You may remember, in the first episode of the Road to Qatar podcast we (being myself, Josh and Charlie) each made some predictions as to how we thought the impending tournament was going to go. It's fair to say some were better than others.
Flop
Ben - France
Josh - France
Charlie - France
Well this one stings that little bit extra for us now for reasons that I'm sure are blindingly obvious. There were shouts of France exiting this tournament in the group stage based on the elusive curse that has stung many a reigning World Champion. This, evidently, was not the case. At the time of writing France are playing in the semi-final against Morocco tomorrow and look the best team left in the tournament. Flops? No. They may just retain the thing.
Winners
Ben - Argentina
Josh - Brazil
Charlie - Argentina
Whilst boring shouts here from the lads, there is still a chance for two thirds of the cohort. Argentina play tonight against Croatia at the time of writing and may reach a second World Cup final in the last three editions. Fortunes didn't favour Brazil quite the same however, as they were defeated at the quarter final stage by the very team who now play Argentina. Argentina may still go on to win the world cup, unless Croatia cement themselves as the scourge of South America.
Golden Boot
Ben - Neymar
Josh - Mbappé
Charlie - Kane
Redemption for Josh here. He may have nailed this prediction. With a maximum of two fixtures remaining for each side, Mbappé currently leads the goalscoring charts on 5 (with teammate Olivier Giroud and the great Lionel Messi marginally behind on 4). The less said the better for Charlie and Ben though. Both Neymar and Harry Kane only converted twice. And let's not forget Charlie's rogue shout of Kieffer Moore. At least Josh redeemed us in this section.
Dark Horses
Ben - Serbia
Josh - Serbia
Charlie - South Korea
Serbia, Serbia, Serbia. A real case of the Turkey's as I believe we're now calling it. So much hype only to finish bottom of their group conceding eight goals (at least they scored more than one though). So, Josh and Ben in the mud. What about Charlie? Well, South Korea made it out of their group and may have gone further. However, they faced a Brazilian side who were in a rampant mood and put four past them in the first half. Still, a solid showing from Paulo Bento's (now former) side.
Golden Ball
Ben - Messi
Josh - Messi
Charlie - Messi
Finally, all three of the lads with a good shout. Is it obvious? Yes. Is it correct? Also, quite possibly yes. It's more than likely a two horse race at this point between Messi and his PSG teammate Mbappé (who had contributed one more goal than the Argentine's 6). It is probable that if one of these two were to get their hands on the infamous gold trophy, they would also be receiving the golden ball to complete the set.
Best Young Player
Ben - Saka
Josh - Bellingham
Charlie - Pedri
We'll start with Charlie, Pedri is undoubtedly one of the most talented players of his generation. But in a Spanish side that only really performed in one fixture when they dominated Costa Rica, he can't win this. As for Bukayo Saka; the England winger contributed three goals across the tournament, played a starring role vs Iran and gave Theo Hernández a torrid time in the quarter final. Jude Bellingham may just be a better shout though. Just 19 and already bossing midfields at the world cup singlehandedly, also scored the first goal of the tournament for England. A captain in the making for his national side, Bellingham has a very good chance of winning this award.
That's all for our predictions let us know what you thought on social media. We're expecting some pelters!
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