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FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: Quarterfinals Difficulty Table

The top eight teams are decided, including seven of the usual suspects plus one dark horse. This is the round that could make all the difference for your fantasy team!

Morocco v Spain: Round of 16 - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Photo by Liu Lu/VCG via Getty Images

Already planning your transfers for the Quarterfinals? Well, MD-5 is open for trade, so you should be! Here’s a look at the match-ups.

The Round of 16 saw seven teams who were expected to advance do so. In addition, one dark horse, Morocco, emerged victorious over Spain in a PK shootout to complete the octet.

Use the table and bracket below to target quarter-finals matches that could promise extra goals and clean sheets for the stronger team. And for specific player recommendations, check out Dhivakhar’s Player Picks for the quarterfinals.

Additionally, the following fantasy resources are worth revisiting as well:

Finally, for fun facts, daily match reviews, group stage rankings, top goal-scorers / providers, fantasy best XI, and the best five players in each position every week, bookmark our NMA World Cup Stream, which we refresh daily with updated info.


Quarterfinals Matches

Netherlands vs Argentina

Netherlands and Argentina reached the quarter-finals after convincingly defeating USA and Australia in the Round of 16. The performance and quality of players in both teams is high and the tie promises to be tight and difficult to predict. Argentina has scored 7 goals and conceded 3 goals so far, while Netherlands scored 8 goals and conceded 2 goals. Netherlands has the slight advantage in goal difference but it can be argued that they faced a weaker set of opponents. This will be tough to call and it could simply come down to who wants it more.

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Croatia vs Brazil

Brazil hammered Korea in the first half of the Round of 16 with four well played goals. On the other hand, Croatia struggled to hold Japan to a 1-1 draw before eventually qualifying via penalty shootout. Croatia were in all honesty lucky in the last two ties against Belgium and Japan to concede just 1 goal, which tells you more about the lack of prolific players they faced than it does about Croatia’s defending capabilities. Brazil’s offense is lethal, so the Croats will not find it so easy to repel attacks this time.

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England vs France

This tie will probably be referred to as an early final, as both teams have shown enough quality to make it to the championship match. England ended Senegal’s dream in the Round of 16 with a 3-0 win, while France put an end to Poland’s crawl to the top with a 3-1 victory. France has scored a total of 9 goals in the World Cup conceding 4 in the process. England scored 12 goals and conceded only 2. The numbers are in England’s favour, and the Three Lions also enjoy the advantage in the squad depth. But France are the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 winners, and perhaps that winning mentality can be enough to level the playing field against England.

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Morocco vs Portugal

Morocco shocked the football world once again when they defeated Spain in the Round of 16 in a penalty shootout after a strong defensive display. Morocco has the best defence so far in the tournament, conceding only one goal in 4 matches and scoring 4 goals. Portugal, on the other hand, scored a total of 12 goals and conceded 5 goals. Portugal will need to study Morocco’s Round of 16 match if they want to find solutions to score. Morocco knocked out powerhouses Belgium and Spain, so they will up to Portugal’s challenge. But the Portuguese are likely to have the better chances.


Quarter-Finals Difficulty Tables

This will be a subjective difficulty table since simple FIFA rankings may not sufficiently differentiate between teams in the final knockout stages of the World Cup. The color code is as follows:

  • Green: A simple match that should be won with little trouble.
  • Yellow: The match is winnable but not straightforward.
  • Orange: The match is against a tough team.
  • Red: An extremely difficult opponent. The team is expected to lose.

At this stage there are no green matches left, so we want to lean toward the two yellow teams: Brazil and Portugal. Your team should already be stacked with Brazilians since they were coded green in the Round of 16. Any players lost from Spain or Japan can be replaced with Portuguese players, but perhaps hedge your bets a bit there because I’m wary of a Moroccan surprise!


World Cup Qatar 2022 Brackets

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