The dust surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo and his stinging interview is yet to settle but his ambition to get as far as possible at this World Cup is unquestionable. CR7 will do everything he can to make his last World Cup be his biggest career achievement and it can be a boost for him that Lionel Messi and his Argentina are one of the favourites which means Messi could distance himself from the Portuguese star in the G.O.A.T. talk.Two-time world champions Uruguay have always been a tricky side and they have a great combination of youth and experience in their ranks. The South American will surely meet a great deal of revengefulness from the African members of the group – Ghana. Last but not least in group H – Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min and his Tigers will lurk from the shadows and try to surprise the favourites.PORTUGALThe wounds from the defeat against Serbia in the middle of Lisbon and Aleksandar Mitrović’s goal in the 90th minute have not yet fully healed. ‘Mitrogol’ shook the 2016 European champions from 2016, so Fernando Santos’ players had to go the hard way to the World Cup. In the dramatic playoff, Turkey was first beaten (3-1), then North Macedonia (2-0), which had previously pleased them by eliminating Italy. The Portuguese, on the other hand, avoided a fiasco and prevented the possibility that Ronaldo would be left without the opportunity to write his version of the script for the film: “The Last Dance”.No Ronaldo, no problem as Portugal thrash Nigeria in World Cup tune-upJust as everyone in Argentina is focused on pushing Messi towards the only trophy he is missing, this is the “mindset” in Portugal as well. It is interesting that the specialized programs predicted that Argentina would beat Portugal on penalties in the final of this year’s World Cup.Portugal definitely does not lack talent. However, with the exception of 2016, when the European trophy was unexpectedly won, Portugal never managed to show games in line with their real potential and quality. Although, they lose hard, and now he will have the opportunity to take revenge against the Urus for the defeat in the round of 16 of the World Cup 2018.In the group with Uruguay, Ghana and South Korea, the Navigators are absolute favorites, but this team has big problems passing the first hurdle in the knockout phase. In this century, Portugal has gone beyond the round of 16 only once, so fourth place in 2006 in Germany is the highest result of this selection, along with the bronze won in 1966.A big handicap for Portugal is the absence of Diogo Jota due to a calf injury. Pepe recovered in time, as did Nuno Mendes, but not Pedro Neto. Also, Rafa Silva announced in advance that he will not play in the World Cup due to personal reasons.Portugal is still on paper among the favorites to go to the finals of the tournament.Portugal have named their World Cup squad 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/ZaA98vMXFq— GOAL (@goal) November 11, 2022 URUGUAYAccording to all parameters, Uruguay should pass Group H. Portugal is objectively the only better selection, while with South Korea and Ghana, Diego Alonso’s squad should have no problems. At least on paper. In practice, it’s a different story, everyone has serious ambitions, but hardly anyone is as tricky as La Celeste.A handful of experience has been accumulated in the form of Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Diego Godin. The fantastic midfielder of Real Madrid, Fede Valverde, will give the team the necessary dose of youthful impudence, and he is not the only one.Pride of a country: Araujo, Valverde, Nunez and veterans Suarez, Cavani and Godin to represent 3 million UruguayansAmong the stars of the Uruguayan selection are Darwin Nunez, Rodrigo Betancourt, Ronald Araujo, Matias Olivera, Jose Maria Jimenez, Matias Vecino, Matias Viña, Sebastian Coates… There is also Manchester United’s 20-year-old Facundo Pelisteri. The young winger has seven appearances for the senior national team, but has yet to make his debut for the Old Trafford club that brought him from Peñarol for €10,000,000 in 2020.Enough weapons to not end the competition in the group already.The first world champion, also a two-time champion, had no problems with lower-quality teams in the previous period, but against better ones he had no chance (lost all four matches in the qualifiers against Argentina and Brazil).La Celeste experienced the biggest change on the bench, Oscar Tabarez left after 15 years, and Diego Alonso, a promising expert, arrived in his place. With his arrival, one thing will certainly not change – the Uruguayans will fight with all their strength against every opponent.The last chance for this generation to make a big success, so Suarez, Cavani and others should be paid special