even though the 32 teams qualified for the World Cup still have scheduled engagements between now and the start of the maximum date; The last few years have already provided a good sample of how each country reaches Qatar. And beyond understanding that it’s not an exact science, a good way to study the present of each of these groups is to see How did you get on this cycle? (after Russia 2018 to date) at matches played exclusively against other World Cup qualifiers.
This eliminates goals against very minor opponents, who count little on the potential of each selected team. For example, what is the value of Mexico crushing Cuba 7-0 in the 2019 Gold Cup? Virtually none. Now if only the results before opponents who will be in the World Cup such as the United States, Canada, Costa Rica or Argentina, among others against which the Tue played over the past four years, surely many more conclusions can be drawn.
Afterward, How has each team fared so far in matches against other World Cup players? All the numbers, observations and analysis, below, with the picks ranked by effectiveness.
| Selection | pjs | G | AND | Pi | GF | CG | PTS | PTS per PC | GF per PC | CG by PJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco | 9 | 7 | 0 | two | 13 | 5 | Twenty-one | 2.33 | 1.44 | 0.56 |
| Argentina | 19 | 13 | 4 | two | 33 | 9 | 43 | 2.26 | 1.74 | 0.47 |
| Brazil | 19 | 13 | 4 | two | 31 | 7 | 43 | 2.26 | 1.63 | 0.37 |
| Belgium | 18 | eleven | 3 | 4 | 35 | 24 | 36 | 2.00 | 1.94 | 1.33 |
| France | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 28 | 19 | 35 | 1.94 | 1.56 | 1.06 |
| England | twenty | eleven | 5 | 4 | 27 | 17 | 38 | 1.90 | 1.35 | 0.85 |
| P. Low | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 38 | 24 | 35 | 1.84 | 2.00 | 1.26 |
| Japan | twenty | eleven | 3 | 6 | 32 | 19 | 36 | 1.80 | 1.60 | 0.95 |
| USA | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 29 | 23 | 44 | 1.69 | 1.12 | 0.88 |
| Spain | 18 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 36 | 19 | 29 | 1.61 | 2.00 | 1.06 |
| Portugal | 23 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 39 | 26 | 36 | 1.57 | 1.70 | 1.13 |
| Denmark | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 25 | Twenty-one | 24 | 1.50 | 1.56 | 1.31 |
| Canada | 12 | 5 | two | 5 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 1.42 | 1.17 | 1.17 |
| Korea | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 23 | 22 | 1.38 | 1.00 | 1.44 |
| Serbian | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 1.33 | 1.78 | 1.44 |
| Tunisia | 6 | two | two | two | 6 | 4 | 8 | 1.33 | 1.00 | 0.67 |
| Senegal | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1.33 | 1.00 | 1.33 |
| Saudi Arabia | 10 | 3 | two | 5 | 3 | 8 | eleven | 1.10 | 0.30 | 0.80 |
| Croatia | 19 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 23 | 37 | 19 | 1.00 | 1.21 | 1.95 |
| Uruguay | 19 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 26 | 30 | 19 | 1.00 | 1.37 | 1.58 |
| Iran | 5 | 1 | two | two | 4 | 8 | 5 | 1.00 | 0.80 | 1.60 |
| Swiss | 23 | 5 | 7 | eleven | 26 | 3. 4 | 22 | 0.96 | 1.13 | 1.48 |
| damn | 17 | 5 | 1 | eleven | 16 | 3. 4 | 16 | 0.94 | 0.94 | 2.00 |
| Mexico | fifteen | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 14 | 0.93 | 0.67 | 1.13 |
| Germany | 18 | two | 10 | 6 | 23 | 35 | 16 | 0.89 | 1.28 | 1.94 |
| Ghana | 6 | 1 | two | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 0.83 | 1.17 | 1.33 |
| Ecuador | 16 | two | 5 | 9 | 17 | 33 | eleven | 0.69 | 1.06 | 2.06 |
| Poland | eleven | 1 | 4 | 6 | 12 | Twenty-one | 7 | 0.64 | 1.09 | 1.91 |
| Costa Rica | 18 | two | 4 | 12 | 9 | 26 | 10 | 0.56 | 0.50 | 1.44 |
| Cameroon | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 1.17 |
| Welsh | 17 | 1 | 5 | eleven | 13 | 3. 4 | 8 | 0.47 | 0.76 | 2.00 |
| Australia | 6 | 0 | two | 4 | two | 7 | two | 0.33 | 0.33 | 1.17 |
Argentina and Brazil, dominant
The South American giants are at the top of almost every major category, after their great passage through the Qualifiers and their titles in the last two Copa América. Along with the United States, both are what more wins accumulate (13), have the best points per game average (except Morocco, who only played 9 games) and the better goal difference.
