it nearly here. While there has long been debate about whether the 2022 World Cup will arrive in Qatar, the winter tournament will take place on the fields of the Middle East over the next five weeks.
There was a lot of intrigue and injury midway through the season, but there are still plenty of traditional favorites as Brazil, France and England compete to be crowned World Cup winners.
[ MORE: Sadio Mane out of 2022 World Cup ]
There are new faces such as Canada and (sort of) the US men’s national team as fellow confederates Costa Rica and Mexico joined CONCACAF neighbors.
This will be the last World Cup for Lionel Messi and possibly Cristiano Ronaldo, though the Portuguese is making headlines for a variety of reasons heading to Qatar.
Our staff members Joe Prince-Wright, Andy Edwards and Nick Mendola have laid out their group stage, playoff and rewards predictions below, as well as some USMNT predictions ahead of the Yankees’ Group B clash with Wales, England and Iran.
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Predictions for the World Cup: by groups
Group A
J.P.W.: Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador, Qatar
Andy: Netherlands, Senegal, Qatar, Ecuador
Nick: Netherlands, Senegal, Qatar, Ecuador
Group B
J.P.W.: England, Wales, USMNT, Iran
Andy: England, Wales, Iran, USMNT
Nick: England, USMNT, Iran, Wales
Group C
J.P.W.: Argentina, Poland, Mexico, Saudi Arabia
Andy: Argentina, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Poland
Nick: Argentina, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia
Group D
J.P.W.: France, Denmark, Australia, Tunisia
Andy: France, Denmark, Tunisia, Australia
Nick: France, Denmark, Tunisia, Australia
Group E
J.P.W.: Spain, GermanyJapan, Costa Rica
Andy: Germany, Spain, Japan, Costa Rica
Nick: Spain, Japan, Germany, Costa Rica
Group F
J.P.W.: Belgium, CroatiaCanada, Morocco
Andy: Belgium, Croatia, Morocco, Canada
Nick: Belgium, Croatia, Morocco, Canada
Group G
J.P.W.: Brazil, SerbiaSwitzerland, Cameroon
Andy: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
Nick: Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Cameroon
Group H
J.P.W.: Portugal, Uruguay, Ghana, South Korea
Andy: Uruguay, Portugal, South Korea, Ghana
Nick: Uruguay, South KoreaPortugal
Predictions for the World Cup: Kknockout rounds
JPW – 1/8 finals
Netherlands def. Wales
Denmark def. Argentina
France def. Poland
England def. Senegal
Croatia def. Spain
Brazil beat. Uruguay
Germany def. Belgium
Serbia def. Portugal
JPW – quarterfinals
Brazil beat. Croatia
Netherlands def. Denmark
Germany def. Serbia
England def. France
JPW – Semi-finals
Brazil beat. Netherlands
England def. Germany
JPW – Final
Brazil beat. England
Andy – 1/8 finals
Wales def. Netherlands
Argentina won. Denmark
Germany def. Croatia
Brazil beat. Portugal
England def. Senegal
France def. Mexico
Belgium def. Spain
Uruguay Serbia
Andy – quarterfinals
Argentina won. Wales
Brazil beat. Germany
France def. England
Uruguay Belgium
Andy – semi-final
Argentina won. Brazil
France def. Uruguay
Andy – Final
Argentina won. France
Nick – 1/8 finals
Netherlands def. USMNT
Argentina won. Denmark
Spain def. Croatia
Brazil beat. South Korea
England def. Senegal
France def. Mexico
Japan def. Belgium
Uruguay Switzerland
Nick – quarterfinals
Argentina won. USMNT
Brazil beat. Spain
France def. England
Uruguay Japan
Nick – semi-final
Brazil beat. Argentina
France def. Uruguay
Nick – Final
Brazil beat. Uruguay
World Cup Predictions: Gold, Silver and Bronze Balls
JPW
Ballon d’Or: Vinicius Jr.
Silver Ball: Harry Kane
Bronze Ball: Jamal Musiala
Andy
Ballon d’Or: Lionel Messi
Silver Ball: Kylian Mbappe
Bronze Ball: Emiliano Martinez
Nick
Ballon d’Or: Neymar
Silver Ball: Kylian Mbappe
Bronze ball: Bruno Guimarães
World Cup Predictions: Gold, Silver and Bronze Boots
JPW
Golden Boot: Harry Kane
Silver Boot: Kylian Mbappe
Bronze Boot: Neymar
Andy
Golden Boot: Kylian Mbappe
Silver Boot: Vinicius Jr.
