Next Wednesday (23) will see the debut of four teams seen as favorites to fight for the Qatar Cup title: Belgium, Spain, Croatia and Germany.
The first to enter the field will be Croatia, who will face Morocco from 7 am (Brasília time) at Al Bayt Stadium for the first round of Group F. After the runner-up in the 2018 World Cup (Russia), Modric and company will try to make history again.
Tomorrow. ??#FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022 #Croatia #Family ?? #vatreni pic.twitter.com/jDJQHUVnl1
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) November 22, 2022
Before the campaign in the last World Cup, the best participation of the Croatians in the history of the competition had been in 1998, when they conquered the third place. Due to their powerful attack and their 12th place in the FIFA rankings, Croatia are favored and are one of the favorites to lift the cup in Qatar.
The 10 am match will mark the debut of the Germans in the World Cup. They will face the Japanese team at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. The match is valid for the first round of Group E.
MATCHDAY -1 ????#GER #WM2022 pic.twitter.com/vZteh18QiN
— DFB-Team (@DFB_Team) November 22, 2022
After the fiasco in the 2018 World Cup, in which it was eliminated in the group stage, Germany is looking to debut on the right foot and make a good impression this Wednesday. Players like Kimmich, Gnabry, Sané and Havertz can make the difference in a game like this. In addition, one cannot fail to mention the confident and experienced goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who is playing in his fourth Cup.
Another champion to play this Wednesday is Spain, which will face Costa Rica from 1pm. The game is scheduled for Al Thumama Stadium and is also valid for Group E.
?? I hope to repeat this photo tomorrow!!
?? ¡¡VAAAAAMOS, EQUIPOOOOO!!
??? ???? ??? activated, but YA.#VamosEspaña ?? #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/RQw3CJRjvy
— Selección Española de Futbol (@SEFutbol) November 22, 2022
The Spaniards arrive motivated, because of the last eleven games played, they only lost one. Occupying the seventh position in the FIFA ranking, Spain have a new generation of talents, such as Gavi, Pedri, Nico Williams, Pino and Ansu Fati.
Closing the day, Belgium takes the field at 4 pm at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, located in Al Rayyan, to face Canada in a Group F match.
Occupying the vice-leadership of the Fifa ranking, behind only Brazil, the Belgians are not experiencing a very exciting moment. In the last two games played, they lost to the Netherlands and Egypt, who did not qualify for the Qatar Cup. Even so, Belgium has to be watched carefully, as it has the extremely talented trio Hazard, De Bruyne and Lukaku, and the current best goalkeeper in the world, Thibaut Courtois.
* Collaboration of Pedro Dabés (intern) under the supervision of Verônica Dalcanal.