2018 World Cup: Final Power Rankings | Bleacher's report
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Matthew Ashton – AMA / Getty Images
So was the 2018 World Cup.
One of the best in recent history, crowned by an epic finale between France and Croatia. A period of introspection surely ensues now, with millions of football fans around the world to know what to do now that it's over.
For the last time, we ranked the 32 competing nations on strength, their challenge for the trophy and how impressed they were. There are natural segmentations to order – for example, those who left in groups are all classified between the 17th and the 32nd, and those who lost in the round of 16 are between the ninth and the 32nd. 16th.
19659007] Ian MacNicol / Getty Images
32. Panama
The objectives of Panama in the lead up to the World Cup have been extremely modest: to hear his national anthem finally played in the final, score a goal, make a nation proud. They may have lost all the games, but they managed to meet all three goals.
31. Egypt
Even with Mohamed Salah at half speed, little – if any – was waiting for Egypt to lay an egg in the Group A. Losing to Saudi Arabia in the last minute of their last match summed up the mess of their tournament
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PHILIPPE DESMAZES / Getty Images
30. Costa Rica
] Costa Rica courageously defended the good goalkeeper Keylor Navas, but with a complete lack of sharpness on the other end, they would never have been able to fight for the shot. Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia.
29. Saudi Arabia
There was little expectation that Saudi Arabia would qualify for these finals, especially after its clash with Russia, but things have definitely improved from that moment. They played well in defeat against Uruguay and took one last deserved victory out of Egypt.
28. Tunisia
Tunisia was an interesting watch because it did things differently. The Carthage Eagles played at full speed, attacking football and leaving space for the opponents.
They were beaten by England and Belgium. but won against Panama in Match 3.
27. Iceland
The Icelandic campaign was similar to that of Costa Rica. They have defended themselves and put their bodies on the line, but a striking lack of talent puts a natural hand brake on the distance they can travel. With determined opponents what they could do (thanks to the Euro 2016), their limits were clearly shown.
26. Poland
How can a campaign that started with such qualifying go as badly as Poland in the final? The performances that they served, given the quality available to Adam Nawalka, were almost incomprehensible
BENJAMIN CREMEL / Getty Images
25. Australia
L & # 39; Australia was much better than many were waiting for. The emergency coach, Bert van Marwijk, put in place a framework and solidity to their game that made them competitive in every group match.
Their fall was a marked goal; the only two that they managed were from the place. The likes of Andrew Nabbout and Robbie Kruse worked hard in open play but lacked the stallion of quality.
24. Morocco
Morocco was an absolute pleasure to watch and probably deserved more than the lonely point that they had succeeded. They pressed, they went well, they dribbled aggressively, and they entertained us all.
If only every major chance had not fallen in the center of Medhi Benatia.
23. Germany
It becomes very easy to believe that there is actually a curse at stake in the finals of the World Cup. Germany has become the third consecutive nation to win the tournament with the group stage exit next time, with Spain and Italy leading the way in front of them.
They watched an absolute mess strategically, exerting pressure on the central defenders in an utterly ruthless manner, and were punished accordingly.
22. Nigeria
Nigeria's opening performance was a real shock, but a change of formation for the second match led to a much better performance and victory.
They only needed a draw against Argentina Do not manage it, but it is clear that there are a lot of things to develop and work with Team of Super Eagles.
21. Peru
Like Morocco, Peru has attracted many casual fans during the group stage thanks to its exhilarating and attacking style.
They had the misfortune to lose their opening match against Denmark. but they eliminated them, but they kept their heads high and their eyes focused, scoring and winning the third match to the delight of a stadium filled with white and red supporters
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John Catuffe / Getty Images [19659003] 20. South Korea
Sentenced before a kick was given, South Korea nearly came out of a horrible group with three points. Of all the teams, it is Germany who sold them.
Three star performers emerged, one predictable (Son Heung-min), the others not really (Kim Young-gwon and Jo Hyeon-woo).
19. Iran
Trained in a group of horror, including Spain, Portugal and the black pigeon of many peoples in Morocco, l 39; Iran has done tremendously well in getting four points.
