In this window, friendly victories against Venezuela (1-0) and Puerto Rico (6-0) were less about the result and more about the use of more players in the squad. Messi didn\u2019t play against Venezuela but returned for Tuesday\u2019s win against Puerto Rico, where Scaloni also gave four debuts (Jos\u00e9 Manuel L\u00f3pez, Lautaro Rivero, An\u00edbal Moreno and Facundo Cambeses), showing just how deep and comfortable this team is.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know yet if Messi will take part in next year’s World Cup. Everything suggests he will, but there has been no official confirmation. Nostalgia aside, it\u2019s very obvious to those who follow Argentina that \u2014 unlike 2022 in Qatar \u2014 Messi\u2019s involvement for next summer is now a golden cherry on top as opposed to an absolute necessity. Clearly, Argentina is stronger with the Inter Miami star and the team\u2019s beloved captain, but the biggest reminder is that the key to Argentina\u2019s success next summer is mainly with Lionel Scaloni and his resilient, overall philosophy.<\/p>\n
2. Spain<\/p>\n
Again, this is another selection that offers zero surprises. Spain, the European champion, continues to make strides as the loss in a shootout to Portugal in the Nations League final being their only recent blemish. After thrashing Bulgaria 4-0 on Tuesday in this window, Luis de la Fuente\u2019s side sits on a perfect record in World Cup qualifiers, having scored 15 goals, conceding zero and, similar to Argentina, the depth and cohesive understanding is strong.<\/p>\n
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This is all being done under the backdrop of many injuries including Lamine Yamal, Rodri, Nico Williams, Gavi, Dean Huijsen and Ferran Torres. But the squad is so rich that the path toward success hardly falters. Every position is accounted for, from Arsenal duo Mikel Merino (who\u2019s playing the best football of his career) and Mart\u00edn Zubimendi to their former Real Sociedad teammate Mikel Oyarzabal \u2014 Spain is a perfect recipe for success.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, they have the best midfielder in the world in Pedri, the architect of everything. He played only 66 minutes Tuesday against Bulgaria, but in that timeframe, he made art out of the game, producing more than 100 passes and leaving to a standing ovation. This is a possession-hungry team, but due to the demands of the modern game, it’s also now obsessed with application so passing comes with a purpose.<\/p>\n
Spain is on par with Argentina as the favorites for the World Cup. The Finalissima (where the CONMEBOL champions face their UEFA counterparts) might give us a good indicator of separating the two, but who knows, March (when the match is played) is a tricky month to decipher anything due to the closing of domestic competitions. Regardless, Spain \u2014 FIFA\u2019s No. 1-ranked nation \u2014 looks the part of an early favorite to win its second World Cup title.<\/p>\n
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Can Harry Kane lift England to its first World Cup trophy?<\/p>\n
(MB Media via Getty Images)3. England<\/p>\n
Due to the continued dominance of the Premier League and English stars making their mark in Europe, the embarrassment of riches at Thomas Tuchel\u2019s disposal is almost insulting. The Three Lions are deep, talented, balanced and ambitious but what they don\u2019t have is a World Cup title or major silverware since 1966. Can this change next summer? After the good work done by former manager Sir Gareth Southgate, under whose leadership an identity and a cultural makeover developed which took the national team to a World Cup semifinal in 2018, a quarterfinal in 2022 and two Euro finals (2020 and 2024), England is now begging for a major trophy more than ever before.<\/p>\n
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It has been so far, so good under Tuchel as England became the first European team to seal its place at the World Cup thanks to a perfect record in qualifying, including beating Latvia 5-0 on Tuesday night. In group action, England won every game, scored 18 goals and conceded zero.<\/p>\n
It has arguably the best striker in world football in Harry Kane (alongside Erling Haaland), offensive stars such as Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Morgan Rogers whilst also possessing one of the best all-around midfielders in modern football in Declan Rice. At the back, Marc Guehi, John Stones and Ezri Konsa are showing defensive leadership and unity whilst Jordan Pickford \u2014 due to his consistency \u2014 may just go down as one of the best stoppers England has ever had. There\u2019s actual talk of whether the likes of Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham can even make the team right right now. That\u2019s the level of depth we\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n
England has all the tools to win the World Cup, but the issue is that we have been here before and most importantly, due to the level of competition at the bottom of UEFA World Cup qualifiers, England can often appear to be playing at a lower level from their own expectations and sometimes bore us into victories. As always, when it comes to England’s chances of winning the World Cup, the Three Lions ultimately have to overcome their toughest opponents: themselves.<\/p>\n
4. France<\/p>\n
The 2018 World Cup winners and 2022 runners-up always give me the same sentiment. It doesn\u2019t matter what happens on the way to the dance because no matter what, France always shows up and delivers. It\u2019s in its DNA.<\/p>\n
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Just recently, however, Les Bleus were held by Iceland in World Cup qualifiers thus ending their perfect record. So they’ll need a victory against Ukraine next month to seal their place for next summer. I don\u2019t see it as a problem, more of a hiccup as France, playing at home against Ukraine, should confirm its spot in November.<\/p>\n
