FIFA 2022 Power Rankings: Argentina increase, England goes down contender list, knockout stage awaits USMNT?
The 32 national teams for the FIFA World Cup 2022 have finally been announced. Wales, Costa Rica and Australia were the last three teams to book a berth in Qatar earlier this month, paving the way for the best game in the sport. Here’s how the team is shaping up with less than five months to go. Qatar Football World Cup fans can buy England Football World Cup Tickets from our website.
Tier 1: The Favorites FIFA 2022
To be fair, it is not easy at the moment to clearly gauge the position of these two South American rivals relative to their European counterparts. But our indications are that Brazil and Argentina are at the top of our rankings.
Whether Finalissima should count is an open debate, but beating Italy to win more trophies doesn’t bode well for any team. Argentina’s defences look strong and Lautaro Martinez appears to have a striker who grew up alongside Lionel Messi.
Of course, Argentina is not the only country mistreating the European champions, and if they can make the cut, they will rise in this ranking. Germany capped off an impressive quartet of Nations League matches with a 5-2 win over Italy at Borussia Monchengladbach.
Hansi Flick may be looking for a true centre-line leader, but the ingenuity behind them makes this look like a future force for Qatar FIFA 2022, especially if Florian Wirtz can put himself in the spotlight this summer.
England manager Gareth Southgate
It was England that gave way to Germany. While calls for the resignation of Gareth Southgate may seem disastrous in extreme cases, there is an obvious problem as the manager has moved the Three Lions to the World Cup semi-finals and the European finals will hinder them. England simply could not dictate the course of the game or make the most of their talented strikers and playmakers.
One could blame the lack of a rhythmic midfielder or Southgate’s prudence, and one could even point out that the team with the most resolute defence – which tended to avoid a deviation against Hungary – the match won. But the unit that has propelled England for the past two games is in danger of slipping before it reaches Qatar.
1. Brazil (–)
2. Argentina (+2)
3. France (-1)
4. Germany (+4)
5. England (-2)
6. Spain (+1)
Tier 2: Possible Competitors
Since Diego Rossi took over from head coach Oscar Tabarez in December, Uruguay’s record of seven games is 6-1, 1-16. The two-time champion is once again a dark horse after reaching the World Cup final in South America.
Edinson Cavani looks back on the international break in June; Darwin Nunez travels to Liverpool and he and Luis Suarez are unsure of their place. Ronald Araujo of Barcelona completes Jose Maria Gimenez and Diego Godin with the same depth of defence. Qatar FIFA World Cup fans can buy England Vs USA Tickets from our website.
Uruguay isn’t the only veteran to have the band reunited for one last job. The question for Belgium, which lost at home to the Netherlands this month, could be how many of them will make it to the World Cup at their best time.
Perhaps only Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois will reach that level in Qatar, with uncertainty over Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and many others.
2026 has a good team in the pipeline – Lois Openda scored in a big win over Poland and Youri Tielemans looks set for a bigger role – but it could be a tricky middle ground for the Belgian.
7. Uruguay (+3)
8. Netherlands (-1)
9. Senegal (–)
10. Belgium (-4)
Tier 3: Knockout Wait
The final whistle was blown at Luzhniki Stadium four years ago, it was widely believed that it was the last breath of a particularly large Croatian team. Their historic shape since independence is enough to suggest they will be back, but maybe not for a while.
Maybe they haven’t left yet. Beating Austria gave their Nations League campaign a rough start, but their impressive wins in Denmark and France showed they would be a force in Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022.
As for the US, the most recent round of internationals probably hasn’t told Gregg Berhalter much that he doesn’t already know. The top striker won’t be there between now and December, and despite Jesus Ferreira doing everything he can to get the job, four goals against Grenada doesn’t say much about what he can achieve in Qatar.
Still, the right combination of guards can only stay tight on one end, forcing Christian Pulisic, Brendon Aronson, and Tim Weah to pounce on the other end.
11. Denmark (–)
12. Croatia (+2)
13. Portugal (–)
14. United States (-2)
Tier 4: Blending
Ghana’s rapid rise in our rankings is not because of much of what they do on the pitch – they lost 4-1 to Japan in the Kirin Cup – but because of their recruiting efforts.
This team doesn’t look great at the moment but it would be great to add talent in the Premier League like Eddie Nketiah, Tariq Lamptey and Callum Hudson-Odoi if they could merge in time they could become challengers.
However, they are not the highest climbers. In the same Kirin Cup, Tunisia defeated Chile and Japan to win the trophy and continue the solid results of the Carthage Eagles.
Last year they reached the Arab Cup final, the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations (they probably felt they deserved more against Burkina Faso) and won in Mali en route to the World Cup. This may not be a big-name team, but it’s paying off. Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 fans can buy England Vs Iran Tickets from our website.
Wales Gareth Bale
Wales did that too, at least in the most important matches. They may be shaking up the Nations League, but these results come as Rob Page’s side achieve their biggest goal of the summer: beat Ukraine and make it to the World Cup. They will be tough for sure. Gareth Bale wore Welsh red, a shirt that seemed to do wonders for Aaron Ramsey’s bruised body.
There may not be other players of that level on the team, but everyone else is good to very good and this team knows exactly what they are doing. America must be careful.
Meanwhile, it is Switzerland that drops down our rankings, although they are a difficult team to play in the group stage when one of the three teams can finish second behind Brazil.
A 1-0 win over Portugal in Zurich marked an encouraging end to Murat Yakin’s difficult Nations League campaign, the same issues that kept them from making the leap into major leagues. When an ageing Haris Seferovic is your best option in the middle, you need your defence to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
15. Serbia (+3)
16. Ghana (+5)
17. Ecuador (-1)
18. Mexico (-3)
19. South Korea (+1)
20. Wales (new entry)
21. Tunisia (+8)
22. Switzerland (-5)
23. Morocco (-3)
24. Cameroon (–)
25. Japan (-2)
26. Poland (-4)
Tier 5: Less chance of escaping the group
It is at this stage – before we make enemies in countries that may want to go on holiday in the future – that we emphasize that there are no bad teams in the World Cup, maybe some are not so good.
Newcomers to Costa Rica fall into this category, with their places booked in the usual fashion when they scored an early goal against New Zealand for a great wave of shots from Keylor Navas. If he continues his excellent form in qualifying they may only get a few points.
Meanwhile, Canada may not have given up hope of escaping their group, but their preparations have been marred by a wage dispute and apparent political tensions over booking a friendly with Iran.
27. Australia (new entry)
28. Qatar (-2)
29. Canada (-4)
30. Costa Rica (new entry)
31. Iran (-4)
32. Saudi Arabia (-4)
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