World Cup Ready Reckoner
This is for folks who do not follow club football closely but are looking forward to enjoying the World Cup. If you are deeply into club football, you don't need this.
Part 1 (Part 2 is in next tweet)
1. Who can win?
Realistically, the winner is likely to come from a pool of eight teams that are almost always in contention at World Cups. (Don't blame me if someone outside this group wins!)
France & Spain (The Favorites)
France and Spain enter the tournament as the top two favorites. They currently have the best odds on most betting sites.
France have reached the finals of the last two World Cups, while Spain won Euro 2024 in dominant fashion. Both have quality across the pitch.
France's star player is Kylian Mbappe, who has already delivered two outstanding World Cup campaigns. Spain's main guy is Lamine Yamal, who lit up Euro 2024 at just 16 years of age and is now only 18.
One interesting fact about Spain: for the first time ever, they have zero Real Madrid players in their World Cup squad. The core of the team is largely built around Barcelona players.
Argentina, England & Portugal (Next in line)
Next up are Argentina, England, and Portugal.
Argentina are the defending world champions and remain one of the best-coached teams in international football. Their biggest concern is age, as several key players including Lionel Messi are on the wrong side of 30.
After decades of underachievement, England have been consistently knocking on the door. They reaches back to back Euro finals. They reached the semifinal and quarterfinal in the last two World Cups and once again possess a very strong starting XI. The manager has also made some bold calls in selecting the rest of the squad (which might look very stupid or very smart depends on how things go). Key players include Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, and Declan Rice.
Portugal arguably have the strongest midfield unit heading into the tournament, with several players coming from PSG, who recently won back-to-back Champions League titles (a huge achievement in club football). Ronaldo remains their biggest star, though how much he has left at the age of 41 remains to be seen. Even so, this may be one of his best chances to win a World Cup.
Germany & Netherlands (Always there in the mix)
Germany may not have the most glamorous squad like France, but Germany are Germany. Few nations are better at becoming greater than the sum of their parts at World Cups. They can never be discounted.
The Netherlands remain the "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" team of world football. They once again arrive with a strong squad, particularly in defense, led by captain Virgil van Dijk.
Personally, I will be rooting for them. I support Italy and they failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, so I will be rooting for a new champion.
Brazil
Last but certainly not least, Brazil, the most successful nation in World Cup history.
Their current squad feels somewhat underwhelming relative to Brazil's immense legacy. In fact, I would go as far as saying this is the weakest Brazilian squad I have seen since I have been watching World Cup (i.e. since 1998). They even finished only fifth in South American qualifying.
BUT Brazil also struggled badly during qualification for the 2002 World Cup, scraping through as the last South American qualifier before going on to win the tournament comfortably. So don't come back abusing me if they lift their sixth World Cup.
2. Can I have the schedule with IST times?
Here you go.