Top 5 World Cup Dark horses
- Charlie Hynes
- Jun 12, 2018
- 4 min read
Colombia in 2014, Uruguay in 2010 and Korea in 2002. Everyone loves a dark horse at a World Cup and you get the feeling that this year will be no exception. So here are Ballers Blog's Top 5 Dark Horses for Russia 2018:
Denmark
With quality players throughout the team Denmark have the potential to surprise a few sides in Russia. The likes of Christian Eriksen, Kasper Dolberg and Simon Kjaer in the squad they have the quality to beat many sides as well as stop them . They qualified 2nd in their group behind Poland scoring 20 goals and winning 6 of their games. Being in the same group as France, Australia and Peru they have a good opportunity to qualify for the knockout stages if they can get a good result against Peru and Australia and possibly get something from the France game but seems unlikely.
Star Player
Christian Eriksen will be Denmark's talisman with his creativity in the opposition half. He came 5th for assists in the Premier league for Spurs as well as scoring 10 goals which shows he has the quality to make an impact from midfield. If he is able to link up with bright Ajax striker Dolberg then they should score plenty of goals.
Croatia
Croatia haven't been able to meet the expectations people have had of them over the past few major tournament. Their true quality lies in their midfield with the likes of Luka Modric ,Ivan Rakitic, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic. This midfield contains the right balance of attacking prowess and defensive workrate in the form of Kovacic. Their attacking options are also not bad with Mario Mandzukic and Ivan Perisic leading the line so they should score goals and create a problem for a defensively poor Argentina and other bigger sides if they qualify.
Star Player
Luka Modric was a crucial part of Real Madrid's Champions League winning side running the midfield alongside Kroos and Casemiro. He is the player that can link the team together with his great range of passing as well as his slick dribbling. Partnered alongside Barcelona's Rakitic they could be a tough side to stop.
Mexico
Will the curse continue? Mexico have failed to get past the last 16 in the last six World Cup finals but may feel that they have a good chance this time. They are in a group with Germany, Korea and Sweden which they will feel is a good opportunity to qualify if they can perform as they did in qualifying in which they won 6 and scored 16 in a group that didn't offer much competition losing only one game. With a group of exciting players I reckon they could be one of the shock teams of the tournament.
Star Player
Javier Hernandez struggled at times this season with West Ham but had a more significant impact on the national team scoring 4 in qualifying. He is also one goal away from a half century for his nation so will be keen to add to this is Russia. With support from Raul Jimenez and Giovanni Dos Santos the Mexicans will pose a threat to any team with their pace.
Korea
Germany are favourites by far to win their group but 2nd place is up for grabs with Korea and Mexico both going for the knockout stages. I feel whichever team qualifies behind Germany will be dark horses and Korea are dangerous as many teams may underestimate them. The Koreans are known for their high work rate and will keep battling till the final whistle.
Star Player
The second Spurs player to appear in this list is Heung Min Son. He was a key part of Spurs season scoring 12 assisting 6 in the Spurs attack. He has been prolific with his mazy runs, great finishing and poacher like finishes in the box. He will lead the line for Korea and I feel he will put himself into contention for the Golden boot if he can get out the group.
Senegal
Out of all the African nations I reckon Senegal will go the furthest in the tournament as they are much like Denmark in that they have quality throughout the team with the likes of Sadio Mane, Idrissa Gueye and Kalidou Koulibaly . They went unbeaten in qualifying and scored plenty of goals to go with that. I believe that they will be competitive with Poland to top the group and it should be an entertaining watch for many neutrals.
Star Player
Kalidou Koulibaly has attracted a lot of interest from the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea because of his presence at the back for Napoli and potential leadership qualities he possesses. The Senegalese will have no issues scoring goals with Sadio Mane and Moussa Sow just two examples of their attacking options but to qualify they will need to be solid at the back. Koulibaly can use his experience to lead his fellow defenders to work together and deny the likes of Lewandowski from breaking through.
It will be interesting to see if any of these sides can go far in the tournament but unfortunately I don't feel they will be able to stop the likes of Germany and Brazil. If you feel I've missed any potential dark horses comment below or go to our social media pages on Twitter and Instagram.
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