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World Cup 2018 Power Rankings: Germany Is Still On the Top
These past weeks Germany and Brazil still lead their way at the top of the most powerful teams in this 2018 World Cup. These are the teams who are most certainly headed for the 2018 World Cup finals; nevertheless, there are plenty of other sides who will uphold their hopes and chances in Russia.
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The Germany national football team is amongst the most successful national teams to go in the FIFA World Cup. In history, the club first entered the tournament in the year 1934 and finished third in the competition. But their biggest achievements fell in the years 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014 where they managed to take home the World Cup title.
The 1954 victory of Germany was captained by Fritz Walter. Ironically, in the group stage, the club lost 3-8 to match favorites Hungary, but the two later faced off in the final and the Germans won a narrow 3-2 win.
In 1974, the club hosted the World Cup and snatched their second Cup silverware after defeating Netherlands in 2-1 encounter in Munich.
1990 World Cup was won by Germany after a duel against Argentina at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, which signified for former’s third tournament title.
In 2014, the Germans finished first in their qualification group for the 2014 World Cup and took home the title as the tournament came to halt.
In addition, Germany have also managed to claim success in three European Championships—1972, 1980, and 1996. The club has also taken the Confederation Cup in the year 2017. Clearly, there isn’t any apparent obstacle in sight as to why Germany would fail to lift trophy on July 15, 2018.
BRAZIL
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By far, Brazil have been the most successful national team in the FIFA World Cup. The club has been crowned as tournament champions for five times— 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. For the record, they are the only team to have snatched World Cup titles on four different continents on respective timeline—Europe (Sweden), South America (Chile), and twice in North America (Mexico and United States).
Arguably, Selecao have the best overall performance in the competition as they managed to acquire a massive 70 victories in 104 matches they have played.
Not only in World Cup had they been victorious, but also in FIFA Confederations Cup with stunning silverware in the year 1997, 2005, 2009, and 2013.
SPAIN 
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Unlike Brazil and Germany, Spain managed to win only one World Cup title which happened to be in the year 2010. However, this barely restrains La Roja from entering the top three in this year’s competition. In fact, the team is one of the most capable to qualify and is considered to be amongst the most present at World Cup finals with 14 appearances out of the 20 tournament.
Despite the minimal World Cup title, Spain have not fell short of other competition titles. The Spanish team has also won three UEFA European Football Championships, in 1964, 2008 and 2012 and the Olympic football tournament in 1992.
FRANCE
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France national football team is one of the clubs to enter World Cup and managed to win 1998 title at least a single title. They defeated Brazil on home soil in the final match with 3-0 goals. Likewise Brazil, Les Bleus also had 14 appearances in the first stage of World Cup tournament. They entered the semifinals five times and the final round twice.
In the 1958 and 1986 World Cup, the French side landed the third spot, while in 2006 the club became second runner up.
In other major tournaments, France snatched the title in UEFA European Championship in the year 1984 and 2000.
ARGENTINA
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Undoubtedly, Argentina have never run short of talent and creativity at football pitches. Its high caliber players were able to lift the club to make it to 16 appearances in all the first stages of World Cup tournaments they succeeded to enter into; five appearances in the semifinals; five finals, and above all two brilliant championships titles—1978 and 1986.
Despite having only two World Cup titles, La Albiceleste have a truly successful campaign in other major competitions such as Copa América where they won 14 times and the ‘extra’ South American Championships in 1941, 1945 and 1946.
Furthermore, the club has also a good reputation in 1992 FIFA Confederations Cup for winning the trophy and becoming the 1995 and 2005 second runners up.
BELGIUM
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It cannot be denied that Belgium did a tremendous job for booking their place in the finals of FIFA World Cup on 12 occasions in the history of football.
But it’s a lot sweeter after they became the first European side to participate in the 2018 World Cup in Russia following their 2-1 victory to get the qualification spot. Meaning, it will be now their 13th time to appear in World Cup.
In fact, they are drawn to face Panama, Tunisia and England in Group G in the most awaited event in Russia this coming June 2018 and we expect some of their stars like Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, and Eden Hazard to give their best in the tournament.
To give you an idea, Belgium got their first finals appearance in way back 1930 and then history started to unfold as years goes by.
Specifically, here are the years that Belgium appeared at the world finals: 1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2014, and 2018.
Right now, they are positioned fifth in the current FIFA World Rankings.
PORTUGAL
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European champions Portugal are eager to win the World Cup title as they make their seventh appearances in the 2018 finals at Russia. However, they are in a serious test as they are scheduled to face the 2010 World Cup winners Spain in in the first match day of Group B on June 16, 2018 before clashing with Morocco and Iran.
