We’ve seen every single team in the World Cup twice at this point. Ironically both of the teams that won big in the matchday tied their second games. Does that mean that England and Spain are no longer major candidates to win the World Cup? There’s only 3 teams that have won both of their games so far. Brazil has faced some tough competition, but managed to come out on top in 2 close games. France also faced heavier resistance in their second game, and Portugal beat two very good teams in Ghana, and Uruguay. We’ll be looking at the teams that we feel have shown that they can be contenders.
Brazil’s Deep, But They Missed Neymar
We said in our last Brazil article that Neymar was perhaps the weak link of the Brazil 11 particularly defensively. There was no question though that offensively Brazil didn’t have that man in the middle to distribute the ball on offense. That led to the team relying heavily on their wing play. Perhaps Richarlison could’ve done a little more to come back towards the ball. He was on an island at that number 9 spot and really looked uncomfortable. It’s going to be interesting to see how Brazil encounters their final game of the group stage. Particularly against a team that should be able to match them speed wise something that Serbia, and the Swiss had trouble doing.
France May Be Getting Karim Benzema Back
This is perhaps the biggest story of the day. France is arguably the most solid team in the tournament, and they may be getting another piece back offensively. The great thing about this news for France is that Oliver Giroud has done well so far. The team does depend a lot on Antoine Griezmann offensively. He has to find Mbappé in the open space. Since the team is already set they can pick their spots with Benzema who’s coming off the injury. Any team in the world would love to have someone like Benzema coming in fresh off the bench. This team just has a lot of options offensively!
What Do We Make of Portugal?
As we mentioned Ghana and Uruguay are both tough teams to face. Therefore, Portugal perhaps can feel more confident than some of the other squads at the tournament. They’ve picked up legitimate wins. They are a solid squad that’s actually more reliant right now on Bruno Fernandes than they are on Cristiano Ronaldo. That assessment has nothing to do with the two goals he scored today. It has to do with the fact that he’s willing to work on the defensive end somewhat, and he’s the guy that’s always bringing the ball up for Portugal. The team will go as he goes in this tournament. If Portugal can get a little more from Joao Felix offensively that would certainly help as well. Their weak link is Diogo Costa between the sticks; he’s looked shaky so far.
Spain, England, Who Else Should Be In The Picture?
Spain tied against Germany, so they can’t be put down too much because of that. It was a hard fought game that could’ve gone either way. Spain’s stubbornness to play the ball out from the back despite the pressure could come back to bite them against teams that are better equipped offensively. Mainly Brazil who they may face in the quarter finals.
England were perhaps the biggest disappointment of the second matchday so far. That’s not meant to take anything away from the USA. On the contrary they dominated England for stretches of that game. For England, it’s a reality that you can’t really be a contender if you have another one of those showings, particularly in the knock-out stages.
