Top 5 contenders to win the FIFA World Cup

#1 Germany

Germany beat Chile in the FIFA Confederations Cup final in Russia 2017

A lot has been said about the downfall of Germany's national team after the retirement of major leaders in the locker room such as Philipp Lahm and Miroslav Klose, especially after the Euro Cup elimination against France in the semi final in 2016.

However, despite all the talk, the reality is that Germany is living its best days on international football. They remain the reigning world champions, and Joachim Low is still the ambitious manager who looks to challenge himself every single year.

As a matter of fact, Low did not satisfy himself with the 2014 triumph and has already decided to move on from his old tactics, in order to impose a more modern approach consisting of three ball-playing center backs. Overall, Germany is stronger at retaining possession and more effective at regaining the ball in the opponent's half.

Facing the Germans would really feel like a nightmare for most teams who do not have the technical quality to keep up with their high tempo. This side is much better at exploiting opponents who sit deep, than they were in 2014, and proved it when they faced the likes of the United Stages and Algeria.

The failure against France in 2016 could well have been a blessing in disguise for Low, who has already shown signs of improvement in the Confederations Cup in 2017. In a game against Mexico, who were likely to park the bus and hit on the counter attacks, Low proved that Germany learned from what happened a year ago, and gave away possession on purpose. In the end, the tactics back-fired on the Mexicans, as the Germans crushed them by a scoreline of 4-1.

This German side is tactically one of the most flexible ones, and is possible to adapt to various situations. With a young squad, mainly composed of under 23 players, they were still able to out-class the representatives of South America in the final, as they beat Chile to achieve their first ever triumph in this tournament.