Who Will Win the World Cup 2018?

Winning the World Cup 2018 is the ultimate dream and ambition for most professional footballers; it is what they dreamed of as kids playing football on the streets and it is still what they dream of now. Winning the trophy for their countries cemented Maradona and Pele’s status as living legends, and Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will both be attempting to do the same in Russia this summer.

It is likely to be their last World Cup’s for their respective countries and both will be desperate to go out with a win. In this article I will be suggesting who I think is going to win the World Cup and the reasons why.

This World Cup promises to be an extremely competitive affair with two of the strongest squads coming from European sides in the shape of France and Spain, whilst Brazil have a real chance to go one step further than in 2014 and you can never discount the Germans. Beyond that, it is hard to see a dark horse winning it, but Belgium, England and Colombia will all be harbouring hopes of causing an upset.

Brazil, France or Spain – Who Will Win?

In my opinion, this World Cup is going to be won by one of Brazil, France or Spain and out of those teams, my favourites are Spain. Under the stewardship of Julen Lopetegui, Spain have recovered from their lull which followed a World Cup win in 2010 and European Championship victories in 2008 and 2012.

This exciting Spanish team are unbeaten since late 2016, and they will come into the tournament having topped a qualification group which included Italy and having beaten Argentina 6-1 in a recent friendly.

It’s hard to find a weak link in this side, with them boasting the best goalkeeper in the world in David de Gea, with a solid backline in front of him containing the likes of Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba. As always, Spain are not short of creative midfielders with the likes of Andres Iniesta, David Silva, Isco and Marcos Asensio.

You only have to look at a list of players that Spain have left out to see the quality in their squad; Alvaro Morata, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Marcos Alonso have all been left at home this summer. If this Spain side can continue their fantastic form from the past two years, then I am confident that they can go all the way and lift the trophy in Russia next month.

Their main competition may well come from France and Brazil, but both of those sides have their weaknesses, in my opinion. France have a superb squad, but they failed to get over the line in EURO 2016 and I’m just not sure if they have the mental strength under Didier Deschamps to deal with the pressure of the big occasion.

There are also question marks over goalkeeper and captain, Hugo Lloris, who has endured something of a mixed campaign and was again at fault for the goal conceded against Italy.

Our World Cup 2018 Betting Tip: “Spain to win”

As for Brazil, it is always tough for a side to win the World Cup 2018 outside of their home continent and with them placing so much emphasis on Neymar, who has only just returned to fitness after spending almost four months on the sidelines, I think they will fall just short. In theory, they have the best attacking unit of players in the tournament, but they showed their fragility without Neymar in the last World Cup, and I think that could come back to haunt them again this time around.

Overall, I think that Spain have the strongest squad and one of the best managers in the competition. They play slick attacking football, coupled with a mean defence and that should be enough to see them over the line in Russia.

Spain to win the World Cup 2018 – 6/1 (Coral)