Group H Predictions 2022

Qatar 2022 will be Cristiano Ronaldo’s swansong, certainly when it comes to World Cups. At the age of 37, he would be eager to leave a mark and add further to his stunning career. In his way in the group stages will be Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea. Uruguay, two-time World Champions, are ranked second in this group and would be hoping that a repeat of their 2018 run is on the cards when they reached the quarter-finals. Ghana made it to Qatar after beating Nigeria while South Korea have the capability to unsettle bigger guns, just as they did with Germany in 2018.

Portugal

Portugal’s participation in this World Cup was far from certain at some points during the qualifying stage. They finished their campaign in second place behind Serbia and had to beat Turkey and North Macedonia in the Path C playoffs. Despite being regulars at the World Cup they are yet to have an extremely good run. Since 2002 their best result was a fourth-place finish in 2006 and recently they have faltered in the Round of 16 in 2018, falling to Uruguay.

The second matchday in which Portugal face Uruguay will certainly be pivotal for who will end up winning the group. Cristiano Ronaldo is also on the cards to set a record if he scores in Qatar 2022 for being the only player to score in five World Cups! While he is not the same player he was some years ago and the fact that he’s not getting a lot of minutes at Manchester United doesn’t help he is still central to Portugal.

The Portuguese superstar has a history of rising to the occasion and this will be no exception. Diogo Jota’s latest injury will certainly be a blow to Portugal but they have more than enough talent with the likes of Joao Felix, Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes to make up for it. The squad depth up front is pretty hard to rival with many of the question marks surely to be placed in front of the defence.

Uruguay

Uruguay are weighed down by their ageing squad and two of the best players in the country’s history, Edison Cavani and Luis Suarez are both 35 years old now. It is evident that their best days are behind them but they would be eager for one last chance at the World Cup. Many of the hopes will fall onto the shoulders of Darwin Nunez who moved to Liverpool from Benfica for an £85m fee this summer. Recently he has started to find his feet with the Reds and many Uruguayans would be hoping that good form continues well into November.

The qualifying campaign was a bit inconsistent as they lost heavily away at both Brazil and Argentina which might be expected. Losses to Bolivia and Ecuador however, were not. Despite the total six losses they still managed a third-place finish in the CONMEBOL.

The Uruguayans have a big-match mentality and a never say die attitude. This is nowhere near better encapsulated in what is perhaps one of the most controversial moments in the history of the World Cup. In one of the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals, Luis Suarez handled the ball on the line, Ghana missed the ensuing penalty and then lost in a penalty shootout.

The South American nation felt like they were taking on the whole of Africa not just Ghana, given the pan-African support for the latter. Uruguay and Ghana meet again on the 2nd of December, the 3rd matchday in what would be pivotal for 2nd place.

Asamoah Gyan’s last-minute penalty miss in the 2010 quarter-final against Uruguay is still a heartbreaking moment for the African nation to this day. That quarter-final run is their best result in the competition to date. While the contest against Uruguay is eagerly anticipated they could already be out by then.

Ghana

Ghana had a horrible African Cup of Nations earlier this year, finishing bottom of their group behind Morocco, Comoros and Gabon.

They also barely qualified for the World Cup and progressed past the first stage on goal difference, having scored one more than South Africa. Against Nigeria, it was away goals that secured their safe passage after they followed a home blank draw with an away 1-1 result. That is not exactly the confidence boost Otto Addo’s side were looking for. It does make them eager to prove a point back on the international stage though.

South Korea

Ever since 1986, South Korea have made it to the World Cup finals. However seven times out of those nine times they were eliminated in the group stage. For that not to happen again they would have to up their game considerably. Their best-ever result was in 2002 when they co-hosted with Japan but their run-up to the semi-finals was mired in controversy. Their current form which includes a loss to Japan and a draw with Costa Rica doesn’t really bode well. Much of their hopes rest on Son Heung-Min, the Tottenham striker and their talisman. However, they don’t have much of a plan B in case Son misfires, such that there was some panic in his country when he recently went eight matches without a goal in the Premier League. Since then Son has found his scoring boots and the worries have been assuaged.

Conclusion

Overall the group promises to be quite exciting and it is far from a foregone conclusion. Portugal’s manager Fernando Santos is vying for his third trophy in his eight years in charge and while there were moments of brilliance under his management lately they have been pretty underwhelming. Both the Euro 2021 and the 2018 World Cup ended in Round of 16 exits for Portugal.

They will also have a chance at revenge after it was Uruguay who ended their World Cup dreams in 2018. Despite Ronaldo’s troubles at Manchester United this season, the squad boasts of enough talent to compensate for this. Manchester City trio, Dias, Cancelo and Silva alongside their Manchester United rivals, Fernandes and Dalot. And that’s not to forget Rafael Leao’s exploits with AC Milan. All of their fixtures will be important but the spiciest of the lot will be against Uruguay on matchday 2.

The cards are stacked against Uruguay with their ageing duo of Cavani and Suarez but there will not be a better time than this for Darwin Nunez to announce his arrival on the elite stage of football. Valverde’s impressive form for Real Madrid will surely serve well for La Celeste. Since new manager Diego Alonso took over from Oscar Tabarez, who spent a record 15 years in charge, they remain unbeaten and will hope to continue this run in Qatar. Many of Ghana’s team players have found success playing for European Clubs and the dream is for that form to be replicated with the national team. Central to their hopes are the Ayew brothers and the strong presence of Thomas Partey.

The latter has been important for Arsenal’s great start to the season. Furthermore, Inaki Williams, having made the national team switch from Spain to Ghana will get his first chances in Qatar. Heung Min Son, as has been the case for many a year now, will have all the country’s hopes on his shoulders and they will hope he will deliver.