Which World Cup 2018 favorites have confirmed their squads?

Who are the World Cup 2018 favorites? For me, the answer is obvious. Brazil, Argentina, France, Germany and Spain, with Portugal, England and Belgium lurking from the background. Not all of them have confirmed their squads yet. Let’s see which ones have.

BRAZIL

Tite announced his World Cup squad back in mid-May. He didn’t surprise anyone, since there wasn’t much debate over who should go to Russia. The team has been settled for a while now, ever since Tite took over in 2016. This is the 23-man squad:

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Roma), Ederson (Manchester City), Cassio (Corinthians)

Defenders: Danilo (Manchester City), Fagner (Corinthians), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Silva (PSG), Marquinhos (PSG), Miranda (Inter Milan), Pedro Geromel (Gremio)

Midfielders: Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Paulinho (Barcelona), Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona), Willian (Chelsea), Douglas Costa (Juventus)

Forwards: Neymar (PSG), Taison (Shakhtar Donetsk), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

Manchester City is the most represented club with four players, followed by PSG with three. The most important thing, of course, is that Neymar seems to have recovered in the nick of time, showing no evidence of rust when he dribbled past three Croatia players and scored the winning goal after coming off the bench yesterday at Anfield.

ARGENTINA

Jorge Sampaoli made his final decision official on May 21. These are the players he’s taking to Russia:

Goalkeepers: Willy Caballero (Chelsea), Franco Armani (River Plate), Nahuel Guzman (Tigres)

Defenders: Gabriel Mercado (Sevilla), Federico Fazio (Roma), Nicolas Otamendi (Manchester City), Marcos Rojo (Manchester United), Nicolas Taglafico (Ajax), Javier Mascherano (Hebei Fortune), Marcos Acuna (Sporting Lisbon), Cristian Ansaldi (Torino)

Midfielders: Ever Banega (Sevilla), Lucas Biglia (AC Milan), Angel Di María (PSG), Giovani Lo Celso (PSG), Manuel Lanzini (West Ham), Cristian Pavon (Boca Juniors), Maximiliano Meza (Independiente), Eduardo Salvio (Benfica)

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

Paulo Dybala was included in the selection after all, while Mauro Icardi was left out. The Inter striker is the most notable absence, but at least Campaoli budged and took Messi’s security blanket (Dybala) with him, just in case. Messi scored a hat-trick in the 4-0 friendly win versus Haiti, so he’s obviously ready to go.

FRANCE

Didier Deschamps has the most talented World Cup 2018 squad at his disposal.

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Alphonse Areola (PSG)

Defenders: Lucas Hernandez (Atletico Madrid), Presnel Kimpembe (PSG), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart), Adil Rami (Marseille), Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)

Midfielders: N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), Steven N’Zonzi (Sevilla), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich)

Forwards: Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Thomas Lemar (Monaco), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Florian Thauvin (Marseille)

There is not a single weak spot in France’s lineup. The victory in the friendly against Italy was impressive, not as much because France won, as much as because of the emergence of Ousmane Dembele, who’s poised to show the world why Barcelona broke the bank to acquire him.

SPAIN

Julen Lopetegui made everyone aware of his World Cup 2018 squad on May 21. Curiously, four of the five Spaniards playing for Chelsea will miss the flight to Russia.

Goalkeepers: Pepe Reina (Napoli), David de Gea (Manchester United), Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao)

Defenders: Nacho Fernandez (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Alvaro Odriozola (Real Sociedad), Nacho Monreal (Arsenal), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)

Midfielders: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Isco (Real Madrid), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich), David Silva (Manchester City)

Forwards: Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo), Rodrigo (Valencia), Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid), Lucas Vazquez (Real Madrid)

With Alvaro Morata, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Marcos Alonso absent, Cesar Azpilicueta is the only Chelsea player included in the 23-man squad. Real Madrid leads the way with six members, followed by Barcelona with four and Atletico Madrid with three. Overall, it’s a slightly different “Red Fury” than we are used to seeing, but at the same time, it’s a team of footballers who have earned their way into call-ups.

PORTUGAL

With competition aplenty, Fernando Santos had to make some bold decisions, including leaving out some of the players that helped Portugal win the 2016 European Championship.

Goalkeepers: Anthony Lopes (Lyon), Beto (Goztepe), Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon)

Defenders: Bruno Alves (Rangers), Cedric Soares (Southampton), Jose Fonte (Dalian Yifang), Mario Rui (Napoli), Pepe (Besiktas), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund), Ricardo Pereira (Porto), Ruben Dias (Benfica)

Midfielders: Adrien Silva (Leicester), Bruno Fernandes (Sporting Lisbon), Joao Mario (West Ham), Joao Moutinho (AS Monaco), Manuel Fernandes (Lokomotiv Moscow), William Carvalho (Sporting)

Forwards: Andre Silva (AC Milan), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Gelson Martins (Sporting Lisbon), Goncalo Guedes (Valencia), Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas)

Eder, the player who brought the title with his extra-time strike, has been left out. So have Barcelona’s Andre Gomes and Nelson Semedo, Swansea’s/Bayern’s Renato Sanches, Inter’s Joao Cancelo and Wolverhampton’s Ruben Neves, the best midfielder in England’s second division. Regardless of who’s alongside him, as long as Cristiano Ronaldo is healthy and motivated, Portugal has a shot at glory.

ENGLAND

A lot of people expected Gareth Southgate to take his time naming England’s World Cup 2018 squad. Instead, he made his decision early, on May 17. This is his choice:

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley).

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Harry Maguire (Leicester), Danny Rose (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Manchester United).

Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea).

Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jamie Vardy (Leicester), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal).

The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, a Chelsea player who spent the 2017/18 season on loan at Crystal Palace, and the exclusion of Jack Wilshere. The youngster will carry a heavy burden this summer. England’s fans can only hope he’s up to the task. In general, it is a young, promising squad that might not be ready to win the tournament, but can cause a lot of trouble nonetheless.

Germany and Spain have yet to officially confirm their 23-man squads. Those decisions will come today, although Belgium’s might have been revealed a bit sooner than Roberto Martinez wanted it to happen. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2018/06/01/roberto-martinez-angrily-denies-world-cup-squad-accidentally/. The biggest questions for Germany are whether Manuel Neuer will be included in the team and which center back will be left out (Rudiger, Sule or Tah).