Brazil
Group:
G
First Match:
November 25, 2022, 1:30 AM SGT
Stadium:
Lusail Stadium
It's not hard to see why Brazil is the odds-on favorite to win the World Cup this winter. The South American qualification group was dominated by the five-time World Cup champions, who won 14 of their 17 games and finished first overall.
After losing to Belgium in the 2018 World Cup quarterfinals, they have only lost once in a major tournament since then, and that was in the 2021 Copa America final against bitter rivals Argentina.
It has been 20 years since they last won a world championship, and they have lost in the quarterfinals in three of the four tournaments since then. However, they can take comfort in the fact that they were crowned champions the very last time the event was staged in Asia.
Key Player: Neymar (Paris Saint Germain)
The 30-year-old PSG sensation is on pace to shatter every record held by Brazil, needing only three goals to surpass Pele and 23 appearances to surpass Cafu.
After a record-breaking 105 goals in his first four seasons at Barcelona, Neymar spent his first five seasons in Paris scoring 100 goals in just 144 matches. He has won everything there is to win at the club level, but the only major international prize he has ever won was the Confederations Cup in 2013 for his country.