#2 Brazil
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Tite’s Brazil side have already booked their place at the World Cup finals with a quite spectacular performance in qualifying. With four games of the CONMEBOL group yet to play, they have opened up a nine-point gap to Colombia in second.
After losing their opening qualifier 2-0 in Chile, they have simply smashed their opponents out of the water at virtually every turn, with a 3-0 home win over Argentina and a 4-1 victory in Uruguay among their most impressive displays. They have scored more goals than anyone else, spreading them around nicely, and have conceded the fewest.
After buckling spectacularly under the pressure of Germany in the World Cup they hosted in 2016, there will be certain ghosts that need exorcising before they can win the title, however.
#1 Germany
Defending champions Germany are, with Brazil and Spain, one of only three sides to have won the World Cup outside their home continent, and will go to Russia 2018 as the defending champions. Their record in qualifying has been flawless to date, scoring 27 goals and conceding only one, looking every inch contenders to win the title again.
Even if they struggle at the Confederations Cup this summer, they should still be regarded as one of the favourites to lift the trophy, having elected to leave virtually all of their top names at home to be given a rest before what is sure to be a manic 12 months.
Joachim Low’s side has quality, depth and experience, and with the competition taking place in Europe, they should be considered favourites.
