7 Countries Most Likely To Win Their FIRST World Cup

only eight countries have ever won the FIFA World Cup despite there having been 21 editions of the world's biggest football tournaments they are Uruguay Italy Germany Brazil England Argentina France and Spain that means that at this Winter's upcoming World Cup in Qatar of the 32 Nations present 25 of them will have the opportunity to win the World Cup for the very first time and yet as is almost always the case the favorites are comprised almost exclusively of national teams that have already won it Brazil are the favorites the most successful team in the history of the World Cup followed by France Argentina England Spain and Germany all in that order you have to get down as far as the seventh favorites the Netherlands to find a non-world Cup winner which given that there are only seven countries at the World Cup who have actually won it due to Italy failing to qualify means that the most widely tipped winners who haven't won it before are only shorter odds than one previous winner Uruguay in this case it is a remarkable stronghold that just eight countries out of about 200 have over bodies after all called the World Cup back in 1974 Pele predicted that an African nation would win the World Cup before the turn of the Millennium he was proven wrong and an article from Bleacher Reports declaring that he would be proven right before 2023 published in 2013 is now on equally Shaky Ground similar claims have been made about Asian nations North American countries and a whole raft of others yet not a single one has come to fruition so in today's video following a theft your requests I decided to take a look at the countries that I feel are the most likely to become the first since Spain in 2010 to win their first World Cup by what year that could become a realistic aim for them and what the probable impediments to them achieving that goal might be these are my seven seventh Ukraine rest assured I'm not handing Ukraine a token inclusion in seventh out of Sympathy for the nation's current plate but on sound footballing grounds alone Ukraine is currently facing a fight for its very existence or at least a battle to avoid serious fragmentation but whilst the country's infrastructure is shelled and their future is threatened Ukrainian football is flourishing Ukraine has always produced great footballers even during the Soviet era the likes of olekh blockin and Igor belanov were among the USSR starmen and the greatest post-soviet player of all from the entire Soviet Bloc is probably Andre shevchenko it is worth noting that Ukraine has more Ballon d'Or winners than Russia and indeed more than all but eight countries on Earth and the same number as Spain clearly however despite having had some outstanding individuals as an independent nation Ukraine has not yet had an outstanding team the country's two best showings at major tournaments came in 2006 when they reached the World Cup quarterfinals and in 2021 when they reached the quarter-finals of the Euros this current Ukraine team does actually lack the star power of old but it is a solid unit packed full of domestic talents plus a smattering of Premier League La Liga and serious Stars clearly once again this current Ukraine team isn't going to win the World Cup anytime soon they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2022 World Cup beating Scotland but losing to Wales and they are currently ranked 27th in the FIFA world rankings however Ukraine won the most recent under-20 World Cup in 2019 where they overcame the likes of Colombia Italy and the United States and their young talents from Ilya zabani to anatolai trubin is indicative of a very bright future lying ahead of them in terms of the key fundamentals Ukraine is in Europe and is a part of UEFA which is a huge advantage in terms of their players competing at the highest level in the most prestigious Club competitions shaktar Donetsk recently went toe-to-toe with Real Madrid despite having been exiled from Donetsk largely since 2 2014 and from Ukraine entirely since the Russian invasion with 10 ukrainians in their starting eleven eight of whom came through their own youth ranks and only a 95th minute Antonio rudiger equalizer could deny them of all three points not only that Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe by area and the eighth largest by population meaning that if Ukraine can continue their outstanding recent Youth Development whenever hopefully that is sooner rather than later peace returns to the country the sky really is the limit I can't see Ukraine winning any of the next three World Cups for example and I would consider them to be a long shot to win it in my lifetime hence why they're only seventh but there is every chance that they could reach the knockout stage as early as 2026 and go deep in 2030. 6th Mexico are incredibly consistent at the FIFA World Cup having reached a round of 16 stage but being knocked out at the round of 16 stage at every single World Cup since 1994. that is seven consecutive tournaments and looking at their current Squad and their World Cup group you wouldn't bet against them making it eight in Qatar or I wouldn't at least one of the great mysteries of International Football Mexico is an enormous football mad nation in the Americas two-thirds of the size of Brazil and three times the size of Argentina in terms of population whilst those two have reached 12 World Cup finals and have won seven of them Mexico have never got beyond the quarter-final stage even Uruguay which doesn't even have three percent of Mexico's population has won the World Cup twice there are lots of theories as to why this is the case from a dysfunctional League system to weak Nationwide Academy infrastructure and a federation that is far more interested in raising cash by playing meaningless friendly games in the United States then they aren't actually improving the national team's standard but the fact remains that Mexico's potential is almost off the charts and therefore they have to be contenders to become the next first time World Cup winners Mexico's under 17 team reached the