World Cup 2018: Top 5 contenders from Europe

Its 14 days to the Mundial and as the build-up towards the world’s greatest single-sport competition continues apace, a clearer picture has begun to emerge of Europe’s superpowers and what they would be looking to achieve.

No team outside Europe and South America has ever lifted football’s ultimate trophy but, a look at some of the African, North American and Asian teams that will be in Russia suggests that the favoured teams will need to give their all to avoid being shocked.

As the continent with the largest number of teams at this (and every other Mundial to be honest), Europe has produced the largest collection of winners (England, Germany, Spain, France) and is the continent being tipped by bookmakers/pundits to produce the eventual winner.

Here is a look at 5 of the continent’s superpowers and their chances of going all the way to the final at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium on July 15th:

#5 England

Vardy will be one of England's main men in Russia

Fearlessness, passion, and bravery are some of the tired clichés that have been thrown around to describe the current English team and given the lack of hype and expectation surrounding this particular squad, the Three Lions look ideally prepared to spring a shock at the FIFA World Cup.

Gone is the shamefully named “Golden Generation” of players who were great at club level but terrible for the national side. In its place, manager Gareth Southgate has picked a group of young, hungry players based primarily on club from and not pedigree.

Players like Joe Hart and Jack Wilshire would have been expected to make the squad but their poor showings in the just concluded season have meant that they were rightly dropped and new players who had delivered for their clubs called up instead.

There is a clear lack of star names in this squad but if they can be resolute in defence and compact in the midfield, they have the pace to trouble teams with Raheem Sterling, Jesse Lingard, and Dele Alli expected to provide the legs and ammunition for captain Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy upfront.

If Southgate can get them playing as a cohesive unit and with a favourable draw, the English should be able to confidently face down opposing teams in Russia.

#4 Belgium

Belgium's Golden Generation will look to create a splash

It is now or never for Die Roten Teufel or The Red Devils as a generation of star players (at club level) are ageing fast and will be desperate to make their mark on an international tournament before most start to go into decline.

It has been an amazing time for the Belgians as a team that traditionally has had one very good player and a lot of middling plodders can now boast of having genuine world-class talent on its roster and can even afford to leave some very good players e.g. AS Roma’s Radja Nainggolan out of its squad.

A super talented team comprising of a collection of young-ish superstars was supposed to take the world by storm at the World Cup in Brazil 4 years ago and be contenders for the Euros two years later in France but on both occasions, tactical ineptitude on the part of coach Marc Wilmots saw the Belgian team fail to make a lasting impression despite getting to the quarter-finals of both competitions.

Roberto Martinez has named a preliminary 28-man squad and it is expected that the final 23-man squad will be filled with quality players.

The Chelsea duo of Eden Hazard and Thibault Courtois, Tottenham Hotspur trio of Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Moussa Dembele, as well as the Premier League-winning duo of Vincent Kompany and Kevin de Bruyne, are some of the star names expected to be on the Belgian team sheet and if Martinez can mould them into a coherent unit, the Red Devils have the tools to go all the way in Russia.

#3 France

The French look formidable and can go all the way

Few teams will be able to match the stardust that the French will be bringing to the World Cup and while doubts remain over the team’s dynamic and cohesiveness as a unit, the sheer quality in the squad could be the deciding factor.

The disappointment of losing the Euro 2016 final on home soil to a not-so-impressive Portugal team still rankles and Didier Deschamps and his Les Bleus side will be looking to make things right and go one step better at the FIFA World Cup.

There is quality across the length and breadth of the 23-man squad that was released by manager Deschamps and it is now up to the man who captained Les Bleus when the nation won its first World Cup in 1998 on home soil to set up his team properly and lead them to glory once again.

Antoine Griezmann, multiple times UCL winner Raphael Varane, teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe and skipper Hugo Lloris are just some of the top class players that the French will be counting on to continue Europe’s dominance of the World Cup trophy.

#2 Spain

The Spaniards will look to pass their way to the trophy once again

Following from the success of its clubs in European club football (AGAIN), the expectations that the national side can once again rise to the occasion and deliver silverware have risen among the Spanish public and indeed the world.

After the disastrous 2014 World Cup campaign in Brazil, and the failed defence of the European Championship in 2016, former FC Porto and U-21 national team manager Julen Lopetegui was brought in and has initiated a gradual evolution, carefully introducing the younger generation to play alongside the old guard.

At least 11 of the senior players of the woeful team that played in Spain’s last two tournaments under Vicente Del Bosque are in the team going to Russia. Lopetegui has deviated from Del Bosque’s lazy and almost slavish devotion to Real Madrid and Barcelona players and has picked a solid 23-man squad based on present form and not historical achievements.

With a strong core from the Madrid clubs: UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid (6) and Europa League champions Atletico Madrid (3), as well as 3 players from double domestic champions FC Barcelona, La Furia Roja’s squad, is filled with seasoned professionals who know what it takes to win titles at club and national level.

#1 Germany

Europe's golden boys are heavily favoured to win again

Defending champions, eternal contenders and the designated spoilers of dreams and aspirations at the World Cup, Die Mannschaft once again represent Europe’s best chance of retaining the title it had won in the last three editions (Italy in 2006, Spain in 2010 and the Germans themselves in 2014).

The team is much changed from that which went all the way in Brazil 4 years ago with a significant number of the squad retiring from international football after lifting football’s greatest prize.

In their place, the uber-efficient German football system has thrown up a good number of talent that have shown that they have what it takes to help the nation equal Brazil as the countries with the highest number of World Cup titles (5).

Philip Lahm, Miroslav Klose, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker are just some of the stalwarts that have left the international stage. In their place, manager Joachim Löw can call upon young talents like Joshua Kimmich, Timo Werner, Leon Goretzka, Nicklas Sule among others to deliver.

The initial 27-man list named by the manager is expected to be whittled down to the final 23 by June 4th and with the winning mentality and experience of players like Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Sami Khedira and others alongside the youthful talent, Europe’s golden boys look set to go all the way once again.