Here are two of the great favorites to rise the Cup on December 20: the Argentine team and its similar team from France, who head their respective groups.

In what should be Leo Messi's last chance to sit on the world throne, the albiceleste team maintains an undefeated length of 35 games, the longest in its history and only two away from the world record held by Italy, and which includes victories against Brazil in the Copa América final and Italy in La Finalissima played at the mythical Wembley Stadium.

Led by Lionel Scaloni, who took over the squad in August 2018 after the failure in the World Cup in Russia, it seems that the right key had been struck, thanks to a highly balanced team that does not depend exclusively on the quality of Messi, but yes, it has him as a maximum reference.

In Qatar, he will have to deal with Mexico, Poland, and Saudi Arabia in a theoretically easy group and where they are the rival to beat.

The second place is a big question, with some always competitive Mexicans and Poland who recover the winning spark after more than 40 years.

El Tri has plenty of experience in this type of fight and always advances in his group, a statistic that this time Lewandowski and company will try to destroy.

The Barcelona striker from Spain is also facing his last World Cup, and that is the great danger for the Mexicans, since Robocop's shape can shake their plans.

However, I think that the courage and seriousness that Gerardo 'Tata' Martino's disciples put into the game can tip the scales in their favor. By the way, there’s expectation watching the match against Argentina, whom Tata led from 2014 to 2016.

As for Saudi Arabia, thank you for participating.

In D, the current champion France inspires respect, although last-minute injuries have it in check, since they could not count on Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kanté in the team, and this week they had to drop Christopher Nkunku and Presnel Kimpembe, without forgetting that the star striker Karim Benzema is not 100% in shape.

The Frenchmen once again share a group with Denmark, who accompanied them to the round of 16 in Russia 2018, and history must repeat itself now, with injuries and all.

The 'Red Dynamite' was the best in their qualifying group with 27 points, ahead of Austria and Scotland, with an overwhelming dominance and nine wins in 10 games, with 30 goals and only conceded three against, when they were already classified for Qatar.

In the League of Nations, they beat France twice, which must be a wake-up call for Didier Deschamps, and with Christian Eriksen's return to the fields, the Danes recover their main reference and driving force.

Australia and Tunisia find themselves with far fewer chances of reaching the round of 16, and to do so would be a real feat.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff