When World Cup play resumes Friday, seven of the best teams in Europe and South America will be vying for the trophy. And then there's Morocco, the lone surprise in the last eight and the first African team to make it this far since Ghana in 2010. I'm Mike Goodman, and today we'll look at the best teams in the world.
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Your World Cup schedule:
- Have a cup of coffee, 11 a.m. ET
- Take a nice siesta, 2 p.m. ET
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⚽ The Forward Line
Power Rankings: Argentina down, France up
Yesterday in this space, we talked about exactly what made Brazil -- specifically, their defense -- so good. Today, let's bring in James Benge to explain why he's skeptical of Argentina in his latest installment of Power Rankings where he has Messi's team at No. 5 out of eight.
- Benge: "Defensively, this Argentina team is extraordinarily effective, allowing four shots per game, more than two fewer per game than anyone else in the field. It should, however, be noted that they have had perhaps the most favorable schedule of anyone left standing in this competition; if you are a favorite for the tournament, you really should be keeping Mexico or Poland to a handful of shots. With Rodrigo De Paul improving as the World Cup goes on, the Albiceleste are managing to get good balls to Lionel Messi, but if they are to beat Brazil in a semifinal -- assuming they get that far -- they may need to diversify their attack."
As one tournament favorite drops down the ranks, another is surging forward as France, powered by Kylian Mbappe take the second spot. And it's because of his continued dominance that France have risen up the rankings.
- Benge: "If Kylian Mbappe is not currently the best player in the world, it is surely only a matter of time before his claim to that crown is nigh on indisputable."
Messi dropping and Mbappe rising. It's like the torch is being passed right before our very eyes this tournament. Though it would take Messi getting by Brazil in a potential semifinal to see the two superstars meet in person on the pitch.
You can get the entire World Cup Power Rankings list here, and you definitely should.
🔗 Midfield Link Play
The Ronaldo era winds down
One team that's shooting up the ranking is Portugal, who sit at third. The reason? It's because manager Fernando Santos benched superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. The harsh reality is that Portugal have a tremendous amount of attacking talent and it wasn't the end of the world having Ronaldo on the bench.
- Benge: "Cristiano Ronaldo is more hindrance than help for winning at the highest level."
Unshackled from Ronaldo, Portugal laid six goals on a decent Switzerland side and zoomed into the quarterfinals where they'll be taking on upstart Morocco. Seemingly out of nowhere, Portugal are young, fun, and have a glide path to the semifinals of the World Cup. From there, anything could happen.
Let's get to some more links:
- Check out more Benge on the end of the CR7 era.
- For more on how Portugal absolutely demolished Switzerland, Chuck Booth has your takeaways.
- In the day's most shocking result, Morocco beat Spain on penalties.
- Check out Jonathan Johnson on how Spain's passivity caused them to be their own worst enemy.
- House of Champions: It's all Ronaldo all the time, as the crew breaks down Portugal.
- In Soccer We Trust: Heath Pearce and Charlie Davies look back on the World Cup lessons learned.
- In exciting NWSL news, the Washington Spirit will be at Audi Field full-time next season.
- Remember, you can catch the Champions League, Serie A, WSL and more on Paramount+ -- get 50% off the annual plan with promo code ALLYEAR!
💰 The Back Line
Best bet
With no action today, let's look at some futures, all odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
- To win the World Cup
💰 THE PICK: Portugal (+600). This number makes them fourth favorite tied with England. But England have to face France in the quarterfinals while Portugal have to face Morocco. Even if you're not a true believer in the power of a Ronaldo-less Portugal yet, it's hard to see how they don't at least offer more value than England, based on their comparative paths to the final alone.
