world-cup-preview Page 2 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Brazil Are The Perfect World Cup Team
If you made a list of everything you’d want from a favorite to win the World Cup, Brazil would tick every box....
It's Time For Sweden To Become More Than Just Zlatan's Team
After missing out on the two previous World Cups, Sweden squeaked into this one with an upset win over Italy in qualifying. Simply making the tournament is in many ways an overachievement for this squad, and it’s probably best for them to view things that way. They are in the Group of Death with Ger...
Can Mexico Finally Overcome A 24-Year World Cup Curse?<em></em>
It was absolutely not a penalty....
The World Cup Is Where Nigeria's Super Eagles Can Really Soar
One of the World Cup’s underrated appeals is watching players who are jammed into limited roles at club level let their hair down and run around without restraint on the international stage. For example a defensive midfielder, normally tasked with little more than standing in front of the center ba...
Costa Rica Will Try Their Best To Relive The Glory Of The Last World Cup
The undisputed second-best team in CONCACAF isn’t flying under the radar anymore, not after a 2014 World Cup appearance that saw Costa Rica win a deadly group that included Uruguay, Italy, and England, then make a quarter-final run that was only stopped by a penalty shootout loss to the Netherlands....
Argentina Will Need A Superhero To Win The World Cup, But Luckily They Have One<em></em>
People really don’t realize how much of a miracle it would be if Argentina won the World Cup....
If They Can Put It Together, Croatia Are The Perfect Bandwagon Team For You
If you’re a jilted American fan in need of a World Cup team to root for but you’re put off by the prospect of frontrunning and cheering for a titan like Germany or Brazil, I humbly suggest jumping on the Croatia bandwagon....
Spain Could Very Well End Up Winning The World Cup Again
Spain, it appears, are back. The team that won three international titles in a span of four years (the 2008 and 2012 Euros, and the 2010 World Cup), and then followed it up by crashing out of the 2014 World Cup in the group stage and losing to Italy in the round of 16 in the 2016 European Championsh...
Iceland Are Still Underdogs, But They Can't Be Counted Out
No nation as small as Iceland (population: 337,479) has ever qualified for the World Cup before, but simply getting to Russia won’t be satisfying enough for this team. After a couple of miraculous wins in Euro 2016 that put Icelandic soccer on the map, this Scandinavian group will be forced to exper...
Last Time Australia Were Bad And Fun, But Now They're Bad And Boring
At the 2014 World Cup, Australia were one of those entertaining minnows who have no real shot at escaping the maws of the big fish hunting them down but still make the chase interesting. In a hellacious group along with Spain, the Netherlands, and Chile, Australia lost all three matches, as was expe...
Denmark Will Go As Far As Christian Eriksen Takes Them
The vast majority of teams that make it to the World Cup don’t have a quart of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream’s chance in Jason Whitlock’s freezer of winning the thing. The latter stages of this edition feel particularly preordained, like if one of Brazil or Germany or Spain don’t win the tournament then...
Peru Just Might Have Enough To Make This Their Lucky Year
This is the first World Cup since 1982 for Peru, but that doesn’t mean they’re here just to play three games and go home. After weathering an absolutely cutthroat cycle of South American qualifying and earning a spot in a group from which they’re favored to place second and advance, Peru are poised ...
France Have All The Talent In The World, They Just Need To Figure Out How To Use It<em></em>
France are one of the four or so teams coming to Russia for whom anything less than a World Cup title will be a disappointment of sorts. I mean, look at their roster. It just oozes talent, with Champions League experience across the board and the depth necessary to fill in for anything from an unfor...
Morocco Are Back In The World Cup After 20 Years And They Mean Business
Hearing the name of the country of Morocco probably doesn’t conjure images of soccer greatness. It’s understandable. The Moroccans have gone 20 years—five whole World Cups—without making an appearance on the sport’s biggest stage. But while Morocco’s national team hasn’t covered itself in much sport...
Cristiano Ronaldo And The People He Shares His Country With Will Not Win The World Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal won the 2016 European Championship, so they’re not not likely to make a deep push in the World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal will likely advance out of their group, alongside Spain, and they could make it even further into the knockout rounds with some luck. But ...
Iran Have The Right Type Of Squad To Shock The World
Iran almost had it....
Will Luis Suárez Do Something Crazy Stupid Or Crazy Awesome At This World Cup?
Uruguay have what it takes to mount another charge deep into the latter stages of the World Cup like the one they made to the semifinals in 2010. They still have one of the very best defensive fronts in the game. They still have a steely midfield capable of swatting away incoming attacks, and have b...
Saudi Arabia Have The Honor Of Being The Shittiest Team In The World Cup
In truth, I know next to nothing about the Saudi Arabia national team. Which actually doesn’t matter much, because apparently they really suck....
Egypt Are A One-Man Team, Which Is Fine If That One Man Is Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah’s injury could not have come at a worse time. Liverpool’s newly anointed superstar was wrapping up a dream club season that featured 44 goals in 52 appearances and culminated in Kiev with a shot at ending Real Madrid’s Champions League dominance. Instead of capping a perfect season by ...
Russia Might Be A Threat To International Democracy, But They Are Nothing To Fear At The World Cup
We’ve finally made it! After four long years, the greatest sporting event on the planet has returned!...