FanPost

Is There a True World Cup Favorite Right Now?

Who will claim the World Cup? - Alexandre Loureiro

With the Round of 16 all done and the quarterfinals now set in stone, there's a big question that has yet to be asked, is there really a favorite to win the competition?

Looking at each of the Round of 16 games that happened, I'm here to say that there is no such favorite in this competition.

Brazil

They defeated Chile, but in the most emotional and stressful way possible, penalty kicks, after 120 minutes, they were unable to put Chile away and at one point it seemed that they were on the brink of losing. They won at home, in a World Cup, with a missed penalty. They cannot be the favorites right now. The one exception here for the team is simple, they've made it to the quarterfinal even though they've played extremely poorly thus far. That's the scary part, just imagine if they actually start playing well, they could be dominant even against Colombia. Key word here; IF!

Colombia

The one team out of the eight that you can truly say has played the best in the four games that they've played, winning all of them and decisively too. They handled the Suarez-less Uruguay 2-0 with goals by the young superstar James "Ha-mes" Rodriguez who I believe will be an MVP of the World Cup even if they don't win it. They'd be the only team I'd call a favorite but sadly they're playing the home team in the quarterfinals, where NO team is a favorite no matter how good you are.

Netherlands

While most will say they stole the win from Mexico, they're still through to the next round and ever since demolishing Spain in their first game, they just haven't been the same struggling against Australia and beating Chile. They were dominated by Mexico for 80 minutes and a few lucky calls and a stellar strike from Wesley Snijder is the reason they're in this position. With the duo of Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben it's going to be tough to stop these two from scoring but when they reach a solid defense they could easily struggle heavily just as they did against Mexico.

Costa Rica

The "Cinderella Story" of the World Cup has not ended after they just barely defeated Greece in penalties in what will be considered as history being the first CONCACAF team to make it to quarters, but they're not stopping there, they want to go all the way and with the wave of momentum that they have, who knows, they could pull off yet another shocker and go on to the Semi-Finals! They are definitely not the favorites but by no means should you ever count this team out against the Netherlands.

France

Another team that you could say has been playing the best, winning all 4 of their games so far and most by dominant fashion. The one thing that was troublesome is that against Nigeria, they struggled to score for most of the game and were very close to getting scored on, if they face off against a true offensive juggernaut they may struggle in what would no doubt be a shootout.

Germany

To me this team is the most overrated of the 8 the qualified as I'm not buying the hype that everyone gives this team. They defeated an injured 10 man Portugal, drew against Ghana and only scored 1 against the USA, to top it off it took extra time to take out Algeria in the Round of 16. Without a true striker they are unable to score with easy and if they face off against a team, like France, with really good offense and solid defense, I expect a very tough time.

Argentina

Just like with Germany, I'm not buying the hype that's been given to this team, they've won all of their games, but they've won it by a combined total of 4 goals...as in they've only won each game by 1. They struggle in each of their games to score and in some cases defend against what's been really easy games that should have been a cruise for Argentina. Their luck may run out as they play a really quality opponent next game in Belgium, who wont just give in to a late goal to lose a game.

Belgium

The dark horse of this entire competition and one that has proven to not crumble in dire times. Against Algeria they were down early but came back to win, against Russua they struggled but managed to win by 1, and then Korea also gave them a heck of a fight and in the end won 1-0 as well. Then defeated the United States in extra time after a game where they had 39 shots....wow. They can definitely attack at will, but can they finish? Only time will tell against Argentina.

The quarterfinals are set up to be some of the best matches yet! The hype is real!