Bronze Boot: Romelu Lukaku
Nick
Golden Boot: Neymar
Silver Boot: Luis Suarez
Bronze boat: Richarlison
World Cup predictions: who will win the Golden Glove?
JPW: Alisson
Andy: Emiliano Martinez
Nick: Alisson
world Cup predictions: who will win Young player award?
JPW: Jamal Musiala
Andy: Eduardo Camavinga
Nickname: Eduardo Camavinga
World Cup Predictions: All-Star/Best Lineup
JPW
Alisson
Trippier, Marquinhos, Van Dyck, T. Hernandez
Casemiro, Musiala, Kimmich
Neymar, Kane, Vinicius Jr.
Andy
Martinez
Pavard, Varane, Jimenez, Tagliafico
Casemiro, Bentancourt
Vinicius Jr, Messi, Mbappe
Luke
Nick
Alisson
Koulibaly, Kunde, Jimenez
Betancourt, Camavinga, Mitoma, De Bruyne
Mbappe, Richardson, Neymar
Predictions for the World Cup: USMNT Top Scorer
JPW: Christian Pulisic
Nickname: Christian Pulisic
Realistic Worst Result for USMNT
JPW: outside the group stage with 1 point
Andy: Exited group stage with 1 point
Nick: Eliminated from the group stage on tie-breaks
Unrealistic Worst Case Result for USMNT
JPW: outside the group stage without a win
Andy: Left the group stage with 0 points
Nick: Exited group stage goalless, one point against Wales
Realistic result at best for USMNT
JPW: Round of 16
Andy: Round of 16
Nick: 1/8 finals
Unrealistic result at best for USMNT
JPW: Quarterfinals
Andy: Quarterfinal
Nick: Semi-final
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Follow @NicholasMendola
Lionel Messi scored one goal and provided another assist before the Netherlands hit Argentina twice in the last 20 minutes. Albicelesta survived the penalty shoot-out and reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup on Friday.
Argentina will now face Croatia, who rocked the world and beat Brazil earlier on Friday, in the first semi-final on Tuesday.
The first goal came from almost nothing as Messi dribbled through the midfield with four orange jerseys between him and the goal and three shadowing Nahuel Molina, a possible scorer. It didn’t matter in the slightest. Messi sent the ball not only through one line of defenders, but also back through one lane, stopping it on a dime for Molina to take it on the move and send it to the far post.
Messi scored a penalty in the 73rd minute, redeeming his missed penalty against Poland in the group stage. At 2-0 with just a quarter of an hour left, Argentina had one foot in the semi-finals and Messi had just over three hours of football left to lift the World Cup trophy.
🇦🇷 ¡¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO]🇦🇷
⚽️ Raeeeeooeeooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmaeeoo @Argentina 🔥
THE BEST COMPILATION OF THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN ARGENTINA!!#NED 0-2 #ARG #MundialTelemundo #ElMundialLoEsTodo #NEDvsARG pic.twitter.com/qhxAaAP3ah
— Telemundo Sports (@TelemundoSports) December 9, 2022
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As brilliant as Messi was in attack, Argentina’s defensive game was choke and controlling (for a while) as they only allowed one shot in the first 82 minutes and then had a hectic last eight minutes, including a goal that made the game is very interesting. with a long pass after a long pass to replace Wout Weghorst. And it was Weghorst who scored the first Dutch goal after Steven Berguis made a fantastic cross into the box.
In the 10th minute of stoppage time of the second half, when the whole world was watching and waiting to see if he could throw the ball over the wall and back under the crossbar, Théun Koopmeiners skilfully shot the ball towards the penalty mark, and Weghorst was able to pick it up and toss it. it’s past Emiliano Martinez.
Martinez made a save to strip Virgil van Dijk and Berguis in the first two rounds of the shootout as Argentina took a 3-1 lead after three rounds. Things got interesting when Enzo Fernandez shot his try wide of the post in round no. 1. 4, but Lautaro Martínez put the ball past Andris Noppert to end the score 4-3.
[ MORE: World Cup odds ]
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Source: soccer.nbcsports.com
