2022 World Cup Power Rankings

The World Cup hosts are definitely a stronger side than they'll get credit for, especially after competing against quality nations recently in the Concacaf Gold Cup, as well as 2021 friendlies against Portugal and Serbia.

2022 marks their first time in a World Cup, which should be an exciting prospect for the nation.

Most fans that follow the Premier League know South Korean star Son Heung-min, but this side has other promising players to build around.

Just like Iran, they're unbeaten in World Cup qualifying to this point. If Son can continue his amazing form at the World Cup it could help lift South Korea to some surprise results.

Iran are unbeaten in World Cup qualifying and have conceded just two goals in eight matches.

The Middle Eastern nation historically prides itself on strong defensive play and that's clearly what they'll be hoping to show off once again in Qatar.

Croatia may seem to be a bit low on this list after reaching the 2018 World Cup final, but this isn't the same team we saw four years ago.

Luka Modric is still one of the top midfielders in football, but Croatia will never someone to step up in attack in they are to pull off any significant upsets.

The Swiss pulled off one of the shocks of Euro 2020 when they took down France in the Round of 16, but the European nation has lots of experience so perhaps they can replicate their achievement at the World Cup.

Switzerland regularly reaches the knockout rounds and given their talent in attack they'll be a team to watch out for.

The Netherlands are known for key figures throughout their squad, but despite winning a difficult World Cup qualifying group this team is still missing something up front.

Virgil van Dijk and Matthijs De Ligt can hold down the back line, but the Dutch are still heavily reliant on Memphis Depay up front.

Dušan Vlahović could be one of the most promising attackers players in the sport after completing a move to Juventus and now his country is headed for a World Cup.

Serbia have a lot of reasons to be joyful about their squad, between Vlahović and Aleksandar Mitrovic up front. Serbia could be dark horses in the competition.

Denmark became fan favorites last summer after battling through an extremely difficult situation involving Christian Eriksen, and they backed up their support by putting on an outstanding showing at the Euros.

The European side is very good defensively, led by Kasper Schmeichel in goal, and with a little more consistency up front Denmark could find themselves making another deep run in a major tournament.

Belgium was touted for years as one of the next teams that would potentially break through and win a major tournament, but to this point it hasn't come.

Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku are still major leaders for this team and have the ability to take Belgium far, but this could be the last time we see this current side really compete at a major competition.

When Joachim Low left the German national team it signaled a significant change. That said, Germany has an assortment on next generation of stars like Florian Wirtz and Karim Adeyemi to go along with veteran faces that have dominated the sport for years.

After crashing out in the Euro 2020 Round of 16, Germany will put everything on the line this year to show that they're still an elite national team.

Many are expecting this to be Lionel Messi's last go at winning a World Cup, but after delivering his first Copa America title this past year it's hard to write off Argentina.

Similar to Brazil, the South American side is very stout defensively, but they'll still rely heavily on veterans like Messi and Angel di Maria for goal-scoring fluidity up front.

Nobody has more exciting youth talent at the moment than Spain and they're beginning to recognize what they can bring to the table, similar to Spanish sides of the past.

Led by Pedri, Gavi and a strong core in the midfield, La Furia Roja could be one of the biggest up-and-coming sides in the World Cup after finishing runners up in the UEFA Nations League.

England have been knocking on the door of a major triumph since the last World Cup cycle and The Three Lions nearly got their trophy at Euro 2020 before Italy stomped on their dreams.

An assortment of youth should create a lot of buzz around this team once again, but can Gareth Southgate get over the hump as England manager?

Les Bleus are the defending World Cup champions, but after a disappointing showing at Euro 2020 France will need to display their dominance once again.

A star-studded attack of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Karim Benzema should be plenty to put France into the title conversation.

Led by Neymar and an all-star cast of attackers, Brazil have the makings of a World Cup contending side. They've conceded the fewest goals in South American qualifying through 15 matches and their only losses in the past two years have come to Argentina.

Look for the Brazilians to be among the final teams left in the competition come this winter.