A South American Nation Won’t Win the World Cup. Even Argentina. | OneFootball

Why? It’s quite simple really. All six South American countries arrive at the World Cup with question marks over them.

Argentina

For starters, no one has won back-to-back World Cup titles since 1962. In World Cup history, only Italy and Brazil have achieved such a feat.

Preparation this time round has been, questionable, to say the least. Friendlies against Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Angola, Mauritania and Zambia – with Honduras and Iceland to come – have been absolutely pointless. Nothing learnt, nothing gained. 

Argentina were meant to face Spain in the Finalissima in Qatar – a real, proper test against European opposition – but that was cancelled after the trouble in the Middle East. Spain wanted to reschedule, Argentina did not… another red flag.

Lionel Scaloni, wanting to avoid his team taking a beating – and confidence knock – doesn’t scream as though Argentina will be added to that elite list of winning this tournament twice in a row.

This is a squad, on paper, that can compete with any nation in the world. But key players arrive having achieved average seasons for their clubs. Perhaps Lionel Messi should have walked away from international football four years ago with the trophy in his hand.

Brazil

Brazil has been a car crash since Qatar. Three permanent managers during that period eventually led to Carlo Ancelotti’s appointment – a man who had turned them down a little over 12 months ago. He wasn’t originally sold on the project.

Ancelotti is a serial winner, yes, but that hasn’t come across yet. The Seleção have less than 50% win ratio; Carlo has plenty of fans to win over this summer. France showed in their recent win over Brazil the growing gap between Ancelotti’s side and Europe’s elite – and they had 10 men.

And so there’s very little evidence on the pitch to convince those that have followed Brazil that they can turn up and win this World Cup. Don’t get me started on the 26-man squad – but if you want to know about that click here.

Brazil might not even top their group with Morocco involved, so I can safely say they are extremely unlikely to win the whole tournament.

Ecuador

Everyone appears to be hyping up Ecuador over their defence. Having only conceded five in 18 World Cup qualifiers, as well as Piero Hincapie and Willian Pacho lining up in the Champions League final, it might sound like a good shout.

But Ecuador do not score goals. They averaged just 0.77 goals per match through the qualifiers, which included six against a Bolivia side that is beyond hopeless.

Enner Valencia was their top goalscorer and he’s scored 43% of their goals at a World Cup. The nation are still heavily reliant on him, and now 36, he’s hardly going to trouble top European defenses.

Without goals, you can’t win, and that’s been foolishly overlooked.

Colombia

The Copa America finalists were pumped by France’s second string side in March and it was a real concern to see how poor Nestor Lorenzo’s side were. Similar to Ecuador, there’s a reliance on an old head: James Rodriguez.

It’s time to move on, but with Lorenzo on his way out after the tournament, he’s going to be hoping his trusty no.10 is fit and ready. That’s quite a naive standpoint. Rodriguez was excellent two years ago at Copa America; the World Cup is a different ball game completely.

Colombia don’t have a safe pair of hands between the sticks either – and they might be incredibly disappointing this summer and whimper out in an early knockout stage.

Paraguay

This is Paraguay’s first tournament since 2010 and it’s safe to say they have an incredibly tough draw, with the U.S., Australia and Turkey as foes. Additionally, their record on US soil is awful. They are another nation similar to Ecuador who struggle for goals, and their tournament could well be short-lived.

Yes, there’s exciting prospects in the final third. Ramon Sosa, Julio Enciso and newly recruited Mauricio. But they can’t do it all on their own, and that certainly isn’t enough to concern those at the top of the betting market.

Gustavo Alfaro’s team are very much in a “group of death” situation and if they can claw their way out of that, then they can safely say that it has been a successful tournament. Paraguay might just be the first South American nation to head home.

Uruguay

The wheels came off post-Copa America for Uruguay and they arrive at the World Cup hoping Darwin Nuñez will be back to his best. That’s a little tricky considering he’s barely played in recent months after Al Hilal sacked him off in favor of Karim Benzema.

Without him, they are leaning on midfielders to score for them – a real concern at a World Cup. Results have been mixed, and Bielsa will be feeling the pressure to deliver. Is the Argentine too chaotic? Too stubborn? Too reliant on certain individuals? Yes, yes and yes, if you ask me.

Uruguay’s incredibly poor performance vs. England back in March highlighted two things: how limp their attack is, and how ill-fitting their kits are. Fixing the former in a post-Luis Suárez era is going to take a while. Uruguay will not be winning the World Cup this summer.