There have also been injuries to worry about, including Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, who had to leave camp after suffering an ankle issue during the team\u2019s 3-0 win against Azerbaijan. And against Iceland, there were more absences including Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 and his PSG teammates D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9 and Bradley Barcola. Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s Real Madrid teammate Aurelien Tchouameni was also out due to suspension.<\/p>\n
But again, just like Spain and England, Didier Deschamps\u2019s side is deep and threatening and continues to present itself as a major contender thanks to in-form talent. Crystal Palace\u2019s Jean-Philippe Mateta, for example, scored his first goal for the national team Monday whilst Bayern Munich\u2019s Michael Olise, Milan\u2019s Christopher Nkunku and Liverpool\u2019s Hugo Ekitike are examples of how deadly France can be going forward. And on their day, William Saliba (Arsenal) and Dayot Upemacano (Bayern Munich) are an unstoppable center back pairing.<\/p>\n
The issue for France is that for all its offensive might, it\u2019s also prone to give the opposition opportunities. In fact, sometimes it seems France likes to play it dangerously. Statistically speaking, France obliterated Iceland as the visitors only had two shots on target \u2014 it just so happened that both of them turned into goals.<\/p>\n
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The French have a knack for switching off when it matters and in his last hurrah as manager, Deschamps has to rectify this type of vulnerability before next June.<\/p>\n
5. Morocco<\/p>\n
The final selection might surprise some of you, but for those who have been paying attention, I am sure this isn\u2019t as shocking of a statement. The Atlas Lions are the real deal and their historic semifinal placement in the 2022 World Cup, where they became the first African and Arab nation to reach a semifinal after defeating Portugal 1-0, was no fluke. The highest-ranked African nation became the first team in the continent to seal its place for next summer and did it in style, winning every game, scoring 22 goals and conceding only two.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, thanks to a 1-0 win over Congo, Morocco made history and broke Spain\u2019s record by making it 16 straight wins across all competitions.<\/p>\n
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Walid Regragui has his proverbial spine, beginning with his leader and PSG\u2019s Achraf Hakimi. But it doesn\u2019t end there as goalkeeper Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal) offers so much consistency with the ever-present Sofyan Amrabat (injured for this window) managing the midfield responsibilities, Youssef En-Nesyri leads the attack, and thanks to the introduction Brahim D\u00edaz (Real Madrid\u2019s attacker who switched allegiance from Spain) has added creativity. Then there are new stars such as Hamza Igamane (left Rangers for Lille in August), who debuted earlier in March and he has made a strong impression.<\/p>\n
Before the World Cup, there\u2019s an Africa Cup of Nations tournament to host and this could either be a great test for Regragui\u2019s team \u2014 or a hindrance \u2014 given the congested schedule. But as far as next summer goes? With 48 teams taking part, this will be the biggest men\u2019s World Cup in history, with nine CAF nations representing the African continent. In an expanded competition, with an extra round in the knockout stages, there is no reason to say that Morocco doesn\u2019t have a legitimate chance to make history and win Africa and the Arab nation\u2019s first ever World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As we say goodbye to October\u2019s international window, the countdown to the men\u2019s World Cup dwindles down and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[54315,54313,54340,9877,4026,54316,14532,54326,54344,54336,245,4027,54320,23172,39632,41741,54347,23407,54327,444,54345,22095,54339,54338,16257,2226,54323,30632,54330,54342,53286,54346,85,54341,46,54333,44823,54318,37158,54317,19684,16259,54329,47900,54038,54311,54335,15274,54331,54314,1326,54324,54328,54322,6662,54325,29334,54343,54321,24846,22070,29785,17673,49711,1823,4029,16256,32749,54332,2727,105,54334,54319,54312,6866,54337],"class_list":["post-77402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-2018-world-cup","tag-2022-world-cup","tag-achraf-hakimi","tag-argentina","tag-arsenal","tag-atletico-de-madrid","tag-bayern-munich","tag-bradley-barcola","tag-brahim-diaz","tag-bukayo-saka","tag-canada","tag-chelsea","tag-christopher-nkunku","tag-cole-palmer","tag-como","tag-crystal-palace","tag-cuti","tag-dean-huijsen","tag-declan-rice","tag-england","tag-enzo-fernandez","tag-erling-haaland","tag-ezri-konsa","tag-facundo-cambeses","tag-ferran-torres","tag-france","tag-franco-mastantuono","tag-gavi","tag-giuliano-simeone","tag-hamza-igamane","tag-harry-kane","tag-hugo-ekitike","tag-il","tag-inter-miami","tag-israel","tag-jean-philippe-mateta","tag-john-stones","tag-jordan-pickford","tag-jude-bellingham","tag-julian-alvarez","tag-kylian-mbappe","tag-lamine-yamal","tag-lautaro-martinez","tag-lille","tag-lionel-messi","tag-lionel-scaloni","tag-marc-guehi","tag-marcus-rashford","tag-martin-zubimendi","tag-mens-world-cup","tag-mexico","tag-michael-olise","tag-mikel-merino","tag-mikel-oyarzabal","tag-milan","tag-morgan-rogers","tag-morocco","tag-nico-paz","tag-nico-williams","tag-ousmane-dembele","tag-pedri","tag-phil-foden","tag-portugal","tag-psg","tag-qatar","tag-real-madrid","tag-real-sociedad","tag-rodri","tag-sofyan-amrabat","tag-spain","tag-sports","tag-the-atlas-lions","tag-william-saliba","tag-world-cup-qualifiers","tag-world-cup","tag-yassine-bounou"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}