
• Germany – England

Semifinals

• France – Belgium
• Argentina- Germany

Finals

• Belgium – Germany

World Champions

GERMANY

The big boy Germans will win this year’s World Cup. The strength of the wolf is the pack and the strength of the pack is the wolf. They are a team that works together and also has a lot of talent. The experience of the last World Cup winners along with the exciting talents of Timo Werner can take them all the way!

World Cup Preview – Group H

This group is wide open and will make for some quality entertainment. Colombia is the favorite here but Senegal, Poland and Japan will battle hard for the two spots in Group H. This high flying group will be fun to watch with James Rodriguez, Robert Lewandowski and Sadio Mane all battling against each other.

Colombia

They have a high flying attack led by James and the Giant Peach. They also have Davidson College Sanchez at the back who had a good season for the Tottenham Hotspurs. Colombia has talent all about the pitch. Is Falcao good again? Some people seem to think so, but I haven’t seen him play since 2013 so it’s hard to say. Colombia is the favorite in the group and I see them taking first.

Japan

Star player Keisuke Honda is apparently playing for Pachucha in Mexico, I didn’t know that! It will take quite a team effort for Japan to advance through this group. They do have some players like Shinji Kagawa and Maya Yoshida playing at Europe’s top level, but they don’t seem as strong as years prior. I pick them to finish last in the group.

Poland

If they can get service into Robert Lewandowski this Poland team can do well. Lewandowski is one of the world’s best strikers and now is the time to prove his value. Piotr Zielinski is a talented young midfielder and Jakub Blastczczcdqwdjoqhakovski has a really long name. The Poles are in pole position… to finish second in this group.

Senegal

Senegal is a super fast team led by Sadio Mane. Along with Mane they have some exciting attackers like Keita Balde and Mbaye Niang. While they will fly around on offense they will have to show strength in defense to get by in a group that has some strong offenses. Can they conjur the magic of El Hadji Diouf and bring this team to the quarterfinals again? It’s possible.

Players to Watch

1. Sadio Mane
2. Shinji Kagawa
3. Robert Lewandowski
4. James

Group H

1. Colombia
2. Poland
3. Senegal
4. Japan

World Cup Preview – Group G

This group should offer very few surprises with two strong teams and two weak teams. On the flip side, England have a great propensity to fail, so anything could happen.

Belgium –

From a dark horse last World Cup to a powerhouse this World Cup. They have all of the pieces to be a dominant team. The only problem? They’re already facing injuries to captain Vincent (Grasson) Kompany and star boy  Eden Hazard. Injuries aside, they should still have the talent to win the group. They have an attack led by many Hazards, Lukakus, and other talented brothers. Manager Roberto Martinez chose to leave off Radja Nainggolan, the scariest looking soccer player in the world, for the weirdest looking soccer player, Marouane Fellaini. If they struggle, many will point to this decision.

England –

A team of epic failures and constant problems, will things change this year? It looks like they might. They have a really young and interesting team that actually seem to play well together and get along. It’s all about the play during the tournament though, as they’ve shown this potential before. If things start off well, they could build a lot of momentum going into the knockout rounds. If they have trouble in the beginning, it could get bad. Harry Kane starts stealing Raheem’s goals, the Tottenham players start losing all of the close games because they are cursed, none of their goalies will save any shots, and Wayne Rooney comes back into the team for some reason. They’ll still move on to the knockouts.

Panama –

They were a great story to qualify, but the odds are not in their favor to go very far. It’s their first time in the tournament, so they’ll be excited to be a part of it. I could see them getting a win against Tunisia, and England depending on which England team shows up, but it’s not likely.

Tunisia –

Tunisia have injuries up front and not a lot of star power. They are similar in weakness to Panama, and similar in that they’ve got nothing to lose. I could see them winning against Panama maybe, but that’s pretty much it.

Players to Watch –

1. 1. Wayne Rooney
   2. Kevin De Bruyne

 

1. Panama Canal
2. Sir Harold of Kane

Group G –

1. Belgium
2. England
3. Panama
4. Tunisia

World Cup Preview – Group F

In arguably the strongest group, any of these four teams could qualify for the knockout stages. Led by the always talented Germany, Group F will go down to the last day.