Carlos Queiroz's tactical tactics were intelligent. counteract Morocco and Portugal almost embarrassingly, and the team fought awfully in a narrow defeat against Spain.
18. Serbia
It is fair to say that we were expecting more from Serbia, which carried a fit striker (Aleksandar Mitrovic), a real author of difference (Sergej Milinkovic -Savic) and a strong six back in the tournament. 19659004] The key match was still going to be against Switzerland, and losing it in the final minutes essentially eliminated him in the second match. We saw only one good game from Milinkovic-Savic, and Mitrovic missed a lot of chances. ]
17. Senegal
The first team to be eliminated from the World Cup on points of fair play. Remember Senegal because they are an answer to a quiz question that will be coming soon.
What happened to them was hard, especially given the sporadic brilliance of their game, but when you allow them to score points. , the elimination is difficult to avoid.
16. Argentina
Things went as badly as expected for Argentina.
They were always likely to leave the group – star quality was at least as important as one could expect – but they are too dysfunctional to deal with good organized opponents. France showed them the door in a certain style.
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Ian MacNicol / Getty Images
15. Japan
Japan became the second team of many supporters. They played good technical and fast football with smiles on their faces, and Takashi Inui and Gaku Shibasaki stood out in the middle for all the right reasons.
They almost snatched what would have been a shock of the tournament, but made a goal of two goals in Belgium. Considering the cloudy circumstances that accompanied their arrival in Russia (they sacked their manager in April), you can not sniff out what the Samurai Blue has achieved.
14. Portugal
From the point of view of the entire team, Portugal's performances were not good. Cristiano Ronaldo coached them into the thriller with Spain and only William Carvalho and Pepe impressed regularly over the next three matches.
The inability to build passes and bad form Raphael Guerreiro and Bernardo Silva contributed to de-16 output.
13. Denmark
For Denmark to progress more than it did – the knockout stages – they needed Christian Eriksen to have a match. world class every game. A solid defense can only help you if your offensive result is insufficient. they scored just three goals in four games, not one of them coming from an attacker.
12. Spain
Those who suggest the departure of Julen Lopetegui the day before the start of the tournament would have no impact on Spain , that they were just a conscious football machine, were wrong. Substitute coach Fernando Hierro appeared to be lost on the sidelines as his team went itself to death, then lost on penalties against Russia.
11. Switzerland
Switzerland emerged as a team that had the courage and the necessary qualities to upset the good sides, but when it was tasked to play against it was supposed beat, dominate,
Their elimination by Sweden was a surprise to many, but they showed their limits in possession and attack.
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FABRICE COFFRINI / Getty Images
Pure chaos. From the start (Carlos Sanchez's red card three minutes from the game against Japan) to the fault that they made their knockout stages against England, things never seemed to be mastered .
James Rodriguez's injury affected their tournament strongly, and they did really well to win victories in the group. The bizarre changes of Jose Pekerman have hindered them to a certain extent, just as his approach
although he has reached the knockout phase in difficult circumstances, it is probably a tournament to forget for Los Cafeteros
Maybe the Mexican World Cup reached an aggressive top before taking the wrong direction
It began with an epic victory over Germany, followed by a solid victory against South Korea. 19659004] The almost inexplicable 3-0 defeat against Sweden deported them, and there was little confidence that the course would be repaired in the round of 16 against Brazil. It's a pity that they have collapsed; MANAN VATSYAYANA / Getty Images
Sweden's pre-World Cup goal record was not good, and the feeling was that they might have trouble climbing.
This feeling was compounded by their belated defeat against Germany in the second game, which allowed Die Mannschaft to equalize on three points with very different final games on the cards.
The goal against Mexico opened the way for knockouts and a strong performance against Switzerland led them to the quarter-finals.
It's more than most Swedes expected, and some players – Ludwig Augustinsson and Andreas Granqvist Matthew Ashton – AMA / Getty Images
Russia has done a lot, much better than anyone else He was waiting in this World Cup.
Before the tournament, many They took six points, progressed up to knockouts and even shocked Spain in the round of 16.
Mario Fernandes, Ilya Kutepov, Roman Zobnin, Aleksandr Golovin, Cheryshev Denis, Artem Dzyuba … there were quality artists in all areas of the field
