Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney predicts his 4 semi-finalists for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, leaves out Brazil

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has surprisingly left out Brazil from his FIFA World Cup semifinalists picks. He has gone with Belgium, Germany, England, and Argentina as his final four for the tournament that kicks off on Sunday.

Brazil, Argentina and France have been tagged as the favorites for the World Cup this year, but Rooney has ruled out two of the three for his final four. He believes that Belgium will be one of the surprise contenders for the World Cup this time.

Rooney was in conversation with the Times of India when he was asked to name his semifinalists for the World Cup. He started off with Belgium and Germany before naming Argentina and his home nation England as the final two.

"I will go with Belgium. Germany. Argentina and England," Rooney said.

Wayne Rooney on Brazil and France in FIFA World Cup

Wayne Rooney did concede that Brazil have plenty of quality going into the FIFA World Cup. However, he believes that Selecao head coach Tite will have a tough time picking the attack as everyone is in good form.

Rooney further claimed that Brazil's favorites tag could put pressure on them, and recalled Greece winning the EUROs as an example to show that the best team does not always win.

"I think Tite has got a lot of players with quality," he said.

"It is about getting the balance, the chemistry and the team spirit right, and not just on match days. Obviously, Tite will not start with nine attackers even though he has picked them. They are a very good team but you've seen in the past that sometimes favourites don't always win. I remember during 2004 when Greece won the Euros, Mourinho's Porto won the Champions League. They won through hard work and togetherness. I'm sure there's going to be a team or two that will spring surprises."

Speaking about France and why he believes they will not make it to the semifinal, Rooney said:

"They have a few players who recently won the World Cup. But they will miss N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba. Still, they are a threat with (Kylian) Mbappe, Karim (Benzema) and (Raphael) Varane."

Christopher Nkunku is the latest to make it to the France injury list. The RB Leipzig forward suffered an injury on Tuesday in training and has been ruled out of the FIFA World Cup, while Kolo Muani has been called up as the replacement.