The first round of the group stage is done, and we now know a lot about the forms of all national teams competing in this World Cup. But what did we learn? There are many teams that definitely disappointed us and their respective countrymen. For example, Germany and Argentina lost to the underdogs of their groups and made their people angry. However, there were national teams who lived up to their titles of favorites at the World Cup. Those are, of course, England, France, and Brasil. Those are exactly the teams we will discuss today. Here is what we learned.
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England
It is safe to say England had an impressive first round against Iran. Sure, the opponent was not one of the best national teams in the World Cup, but it takes a lot of skill to score six goals on this stage. To be fair, many people doubted Gareth Southgate before the competition, and most had legitimate reasons for doing that. For example, many people resented him for leaving out Tomori, who had a fantastic season at Milan, and taking Harry Maguire to the World Cup. Even though Tomori definitely deserves a place in the England national team, Harry Maguire did an excellent job during the match against Iran. That is, of course, until he had to leave the pitch due to illness. When it comes to the rest of the England team, they all performed well. Saka was definitely one of the best on the pitch, but we must not forget Harry Kane, who orchestrated the attack and had two assists. The midfielders did a wonderful job and were creative throughout the game. They created many chances for the strikers, and players like Saka, Sterling, and Rasfhrod took those chances. England will play against the US national team in the second round of the World Cup, and then we will see if they can produce such a wonderful game against a better team.
France
The second team on our list that definitely impressed us is, of course, France. If you go on any betting site, like Betfred Ohio, you will see that the French are one of the favorites. The boys in blue showed us that they were enjoying themselves on the pitch and were in good form for this World Cup. They also did not have the best opponent in their first round, with all due respect to the Australian national team. The Aussies scored the game’s first goal, which was pretty unexpected. But, the French players did not panic and simply played their own attacking game. Soon after, they managed to equalize, and after that, the game was pretty much done. The best individual on the pitch was Olivier Giroud. That was a special night for him because he scored two goals and tied Henry’s record of 51 goals scored for the French national team. People were worried after Benzema had to leave the team due to injury, but it is safe to say that Giroud is an adequate alternative. The French won the match with a 5:1 score and showed everyone how good they were. Other than Giroud, the player who was also rather good was Mbappe. He was one of the most creative players on the pitch, and in a few situations, he showed the great skills he has. The next match for the Franch is the one against Denmark, which will be a challenge. Denmark is one of the best national teams in Europe, and they are hungry for success. If the boys in blue win that match comfortably, that will be a warning message to the best teams. But one thing is for sure; we can definitely consider France to be one of the main favorites to win the title.
Brazil
The last, but definitely not the least important national team on our list is Brazil. Before the World Cup, many experts believed that Brazil is the main favorite to win the competition. When you look at the players they have, it is pretty easy to see why they thought so. After Brazil’s first round against Serbia, people were more convinced that Brazil could win the World Cup. Why is that? What did we learn from their game against Serbia? We saw that Brazil has one of the best attacks in this World Cup. They and the French are the most dangerous up front. Sure, Neymar was not at his best, but the other players like Vinicius and Richarlison were outstanding. But that is not a surprise. Anyone who watches football and the Brazil national team knows they are good at scoring goals. The thing that positively surprised the experts was how good they were in the middle. Casemeiro showed once again why he is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. Even though he definitely deserved a yellow card, he was pretty good at frustrating the most creative Serbian players like Tadic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. Why is this Brazil win so important? Sure, England and France scored more goals and maybe played more beautiful football, but Brazil had the best opponent in their first round. Serbia is officially 16th on the FIFA rankings, but they are much better than that. They deserve to be in the top 10. They will definitely show their quality in their next two games. But the way Brazil took care of them on the pitch just shows that they are the main favorites for a reason. The only thing Brazil’s players need to do is to remain healthy, and they will have an excellent chance to win the World Cup.
Those were the things we learned from the first round at the World Cup in Qatar. Sure, there are many more games to be played, and things can change. Football is one of the most unpredictable sports in the world, and that is why so many people love it. But one thing is for sure, the teams we discussed today are definitely the top favorites to win the title.
