It takes a great team to win the World Cup out of their own continent and only Brazil and Germany have done so. The top five in the betting for the 2018 tournament in Russia includes three nations from Europe and two from South America. Brazil and Argentina are not good enough to win a World Cup in Europe so Germany, Spain and France are the teams to consider as potential winners.
Brazil and Argentina have Neymar and Lionel Messi to call on but neither squad has the overall talent to win the World Cup in an unfamiliar environment. Russia is a huge country with several micro-climates but on balance the conditions should favour the teams from the rest of Europe.
The UK and Ireland could be represented by five teams and that has never happened before. In the context of becoming world champions none of the home nations and the Republic are genuine contenders. England are the best bets but there have been too many failures in major tournaments to have any optimism about their prospects.
Germany are a side in transition after some stalwarts of the squad retired following the World Cup in 2014. Spain have not replaced all the golden generation and some key players are now the wrong side of 30. By a process of elimination France can win the next World Cup.
Ultimately France were the best team at Euro 2016 last year played at home. Portugal won the title without winning a group match and only winning once in 90 minutes throughout the tournament. France had chances in the final but lost when Portugal scored from a rare attack. Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba are world class and can help France win the 2018 World Cup.
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