World Cup

World Cup 2022: How we expect the tournament in Qatar to pan out

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 20 November 2022

Ahead of the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Sports Mole team maps out how they expect the tournament to pan out, including the eventual winners.

Thirty-two nations will begin their quest for sporting immortality over the next four days as the 2022 World Cup gets underway in Qatar.

A total of 64 games will take place over the course of 29 days as the most controversial World Cup in history sees the great and good of world football battle for glory.

The established elite are once again among the favourites to lift the trophy in the first-ever winter edition of the tournament, with Brazil leading the way as front-runners before a ball has been kicked.

Here, the Sports Mole team have mapped out how they expect the tournament to unfold over the next four weeks.

GROUP STAGE

GROUP A
1st. Netherlands
2nd. Senegal
3rd. Ecuador
4th. Qatar

GROUP B
1st. England
2nd. USA
3rd. Wales
4th. Iran

GROUP C
1st. Argentina
2nd. Poland
3rd. Mexico
4th. Saudi Arabia

GROUP D
1st. France
2nd. Denmark
3rd. Tunisia
4th. Australia

GROUP E
1st. Germany
2nd. Spain
3rd. Japan
4th. Costa Rica

GROUP F
1st. Belgium
2nd. Croatia
3rd. Morocco
4th. Canada

GROUP G
1st. Brazil
2nd. Serbia
3rd. Switzerland
4th. Cameroon

GROUP H
1st. Portugal
2nd. Uruguay
3rd. Ghana
4th. South Korea

LAST 16

Netherlands to beat USA
Argentina to beat Denmark
Germany to beat Croatia
Brazil to beat Uruguay
England to beat Senegal
France to beat Poland
Spain to beat Belgium
Portugal to beat Serbia