We are going to expect that the five-time Ballon d’Or awardee Cristiano Ronaldo will be in his best form to guide Portugal into a World Cup championship and a title.
In their sixth occasions last 2014 World Cup hosted by Brazil, Portugal earned a 4-2 aggregate playoff victory over Sweden and Ronaldo scored all four goals to drawn with United States, Germany and Ghana in Group G. They were eliminated in the tournament due to insufficient goal difference to the Americans. That year, Portugal were dominated 0-4 by Germany to record their worst-ever defeat in World Cup and went in a 2-2 draw over United States before they got the 2-1 win against Ghana.
Portugal, who is third in the current FIFA Ranking position, started their World Cup journey in 1966 and their best achievement was third place.
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Nigeria will continue their impressive run when the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Russia. Having missed only one tournament since their debut in 1994, Nigeria will be making their sixth appearances at the finals with a growing confidence under manager Gernot Rohr.
The Super Eagles became the first African team to proceed and qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup after beating Zambia by 1-0 in Uyo. During their world cup qualifiers, the Confederation of African Football released the group for Nigeria’s group stage matches over Zambia, Algeria and Cameroon.
In their World Cup stint hosted by Germany in 2006, that’s the first time Nigeria fails to qualify as they finished draw in points in the qualification group with Angola, who qualified for that year.
Nigeria has appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on five occasions, the first being in 1994 where they reached the second round. They will make their sixth appearance at the finals in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
In 2010, Nigeria redeemed themselves as they qualified to the World Cup hosted by South Africa. However, they are unlucky to advance to the next round after losing 1-0 to Argentina and 2-1 against Greece. They had their chance to proceed in the round 16 of the competition but their match over South Korea ended in a 2-2 draw.
In 2014, Nigeria was still unlucky as they opened the 2014 FIFA World Cup with a disappointing 0-0 draw over Iran. However, the team never gave up. In their second match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nigeria was able to pull up their first World Cup since 1998. Thanks to the 29th-minute controversial goal of Emmanuel Emenike. Meanwhile, despite of their 2-3 lost to Argentina in the third game, Nigeria still qualified for the round of 16. The Super Eagles faced France that time but they didn’t even stand a chance to beat their opponent and for that, they were eliminated for the third time in the round of 16 that avoids them to enter the Quarterfinals of FIFA World Cup.
URUGUAY
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Uruguay can be seen as one of the most successful teams in the world of football. They are now heading into their 13th appearances when the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Russia. The nation finished second in the CONMEBOL standings and beat Bolivia by 4-2 in the final qualifying rounds to reach World Cup.
How did they become successful? To those who are wondering, Uruguay has won a total of 19 official titles already. 15 of the titles came from Copa America , two from Olympic Games in 1924 and 1928 and also two from one of the biggest sporting events in the world, FIFA World Cup.
In the first ever World Cup founded in 1930, Uruguay took their chances as host and grabbed the first title by beating Argentina with a 4-2 victory in the final round of the competition. They won their second title when they upset host Brazil with a 2-1 win in the final match in year 1950.
Moreover, Uruguay had reached the finals twice; five in the semifinal round and other are all in the second round. In 1934, Uruguay refused to participate in the tournament and decided to defend their title because that time, many European nations declined to participate in 1930 World Cup. Other from that, they also refused to take part in 1938 due to FIFA’s decision during the celebration of the 1936 Summer Olympics to hold the tournament in France that led to outrage in South America as they believed that the venue should alternate between the two continents.
POLAND
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After 12 years of absence, Poland is now back for their eight appearances in the 2018 FIFA World Cup hosted by Russia this upcoming June 2018 and drawn with African qualifiers Senegal, Colombia from South America and Asian powerhouse Japan.
With 32 teams competing for the World Cup title, top seed Poland will be keen to dominate Group H as they are the only group that does not have a team that has won football’s biggest prize.
National team Poland was first seen in 1938 FIFA World Cup and it was held in France. However, they lost to Brazil in the first round with a 5-6 dramatic defeat. Their last World Cup appearance was in 2006 but they were eliminated following their lost Ecuador (0-2) and 0-1 to Germany before they notched 2-1 victory against Costa Rica in their last match in the group.
Meanwhile, Poland had reached two semifinals at World Cup. The first one was the 1974 World Cup. They were beaten by champions Germany in a narrow 1-0 defeat but ended the tournament with a 1-0 win to get the third place in the tournament and that time striker Grzegorz Lato won the Golden Boot award for his seven goals.
In addition to that, Poland also finished third in the 1982 competition by beating the national team France to 3-2 in the third-place playoff. Right now, Poland’s current FIFA world ranking is 7th.