I look at Group F. If Brazil comes out in first place in its group in the first phase, it will face second place between the Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia and Sweden.
The Netherlands defends a long unbeaten record in World Cups with a running game. A Clockwork Orange’s last defeat was in 2010, in the final against Spain.
Since then, there have been two eliminations against Argentina on penalties: semi-finals in 2014 and quarter-finals in 2022 – in 2018, the Dutch were left out of the World Cup.
And there will be a lot of Corinthians fans rooting for the Netherlands, thanks to striker Memphis Depay, the team’s top scorer, who is playing in his third World Cup.
On the Japanese side, professor Hajime Moriyasu is the first coach to lead the team in two World Cups. His work gained support after the campaign in Qatar, when he came first in a bracket with Germany and Spain.
Sweden has one of the most expensive attacking duos of the last European season in the USA, with Gyokeres (Arsenal) and Isak (Liverpool), who made their current clubs spend fortunes.
Meanwhile, Tunisia, in its seventh appearance in the competition, is playing to get through the group stage for the first time.
The Tunisians play two of their three matches in Monterrey, Mexico, and finish their participation in Group F in Kansas City.
