World Cup: Way-too-early predictions for Qatar 2022

It’s never too early to predict things. We go four years into the future of football and predict the 2022 World Cup.

France are world champions after their 4-2 win over Croatia in Moscow. The young French team will be considered a heavy favorite to repeat as world champions in Qatar in 2022. But can they break the curse of the defending champions? Who else is in the mix?

Not to worry. Due to my current impatience for the next World Cup, I took to Football Manager 2018 and simulated four years into the future of football to find out who would win the 2022 World Cup. Here is what happened in the simulation.

‘Football Manager 2018’s predictions

Football Manager can be a great tool to predict the future of football. I decided to simulate the next World Cup on the game to see who would come out on top. Before the tournament even started, it was moved. Qatar lost the hosting rights to Australia, who are hosting their first ever World Cup. This tournament features some new names like Iraq, Mali, and DR Congo. It also has big absences with Spain, Nigeria, and Poland missing out.

As you can see, the group stage had a mixed bag of triumphant returns and continued disappointment. The tournament started with an incredible 3-3 draw between Australia and Serbia. The hosts came one point short of Serbia and Uruguay. Italy, Holland, and the United States all returned to the World Cup with good group performances. The U.S. in particular surprised by eliminating Germany, who once again can’t get past the group stage.

The reigning world champions France breezed through their group, scoring 12 goals in three victories. 2018 runners-up Croatia finished second behind Argentina in Group G, with a 1-0 win over DR Congo clinching second-place. England and Belgium went through in the same group again while Portugal went home early. Mali and DR Congo all got wins in their first-ever World Cups. After a hectic group stage, the knockout phase began.

The Round of 16 had big scorelines and big upsets. France annilihated the Netherlands 5-0 behind Anthony Martial’s third brace of the tournament. South Korea shocked England with a 1-0 victory. Ecuador made the quarterfinals as the United States continued their remarkable run by beating Croatia 1-0. Brazil got sweet revenge on Belgium with two goals from Roberto Firmino.

The quarters put everything back to normal. France stomped on Uruguay, Argentina and Messi took care of South Korea, Italy put a 5-spot on Ecuador, and Brazil ended the United States’ run. The semifinals featured four powerhouse nations.

First, France made their second straight World Cup final with an extra-time win over Argentina. N’Golo Kante’s 78th-minute score was quickly canceled out by Messi’s fifth knockout stage goal. Young Player of the Tournament winner Willem Geubbels won it in the 118th minute. Geubbels is currently 16-years old and playing for Monaco.

Italy’s path of big wins went on by beating Brazil 4-0. Patrick Cutrone scored his 8th goal of the World Cup in the victory. Cutrone is 20 and playing for AC Milan. The final in Melbourne was set to be France against Italy. For a second straight match, Italy scored four and won their fifth World Cup title, beating the defending champions 4-1 in the final.

Cutrone concluded the tournament with his ninth goal, winning him the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball. Kylian Mbappe followed his Young Player award in 2018 with the Silver Ball in 2022. Italian goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma won the Golden Glove. Eight of the 11 players on the World Cup ‘Dream Team’ were Italians. I guess that tournament off in 2018 helped the Azzurri reach new heights.