Every year going into the World Cup there are favourites to lift the trophy on paper. They are considered to be the best team going forward in terms of lifting the trophy because of their past experience, squad depth and current form.
Then there are teams, which can cause an upset or two and then come the ‘dark horses’. Dark horses are those teams, who can not only cause an upset or two but can go on and lift the trophy if they play to potential.
Now going into the 2018 World Cup in Russia, there are many teams that can cause an upset or two on their day and can give the big boys a run for their money. Teams like Colombia and Portugal might not be fancied but they certainly have the goods to beat the big teams and go through the last four at least.
But, the team that can be the most dangerous and can actually lift the trophy in Moscow has to be Belgium. There are no surprises there yet again. The Red Devils have been the ‘Dark Horse’ since 2014 but they have failed to perform collectively as the likes of Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyn, Romelu Lukaku were all there but they have all developed in the last four years and are a bigger threat going into Russia.
Full squad:
Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg)
Defenders :Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic), Laurent Ciman (Los Angeles FC), Leander Dendoncker (Anderlecht), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Thomas Meunier (Paris Saint-Germain), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders: Yannick Carrasco (Dalian Yifang), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham Hotspur), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Youri Tielemans (Monaco), Axel Witsel (Tianjin Quanjian), Nacer Chadli (West Bromwich Albion)
Forwards: Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad)