The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is continuing to progress, with some teams having already secured their place in the first round of single eliminations. The division of brackets includes four countries in eight groups that are classified by letters A-H. Groups E though H still need to play games in order to determine the single elimination brackets, but Groups A through D have finalized their groups. Netherlands and Senegal will advance from Group A, while England and the United States will advance from Group B. Groups C and D have just finished their finalists, with Poland and Argentina emerging from Group C and France and Australia finalizing from Group D. Groups E through H still have to finish out their games, but as it stands, Spain, Japan, Croatia, Morocco, Brazil, Switzerland, Portugal and Ghana are moving forward into the single elimination round. 

This World Cup has had some surprising outcomes, with the host country, Qatar, scoring only one goal and also losing every single game since the start of the World Cup, the first host nation to do this. Additionally, Japan and Spain are currently beating out Germany, which comes as a surprise for many fans of the German soccer team. Germany can still win, but they need to go through a couple of hurdles in order to do so. Firstly, in the upcoming match between Japan and Spain (at time of writing), Spain would have to win against Japan in order to ensure Japan would not gain any more points. By having Spain lock Japan out of points to advance in their group, Germany could then swoop in and take Japan’s spot in the final 16 by winning against Costa Rica in their upcoming game. 

Originally, France, Brazil and Portugal were looking great in their odds to win the World Cup. However, France’s surprising loss to Tunisia has created some doubts for the team’s ability to secure the Cup. At the time of writing, Brazil and Portugal have won every game so far this World Cup. Brazil is to play Cameroon and Portugal is to play South Korea, both on Dec. 2. Australia is in the same group as France, Group D, with the same wins and losses, but Australia has only half of France’s goals, which denies them first place in their standings. Group C has also had a dramatic run. Saudi Arabia’s win against Argentina 2-1 surprised a lot of fans, especially those of soccer superstar Lionel Messi, leaving many fans disappointed and worried. However, Argentina came back against Mexico 2-0, helping to restore the faith many fans had in the team. Poland and Mexico also came toe to toe in the standings, but Mexico’s win against Saudi Arabia 2-1 was not enough for them to beat out Poland for a spot to advance. 

The winner of the World Cup is still anyone’s game, with many countries doing surprisingly well and others struggling. As for the Golden Boot, Kylian Mbappe of France seems to have a good chance. France has had a total of 6 goals during the World Cup, with Mbappe scoring 3 of them, leading the tournament so far.

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