Who can stop Brazil at the World Cup?

Brazil national team will be the favorites when the tournament starts in Qatar in November, who can stop them? (Photo credit: GOAL)

The unusual World Cup kicks off in late November and countries will not have the opportunity of testing the waters with international friendlies anymore; that leaves us with the million-dollar question of who will win the tournament in Qatar.

Brazil is the early favorite to win. South American countries haven’t won the World Cup since Brazil did in 2002 and twenty years on, they look the surest bet for the continent but you might want to keep an eye on Argentina as well.

If the just concluded international friendly is anything to go by, European countries struggled and showed they might not retain the trophy as they have done since Italy won it in Germany in 2006, leaving room for considerations for the South Americans.

France is giving all the energy that comes with being defending champions; every country that has won the World Cup since Italy in 2006 has been extremely underwhelming and has crashed out as early as the group stage in the following World Cup.

England recently got relegated from their UEFA Nations League A to League B and their performances have left many wondering if they would be able to replicate their 2018 and Euros form.

Germany with all the talents available to them has struggled to impress; Portugal can be said to be the most talented but in the face of strong opposition, they have always failed to deliver with recent evidence from their 2-0 loss to Spain.

Speaking of Spain, La Roja has what it takes to go all the way but will they rise above niggling issues to win the tournament for the second time? The Netherlands continues to impress but as a perennial underachiever, can they go all the way?

The dream is for an African country to win the World Cup someday but from the look of things, none of the representatives look the part. One African country always do well, with players switching nationalities to represent Ghana, will the Gold Coast fly the flag of the continent?