The World Cup has just started, yet we have already witnessed some pretty interesting games and one extremely big surprise. Yes, we are talking about Argentina and their loss to Saudi Arabia, and when the tournaments start this way, we can only imagine what could happen next. That’s the joy of the WC and what gives this tournament that special vibe. On the other hand, we can’t overlook the famous WC curse, especially when France, the previous WC winners, played last day.
What is it?
Since many people are not familiar with the “champions curse,” we will first explain this term, which is the phrase we often hear every four years – when the World Cup should start. It refers to the last World Cup champions and their ability, or better said, the inability to defend the title and become champions two times in a row. It is mostly about winners coming from Europe, as according to the curse, none of the teams who participate in this prestigious tournament can repeat the success and raise the trophy in two consecutive competitions.
However, many people hope that someone will finally break it, and the previous winners are the main topic among football fans every World Cup year. Some people even go to the extreme and believe that the champions from the last WC cannot even go past the group stage, which, even though it is something that occurred on multiple occasions, isn’t something we should expect this year. Of course, it also wasn’t something people expected from Spain in their 2014 World Cup spell, but this French team looks like it has more than enough quality to break this curse and possibly go all the way.
Is it real?
Well, superstitious people will instantly agree that the champions curse is a real thing, but even the non-superstitious ones cannot neglect the fact that in 21 tournaments, the winners were able to defend the title only twice. The only two national teams who managed to win WC twice in a row were Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1962 and 1966), and you do not need to be extremely good in math to see that the curse was unbroken for 56 years now. Besides that, if we look at the four last winners from Europe, we will see that none of them succeeded in finishing the group phase in one of two places that guarantee the knockout stage, which makes people believe that the curse is becoming even stronger.
Once again, it’s about the European world cup champions, and the tournament is tough enough as it is even without having one more thing to worry about, but when people are constantly talking about this curse, even in France, it just adds more pressure. Of course, there are more important things to worry about than just some curse, but when there is such a pattern of past events, it surely is something to at least have in your mind.
Different predictions
Thanks to the popularity of WC all over the globe and the persistence of the curse, it is the main topic among football fans, and each of them has their own prediction about whether France will succeed in finally breaking the curse this year. Some of them are convinced that it will not happen, and we will see some other national team raising the trophy, but, on the other side, some believe that France’s national team has enough quality to do something that would be a real miracle.
One of the interesting theories among football fans is that they will win again because they were the first ones in the 21st century who had the opportunity to do that and has it again exactly twenty years later. The theories and predictions are numerous, and many people try to make some money out of them, which is possible thanks to bookmakers. Regarding that, if you are interested in placing a safe bet and making the WC even more interesting, you will need a reliable website, and one of the best ones you can find surely is Bet365.
A lot of injured players
The biggest problem that Les Bleus face this WC is a high number of injured players who could make a difference, but unfortunately, they are not able to play. The list was long enough even before the departure to Qatar with Pogba, Kanté, Kimpembe, and more on it, and unfortunately, Benzema was added to it only a few days before the WC began, which surely made things even more difficult.
On the other hand, this team is a great mix of experienced players with vast experience and young footballers eager to prove their worth and represent their country in the best possible way. We should never underestimate a team with Mbappe, Giroud, Lloris, Dembele, and Griezmann, supported by Pavard, Camavinga, Rabiot, Hernandez, and Tchouaméni, as these players can do magic on the football pitch.
What to expect?
For starters, this team has some great names, meaning that even though Pogba and Benzema are out due to injury, they are still ranked high when talking about who could go all the way. The team has a lot of experience, and the majority of the roster has plenty of experience playing big games.
In addition, Mbappe is one of the leaders that is yet to prove his quality, and we should expect great things from him in this tournament. He has quality, skill, talent, and plenty of things to prove, and that, combined with the experience of Giroud and Lloris, represents a strong side that could possibly break the curse in the most preferred way by lifting the WC trophy.
A curse needs to be broken at some point, and the French team surely looks able to do so, even though some great teams in past tournaments couldn’t do anything and have finished their WC journey in the group stage. On the other hand, the curse is just about the group stage, and with their first win against Australia, the chances are high that France will go to the knockout stage, where anything can happen.