final of the most recent under 17 World Cup in 2019 where they lost two one to Brazil but the country is also had had false storms in the past with their youth teams impressing but failing to transfer that success to the senior level when you compare Mexico with other Latin American countries unfavorably as I have just done it is worth noting of course that Mexico are members of concacaf rather than comma Bowl meaning that Mexico have historically struggled with a lack of competition and haven't routinely been tested against the might of an Argentina or Brazil that is unlikely to change anytime soon but the perceived threat that the rapidly improving Canadian and U.S national teams posed to Mexico might actually be a blessing in disguise whilst it might make it tougher to qualify for the World Cup in the short term it takes tough steel to create the sharpest blade or whatever the hell that phrase actually is and that is what Mexico have got now there are still far too many variables and signs that Mexico aren't yet on a direct path towards realizing their potential for them to finish higher than six but their ceiling is so high arguably higher than anyone else's in this seven that they at least had to feature fifth Egypt whilst they're on the direct comparisons that you have with Mexico in the Americas with the likes of Argentina and Brazil the case for Egypt is very similar at least in the sense that it is a massive country that is absolutely obsessed with football Egypt is the third most populous country in Africa but of course no National scene from Africa has even reached the semi-final stage of a World Cup and none of reached the quarterfinals since Ghana in 2010. Egypt have only ever appeared at three World Cups in 1934 1990 and 2018 and they are yet to win a game at the finals despite being the single most successful team in the history of the African Cup of Nations Egypt's Regional dominance has not yet translated onto the global stage and even with the presence of one of the best players on the planet in the form of national hero Mohamed Salah Egypt failed to qualify for the upcoming World Cup losing to Senegal penalties in their final qualifier just as they had done in the most recent Afghan final only the previous month the reason why Egypt a country of more than 100 million people who currently live under the repressive authoritarian role of Abdel fatal CC have failed to realize their footballing potential just as is the case with Mexico is multifaceted there is one key similarity between them which is that they both have football federations or associations that stand accused of being hideously corrupt and far more interested in raking in a quick Buck than it actually progressing the country standing within the world of football when Egypt qualified for their first World Cup in more than 30 years in 2018 they were reportedly the only country as players flew economy whilst their FA Executives flew first class and they base the team in chechnya to provide photo ops for the local pound shop warlord and Putin and puppets ramzan kaderov which meant that their team had to trouble vast distances for every single one of their games it was indicative of the broader mismanagements of Egyptian football but nonetheless Egypt's demography passion for the sport and the inspiration that the likes of Muhammad al-nani and Muhammad Salah of set with their success in Europe means that few countries come close when it comes to Raw potential I would be amazed if Egypt won the World Cup in the next couple of decades and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they failed to even qualify for the next two or three World Cups but given that it could be 20 to 30 years before any country that hasn't yet won the World Cup does win it Egypt's long-term prospects are still enough to earn them a spot in fifth fourth the Netherlands no non-world Cup winning country has come closer to winning football's biggest prize down the Netherlands who are the only national team to have reached three FIFA World Cup finals whilst failing to win a single one of them those three finals came in 1974 1978 and 2010 and following defeats of Spain's golden team in the final in South Africa that Evelyn's finished third of the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 where they were only beaten on penalties by Argentina in the semi-finals failure to even qualify for the Euros in 2016 and the World Cup in 2018 could be seen as a sign of terminal decline but the Dutch will be back in action in Qatar drawn alongside the hosts in group a which they are the favorites to win the Netherlands doesn't have an enormous population homes are fewer than 20 million people but the country's output is rivaled by few larger Nations on Earth and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon in ayax the Netherlands is home to arguably the finest Academy in all of world football and with the likes of Devon wrench Cyril malassia Matthias delict Cody gakpo Ryan grafenbach and Frankie DeYoung all aged 25 or younger this current crop should only improve as time goes on winning a World Cup would still be An Almighty task for them make no mistake about that and I can't see it happening in 2022 or even 2026 before a national team that has come within just two games or fewer of winning the World Cup on five separate occasions which is more times than either Spain or England clearly you would have to put them among the favorites to become the next first-time World Cup winners God knows they have been waiting long enough third Nigeria Nigeria has the largest population of any African country home to almost twice as many inhabitants as the second largest country Ethiopia and on course to overtake Brazil as the six most populous nation on Earth before the end of 2022 their population has among the youngest median age anywhere in the world and the country has an insatiable appetite for football all of that should Bode extremely well when it comes to Nigeria's footballing prospects yet Nigeria are currently ranked 32nd in the FIFA world rankings they went out in the round of 16 of the 2021 African Cup of