attention in Qatar. They won’t choose any means to get to the end, as Pistolero has shown more than once.WC dark horses: Reborn Danes, perfectly balanced Uruguay, and all eyes on Mane’s Lions of TerangaGHANAThe Ghana national team is participating in the World Cup for only the fourth time. At first glance, it seems that there is not too much chance to get a place in the round of 16, considering that the Portuguese and the Uruguayans are clear favorites. There is something to hope for in the clash with South Korea, but the fact that they defeated Nigeria in the play-off for the placement at the World Cup shows that Ghana has the quality to surprise objectively stronger selections.Partey headlines Black Stars squad to Qatar World CupAt the same time, Ghana will be extremely motivated in the clash with the Uruguayans, with whom they shared the match for the last time at the World Cup in 2010, and the match was remembered for Luis Suarez’s famous move. The legendary striker of the Uruguayan national team prevented a sure goal with his hand in the last moments of the second overtime, earning a read card and giving Asamoah Gian an ideal opportunity to introduce the Black Stars to the semi-finals, but the footballer with the most appearances in the history of this African selection was not accurate, so the Urus qualified further after penalties.Coach Otto Addo has been at the helm of the team since January of this year. He introduced a large number of new players to the national team, so the lack of experience seems to be Ghana’s biggest weakness before the World Cup. In order to improve quality, players with dual citizenship were invited to the national team, such as Brighton’s Tariq Lampty, experienced Denis Odoi, and Athletic Bilbao star Inaki Williams, who gave up the opportunity to defend the colors of Spain in order to play for his country of origin.There are still the Ayew brothers – Andre could become the player with the most appearances in the jersey with the national emblem (109), while Jordan needs one goal to overtake his father Abedi Pele in terms of performance in the national team (19).Black Stars profit from shaky Swiss defence and show a recipe for Cameroon to follow in the World CupSOUTH KOREATwo decades have passed since the controversial World Cup where South Korea, as one of the hosts, reached the semi-finals with the help of the referees and achieved a sensational result. Twenty years later, the Tigers of Asia were nowhere near such an achievement. Participation in the round of 16 in 2010, with a loss to Uruguay, with whom they will face in Qatar, and three eliminations in the group stage are confirmation that South Korea is far from the top of the world.However, Paulo Bento has at his disposal a team capable of going beyond expectations. A lot will depend on the health status of first star Son Heung-min, who suffered a cheekbone fracture after a duel with Chancel Mbemba in the Champions League match against Marseille. Son underwent a successful operation and a few days before the deadline for the announcement of the lineup, he pleased the fans by confirming that he will be on the plane to Qatar.Official South Korea squad for 2022 World Cup. 🚨🇰🇷 #WorldCup2022Heung-min Son, in. Confirmed. pic.twitter.com/x7SIYogHjS— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 12, 2022 As expected, South Korea routinely qualified for the World Cup and only lost points in a draw against Lebanon. Although at the end of the qualification they were second behind Iran with two points behind, there was no doubt that Korea would go further as they had as many as 11 points more than the UAE.South Korea’s participation in the World Cup in Russia is still remembered. Defeats against Sweden and Mexico sealed elimination, but that didn’t stop Korea from playing to the max and pulling the current world champion Germany into the abyss. Son played masterfully, scored the goal that brought the Germans to their knees. Everyone relies on the quality of Tottenham’s ace, but we should not forget the presence of Napoli’s Min Jae Kim, perhaps the best defender in Serie A. He will be the main link of a defense that is mainly made up of players from the domestic league. Wolverhampton striker Hee-Chan Hwang is the first support for Son, while a lot is expected from the Olympiakos duo Ui Jo Hwang – In Beom Hwang.4K #Wallpapers └📂 World Cup Qatar 2022 └📂 South Korea . pic.twitter.com/nk9Magcpts— Tadic . (@i2iry) November 18, 2022 WORLD CUP – GROUP HThursday, Nov 24th16:00: (1.80) Uruguay (3.40) S.Korea (4.90)19:00: (1.43) Portugal (4.20) Ghana (8.50)Monday, Nov 28th16:00: (2.55) S.Korea (2.95) Ghana (3.05)22:00: (2.10) Portugal (3.20) Uruguay (3.80)Friday, Dec 2nd18:00: (8.00) S.Korea (4.50) Portugal (1.42)18:00: (4.80) Ghana (3.45) Uruguay (1.80)***odds are subject to change***