Germany

This soccer powerhouse will be considered a failure if they don’t make the finals, especially after leaving one of their most talented players, Leroy Sane, off the squad. There’s also been some rumblings of unrest in the team with Ozil and Gundogan taking pictures with President Erdogan of Turkey. Bad timing guys! It really shouldn’t matter though, as this team’s B squad would have a chance of winning the World Cup. Starman Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is coming off a long layoff from an injury, and his match sharpness will be key, but if he’s on, he’s the best in the world.

 

Mexico

Landon Donovan is reported to be very upset that he wasn’t called up the Mexican team, after playing in Liga MX for a season. Then they chose 53 year-old Rafa Marquez in his place. It’s probably a good choice on their part though. A team with a ton of potential, but a ton of potential to fail as well, Mexico could do well if they show up in the tournament. It seems like their coach, Juan Carlos Osorio, is having a lot of trouble picking a starting 11 and struggling in the past couple games. They have a lot of good attacking options, but I think they’ll be fighting it out with Sweden for the second spot. It’s never a good sign when a team calls a 72 year-old into their team, so their defense is questionable at best.

Sweden

Power to the Swedes for sticking with what got them to the World Cup and not picking Zlatan. If you can’t start for the LA Galaxy, you probably shouldn’t be starting for Sweden in the World Cup. That, and it would probably cause huge unrest in the locker room from a squad that qualified without him. Watching them qualify, they play really solid defense and have good attackers up front, with Emil Forsberg starring. They’ll battle for second with Mexico. It really depends on their head to head matchup as I think both teams will lose to Germany and beat South Korea.

South Korea

The Son shines on South Korea, but they need more than one Son get out of this group. They could surprise some, but every team will be doing what they can to shut down their star attacker, who it seems like Korea is doing everything to run the team through. They’re even going as far copying the Tottenham tactics and formation to accommodate their star man. I could see them pulling an upset, but I doubt they’ll get out of the group.

 

Players to Watch

1. Son Heung-min
2. Emil Forsberg
3. President Erdogan
4. 59 year-old man Rafael Marquez

Group F

1. Germany
2. Sweden
3. Mexico
4. South Korea

 

World Cup Preview – Group E

Brazil is the big dog in this group and they should stroll to first place. Switzerland, Serbia and Costa Rica round out the group. Brazil is one of the most talented teams in the world and will be one of the favorites to win it all. The second spot is wide open in this group and any one of the three remaining teams could end up taking it.

Brazil

A team filled with talent including the likes of Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, and Coutinho. Neymar is coming off a serious injury though so it will be worth watching his fitness throughout the tournament. They were stunned 7-1 against Germany in the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and are raring to prove themselves in Russia this year. Positives about this team are my boy, Roberto Firmino, and the negatives are the culture of diving this team loves lead by Neymar. I pick them to finish first in the group and they should cruise in Group E.

Costa Rica

After a surprising run in the World Cup in 2014 they will have to recapture that magic for another run. This group is muddled for the second spot in the group so Costa Rica has a chance to get to the round of 16. They are led by goalkeeper Keylor Navas from Real Madrid who will have to stand on his head for Costa Rica to get through. They have a strong defense but lack scoring options. Finding goals will be tough for them and I think it will cost them the chance to get to the round of 16.

Goalkeeper Karlore Navas

Serbia

The Serbians are a tough team that has a good chance to surprise at the World Cup. They are led by midfield destroyers Nemanja Matic and Luka Milivojevic. They have an exciting young attack with Aleksandr Mitrovic at striker and attacking midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who is wanted by some of the world’s biggest clubs. Also, give this team an award for long ass names, am I right?! This team is aging and slow on defense which will likely be their downfall. I like Serbia to surprise in this World Cup and I pick them second in Group E.

Switzerland

I feel neutral about this team. Ok, I had to but also I’m not too excited about their prospects at the World Cup. They have a decent team with the likes of Ricardo Rodriguez, and Xherdan Shaqiri leading them. The most exciting player on their team is 21 year old Breel Embolo. He’s an elite athlete but hasn’t completely put it together yet. The Swiss will have to hit the ground running to advance from the group.

Players to Watch

1. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic
2. Aleksandar Mitrovic
3. Breel Embolo
4. How many goals Brazil score in this group.

Group E

1. Brazil
2. Serbia
3. Switzerland
4. Costa Rica