Nations and they failed to even qualify for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar after they were knocked out by Ghana by virtue of away goals Ghana isn't even a sixth of the size of Nigeria meanwhile Senegal Africa's top ranked national team isn't even a tenth of the size of Nigeria and likes of Cameroon and Ivory Coast have also produced a similar number of top level players despite being much much smaller Nations so just what is holding Nigeria back well as with Mexico and Egypt there are a few things and as with both of those two one of them is a very suspect Football Federation the nff previously the NFA have been labeled as one of the most corrupt governing bodies in all of world football and there is some esteemed competition on that front believe me FIFA even briefly had to suspend Nigeria back in 2014 after the government issued a legal order for the sports Ministry to appoint new Federation leaders Nigeria's Academy and youth facilities lag behind even their neighbors let alone more established football powerhouses nonetheless the talent pool within the Nigerian diaspora's evidence were the likes of David Alaba for kyotomori and bakayosaka all having Nigerian parents meanwhile Tammy Abraham Manuela kanji and Jamal musala were all eligible to represent Nigeria as well but chose instead to represent the European nations in which they were raised former Super Eagle Stars JJ kocha and John Obi McKell also came through the youth ranks at European clubs illustrating that whilst the talent very clearly is there it just isn't being nurtured or honed in the right way at home in Nigeria Nigeria are the most successful national team at under 17 level with five under 17 World Cup titles to their name to Brazil's 4 including recent successes in 2013 and 2015. the current Nigeria team does have some outstanding young players such as Victor ossaman and Samuel chaquazi but evidently it is not an outstanding team Nigeria will not win the World Cup until it sorts out option within its governing body insufficients Academy and youth team facilities and improves its domestic League which currently ranks 12th in the confederation of African football's coefficient rankings below Libya and Tanzania and most likely not for another decade after that but if they can do all of that and admittedly it is a very big if then Nigeria undoubtedly has the potential to become one of the most formidable national teams on the planet second the United States just as has been the case with the African continents as a whole people have been predicting that the United States as a country would come to the football for decades and Time After Time their prophecies have been made to look rather foolish not only of the usmnt failed to win the World Cup they haven't even been able to improve upon reaching the quarterfinal stage in 2002 and they failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia finishing behind the likes of Costa Rica Panama and Honduras in World Cup qualifying for the first time though whilst I won't predict a date by which the United States will win the men's World Cup I do think that there is genuine reason to believe that the country's football or soccer prospects are firmly on an upper trajectory not only is the national team much improved compared to five years ago all of their best players are either in their teams or their early twenties the likes of Giovanni Rayner said Gino dust Brendan Aaronson Tyler Adams Eunice Moosa and Western McKenney make this the best USA team in living memory and most likely of all time the oldest of whom is just 24 years old the same age as the US mnt's captain and Starman Christian pulisic that bodes well as does the gradual Improvement of the MLS and as I mentioned with Mexico the improving standard of concacaf as a whole I actually think that the rapid rise of Canada who only narrowly missed out on featuring in this seven themselves could have more significance for US soccer than almost anyone realizes since that becoming a proper rivalry and spectacle played at a really high level could work wonders for the growth of the sport the biggest hurdle for American soccer aside from the obvious Factor the sport faces much steeper competition for popularity than football does almost anywhere else in the world from other sports like baseball and American football is the problem relating to youth developments getting a proper football education for the vast majority of Americans Still Remains prohibitively expensive and an almost exclusively middle class Pursuit as I covered in a video entitled the problem with U.S youth developments which I would arrogantly state is well worth watching until that is fixed I don't think that the usmnt will win the World Cup but I wouldn't rule them out reaching The Knockout stage in 2022 and going deep in 2026 despite that fatal flaw and that illustrates they're quite frightening potential if they did actually start to get their youth development rights honorable mansions just before we come to top spot I spent an unjustified amount of time on this seven in terms of drawing up my possible candidates and then creating a needlessly complex set of criteria to determine my top seven which means that I'm not just going to throw away all of that hard work and I will share with you those Nations that earns a nomination but just narrowly missed out on my final seven Belgium uh perhaps the most notable omissions currently ranks second in the FIFA world rankings behind Brazil and having been the top ranked national team for more than three years before Brazil overtook them clearly Belgium are very good their youth development is absolutely outstanding and for a nation of fewer than 12 million people the talent that they have produced is out of this world whilst that conveyor belt is still in full swing the genuinely world-class Belgium players most notably Kevin De bruyne and Eden Hazard are both 31 years old now meanwhile Tebow courtois and romelu Lukaku at 29 and 30. yanver Tongan and tabi aldevareld a 33 and 35 and I could go on the point that I'm trying to get at is that if Belgium were going to win the