A very special event it is identical to your files: both Argentina and Brazil pile up 13 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses against Mundial players, with the same goal difference (+24). Even in this section, both won a Copa Americawith one block per side on straight crosses.
Secondly, They are the two teams that have scored the fewest goals: Brazil leads with 0.37 per game, while Argentina is second with 0.47. Morocco comes third with 0.56.
the best European
Will 2022 be the year Belgium finally reach the final? The truth is that De Bruyne’s choice is his the best points harvest among Europeanswith an average of 2 points per game (France is second, with 1.94).
The Belgians pile up 11 wins, 4 losses and 3 draws and stand out for their goal power: Their 1.94 goals per game is the third best mark, just behind Spain (2) and neighbors Netherlands (2).
SpainMeanwhile, he has not achieved such good results (7 wins, 8 draws and 3 losses), but he is the best goal difference between Europeans: +0.94 per game.
What about Germany?
draws attention to poor German performance this cycle: 18 matches and just two winswith -12 goal difference. The main shortcoming? Defensive woes: Conceding 1.94 goals per game, fifth-worst among 32 teams, beaten only by Ecuador (2.06), Qatar (2), Wales (2) and Croatia (1.95) .
Morocco, a possible cover?
The Morocco squad in the World Cup preview was very important: They played nine matches against World Cup players, winning seven of them and losing just twowith 13 goals in favor and only 5 against.
And while it’s true that almost all of these games came against opponents from Africa or Asiawere also shown competitive against some top teams like Argentina (in 2019 they only fell 1-0, with Angel Correa’s goal in the closing stages). On the other hand, it is worth remembering that in the last World Cup Spain drew 2-2.
Be careful with its selection Bono, Mazraoui, Aguerd, Hakimi, En-Nesyri and company, which took a Very difficult group F. And speaking of that area…
the death squad
Guided by goal difference of its membersThe Group F It seems like the most complicated in the World Cup. Among Morocco (0.89), Belgium (0.61), Canada (0) and Croatia (-0.74) accumulate a +0.76 goals per match. The second hardest? The Group Dwith +0.25 accumulated between France, Denmark, Tunisia and Australia.
For its part, the simplest group is by far A. Between the Netherlands (0.74), Senegal (-0.33), Qatar (-1.06) and Ecuador (-1) they have a goal difference of -1.66 per game. The Group Bwith England, the United States, Iran and Wales, it is the second weakest with a cumulative -1.3.
United States, the most traveled
Team USA has played the most games against other World Cup teams. To this day it has 26 matches, with a record of 13 wins, 8 losses and 5 draws. The other options with at least 20 crosses are Switzerland (23), Portugal (23), England (20) and Japan (20).
Problem for Africans
The lack of matches with World Cup teams is a clear problem for African countries. Only eight teams have played less than 10 matches against qualified opponents and five of them are the representatives of Africa: Senegal (3 matches), Ghana (6), Cameroon (6), Tunisia (6) and Morocco (9).
Apart from them, the others who played less are Iran (5), Australia (6) and Serbia (9).
No wins and worse performances
Cameroon and Australia are the only teams yet to win a World Cup this cycle. Both played six games, with three draws and three losses for the Africans and two draws and four losses for the Oceanians.
From his side, Wales has the worst harvest among Europeans: He is averaging just 0.47 points per game, with one win in 17 appearances and worst goal difference of the 32 teams (-1.24 per match). Ecuador is the worst in South America (0.69 points per game) and Costa Rica (0.56), last among those from Concacaf.
On the other hand, it is worth mentioning alarming lack of goals from the Mexican side: just 10 goals in 15 matches. Averaging 0.67 per game, which is the third worst among those who played more than 6 gamesonly above Costa Rica (0.5) and Saudi Arabia (0.3).
