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world cup power rankings: messi, argentina crowned as champions

1. argentina (5) messi showed why he’s one of the best ...

by dan bilicki

dec 19 2022
read time 2 minute read
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world cup power rankings: lionel messi, argentina crowned as champions
lionel messi of argentina lifts the fifa world cup trophy. getty images
1. argentina (5) messi showed why he’s one of the best ever by lifting his team to the title.
2. france (2) at just 23 years old, it’s frightening to know the best of mbappe is still to come.
3. croatia (7) silver and bronze in consecutive world cup is an incredible feat.
4. morocco (8) everyone’s favourite darkhorse turned out to be stallions.
5. england (4) three lions have to be wondering what it will take to get over hump.
6. netherlands (6) fought hard – literally – in defeat on penalties against argentina.
7. brazil (1) pre-tournament favourite couldn’t live up to the hype.
8. portugal (3) have to imagine cristiano ronaldo’s feeling pretty low.
9. spain (9) scored seven goals against costa rica, but just two in other three games.
10. japan (10) will look to build off decent run after improbably getting out of group.
11. australia (11) close loss to the eventual champions must have it feeling good.
12. poland (12) time is running out with lewandowski’s prime coming to an end.
13. senegal (13) how much of a difference would sadio mane have made?
14. south korea (14) didn’t have much of a chance against full-strength brazil.
15. usa (15) young squad is in desperate need of a striker to take next step.

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16. switzerland (16) suffered one of the tournament’s biggest losses in round of 16.
17. ecuador (17) will enner valencia get any attention in the january window?
18. germany (18) jamal musiala will be a major part of squad when hosting 2024 euros.
19. mexico (19) has already started overhaul at management level. 
20. uruguay (20) only thing it comes out of qatar with is disciplinary hearings. 
21. saudi arabia (21) reportedly in the running to host the 2030 world cup. 
22. ghana (22) a small consolation that it kept uruguay from advancing. 
23. cameroon (23) might be the only team to beat brazil in qatar. 
24. serbia (24) offence is certainly there, but needs to tighten up at back. 
25. belgium (25) a healthy lukaku could’ve made a massive difference. 
26. iran (26) only points came against a 10-man wales side. 
27. tunisia (27) lack of firepower was always going to be an issue. 
28. costa rica (28) won’t be able to rely on keylor navas for too much longer. 
29. denmark (29) one of just five teams to fail to record a win. 
30. wales (30) will need to develop some youth prospects – and quick. 
31. canada (31) turns out canada’s group was even harder than we thought.
32. qatar (32) wouldn’t bet on it qualifying for 2026, even with expanded teams.
dan bilicki
dan bilicki

dan bilicki has been playing fantasy football since his high-school days and now lives the dream of being able to write about in canada's best sports sections. since 2012, dan has been the toronto sun's and postmedia fantasy guru as the game has exploded into a billion-dollar industry. during the off-season, dan dives head-first into the nfl draft and also delights in sharing his takes on the english premier league, as well as all of soccer's major tournaments.

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