World Cup I think 2018 was their golden opportunity and even if they continue to punch above their weight I think they'll find it really tough to do it in the foreseeable future nonetheless they are still one of the best national teams on the planet right now and therefore they are unfortunate not to feature it is a similar story with the likes of Croatia and Denmark who have tiny populations but very respectable teams but I just find it hard to see them pushing on and actually winning the World Cup from now despite Croatia having been finalists in 2018 of course you could make similar Arguments for Algeria and particularly turkey as those that were made for Nigeria Egypt and Mexico out in terms of that size and Love of the Game albeit Algeria isn't as populous as those three turkey on the other hand is the second most populous country in UEFA with more inhabitants than Germany France and England but if anything the national team and domestic league is actually severely weakening right now I have made an entire video about why that is the case in terms of the mismanagement of Turkish football and broader political and economic headwinds but it is because of those facts turkey lost to the Pharaoh Islands and Drew with Luxembourg in their two most recent Internationals Mai taiyad that ensures that despite their undoubted potential they couldn't make my seven Canada Cameroon and Ivory Coast all also made my shortlist but not my final seven meanwhile I very nearly included Greenland who don't currently have a national team that is even recognized by concacaf or UEFA let alone FIFA who I have also made a video about I have made lots of videos haven't I on the grounds that should all of the obvious candidates who feature in this seven fail to win the World Cup for the next 50 plus years shall we say as the planet continues to heat up rendering vast ways of the globe uninhabitable Greenland which is currently only habitable along tiny pockets of its Coastline could actually become habitable and see its population increase quite dramatically look it is a long shot and by that stage footballers probably going to be the least of any of our concerns and ultimately I left them out not only because of the convoluted and by no means entirely Sound Logic that brought me to them potentially becoming future first-time World Cup winners but also because anytime I even mention climate change on this channel I get about three people in the comments the same three people I think shouting about how climate changes are hoax I have drunk Bill Gates's Kool-Aid and how I will deserve it when the world economic Forum decides to harvest my organs so you know I decided against it oh well I suppose I have actually mentioned it now come at me Alistair and citizen Smith alrighty then let's see who my mad criteria resulted in taking top spot first Portugal yes there is nothing particularly complex about the national team that takes top spot and that is Portugal a country of just 10 million people which is fewer than Burundi and the Dominican Republic Portugal is less than a fifth of the size of their neighbor Spain and they have never reached a World Cup final so why oh why you might ask do they take top spot well simply put Portugal have an outstanding team by far the best in my view at least of any non-world Cup winning Nation right now their talent Paul even down to the third best player in most possessions is excellent and both the depth and the average age of their squad suggests that Portugal ought to be a formidable Force for many years to come Cristiano Ronaldo is of course Portugal's most famous gift of the world of football a man who has now scored a record-breaking 117 goals from 191 caps for the national team h37 and Portugal won the Euros in 2016 under the stewardship of Fernando Santos nonetheless perhaps somewhat controversially I am now of the opinion that both Ronaldo and Santosh are holding Portugal back in terms of getting the best out of their outstanding young players and I don't think that they will win the world cup or even reach the last four whilst they are both still around which most likely just means Qatar in 2022 when you reel off names like Ruben Diaz Nuno Mendes joao cancelo Bruno Fernandez Bernardo Silva Ruben Neves vertinia Renato Sanchez Rafael Le Xiao Diogo jata and joao Felix among a great many others I think it is pretty evident that Portugal have one of the strongest squads in international football and it is only because of an outdated manager and a fixation on playing solely to to Ronaldo's strengths rather than the team as a whole including some really intricate and quick forward players that is holding them back throw in youngsters like Francisco konsei Sao Gonzalo and nacio and Fabio carvio and I think this Portugal team is by far the best equipped from 2026 onwards out of all of the non-worldcup winning national teams to have a really good crack of winning the biggest prize in all of world football so that is it for today's video I just want to clarify that when I say FIFA World Cup I am referring to the men's World Cup and I say Women's World Cup to refer to the Women's World Cup it seems more straightforward than saying men's every time that I mean the men's World Cup but I just wanted to clarify that point thank you all very much as ever for watching I hope you enjoyed today's video hit the like button if that was the case let me know your thoughts Down Below in the comments and make sure that you're subscribed of course it goes without saying and bloody hell almost died and also have notifications turned on for hitc sentence you can also find me on Twitter and on Instagram via the username at hitc7s on both should you wish to do so cheers and have a great day

Channel: HITC Sevens

Views: 387,144

Keywords: HITC Sevens, Football, Soccer, World Cup, FIFA World Cup, Winners, USMNT, United States, Nigeria, Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, First, 2022 World Cup, Qatar, USA, Countries, International, Mexico, FIFA, Giovanni Reyna

Id: eH1P6WUKkE8

Length: 27min 17sec (1637 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 20 2022