World Cup Group B Preview
Group B shapes up as one of the tournament’s weakest collections, lacking a traditional global powerhouse due to Canada taking the top seed from Pot 1. However, Switzerland arrive as the clear and definitive favourites to top the section, leaving a wide-open scramble for the remaining qualification spots.
Group B fixtures (all kick-off times are in BST)
Canada vs Bosnia & Herzegovina 12th June 8pm
Qatar vs Switzerland 13th June 8pm
Switzerland vs Bosnia & Herzegovina 18th June 8pm
Canada vs Qatar 18th June 11pm
Switzerland vs Canada 24th June 8pm
Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Qatar 24th June 8pm
Canada
Canada come into their 3rd World Cup with undoubtedly the best national team they have ever had, and in a manageable group, there is no reason they shouldn't get to the knockout rounds for the first time in their history. With their team playing all over Europe, they will certainly get their first-ever World Cup point and probably win, given they have two of the weaker teams in the whole tournament in Bosnia and Qatar in the group.
Led once again by Alphonso Davies (assuming he gets over his current niggle and is fit to play), his supporting cast is much stronger than in 2022; his key sidekick from that World Cup, Jonathan David, returns this time as Canada's all-time top scorer and will lead the line along side Cyle Larin and Promise David, who has burst onto the scene since the last world cup with 30 goals over the last two season for Union Saint-Gilloise. The midfield is led by Ismael Kone, who has been one of the best midfielders in Serie A since joining Sassuolo. The problem area for Canada is at the back, especially now Moise Bombito is looking likely to miss the tournament as he hasn't been able to recover from a broken leg he suffered in October. It looks like Alfie Jones is going to be fit, but he hasn't featured for Middlesbrough since before Christmas, and alongside Derek Cornelius of Marseille they should be solid enough to get out of the group. When you add in Tajon Buchanan, Ali Ahmed and Liam Millar on the wing, Canada should at the very least be involved in high-scoring games given the amount of good attacking players they have.
The X factor for the team is whether one of Jonathan David, Larin and Promise David can catch fire and score 3 or 4 goals across the tournament and fire them past the group stage and potentially round of 32 if the draw is kind. Jonathan David has been terrible since joining Juventus last summer but has the most top-level pedigree of the three. Larin has been great for Southampton in the Championship since joining in January, but like Promise, can he step up from being a good striker at club level to being a great striker?
The floor of this team is the round of 32 as i cant see a way they dont get 4 points in this group which will get them to the knockout rounds where i could see them winning a game depending on who they draw but if they get to the round of 16 i cant see them winning that game given the weak defence they have and the level of the attackers they will likely face at that point in the competition.
Switzerland
Switzerland are one of those countries you just know what you're going to get. They will get to the round of 16 and probably lose to a Portugal, England, etc. They are one of the safest bets at this tournament to make the round of 16 given the group strength and then the easier draw that comes with topping a group; they are a very consistent team that has one of the highest floors of any national team that isnt one of the big boys. They have reached the round of 16 at 4 of the last 5 World Cups and back-to-back quarterfinals at the last two Euros. The question is, can they punch up and upset someone and make the quarterfinals or semi-finals?
They no longer have Xherdan Shaqiri, who has retired from international football since the last World Cup, but they are still led by Granit Xhaka, who is the most capped player in Swiss history. They still have the likes of Remo Freuler, Denis Zakaria, and Manuel Akanji, who have been in all these recent Swiss teams that have gone deep at the major championships. They still have a great goalkeeper, but it is no longer Yann Sommer; Gregor Kobel has been the long-time starter for Borussia Dortmund and has been in the squads that have done well. The Swiss will be well drilled and hard to break down; the question is, can the attack score enough goals to get them over the line in tight games?
That brings me to the X factor for Switzerland: it is the attack. Can the group of Breel Embolo, Dan Ndoye, Ruben Vargas, Noah Okafor and Zeki Amdouni score enough goals? Embolo is proven on the international stage, and despite never really developing at club level into the elite goal scorer, his early career promised he is consistent and will score a goal or 2. The question is which of the four wingers/attacking midfielders mentioned above can score 2 or 3 goals to propel them past a round of 16 berth i think the most likely is Okafor because when he has been fit for Leeds this season, he has been a handful and popped up with goals and assists at times, but he has been streaky and lacked consistency something that can probably be said for all 4 of these guys if this group can score 6+ goals at this tournament the swiss will be in a great spot.
The floor of this team is the round of 32, and I can't really see them falling short of the round of 16 but i also cant really see them going beyond the round of 16 unless the draw is kind they consistently lose to the top European teams when they play them so i think for them to win in the round of 16 they would have to play a non-European nation but with the draw the way it is they're likely to play Portugal which they could win but i dont think its likely so the ceiling is the quarter final but i think the Swiss are the most likely team to lose the round of 16 of any team at the tournament.
Qatar
Following hosting the tournament in 2022, Qatar have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in their history; they are the back-to-back champions of Asia, but they have been poor in any tournament that isnt the Asian cup they havent won a game since the 14th of October and in the time since they have lost to Zimbabwe and Palestine, so they're in terrible form 25 of the 26 play their club football in Qatar 8 of the starting eleven in 2022 are set to start the first game against Switzerland and given how dismal they were at home i'd be amazed if they got a point despite being in one of the easiest groups of the tournament for a pot 3 team
If they're going to have any success at this tournament, it comes down to Akram Afif. He is by far the best Qatari player of all time and is one of very few Qatari's with any kind of top-level European experience, having played for Villarreal and Sporting Gijon. He is a tricky winger who is capable of scoring a goal from nothing and creating; he has scored 80 goals in 100 league games for Al Sadd since 2020, but he, Hassan Al-Haydos and Almoez Ali have a job on as they will have to outscore teams to get points in this tournament given how weak their defence is compared to the rest of the group.
Their ceiling is finishing third in the group and getting one of the best third-place slots to scrape into the round of 32, and the floor is finishing dead last in the group without scoring a goal.
Bosnia & Hervegovina
Having upset Italy to qualify for their second-ever World Cup as an independent country following Yugoslavia falling apart over the early 90s, and they did ok in 2014 with Pjanic and Dzeko and the likes getting a win, the aim this time around will be to reach the knockout rounds, and this is probably the best group they could have been drawn in to achieve that goal.
Remarkably, Edin Dzeko is still in the squad 12 years later, now at age 40; his 73 goals in 148 caps are both well clear as the highest in both metrics in Bosnian history. His supporting cast is generally much younger than him so the tactic will likely be Dzeko stands up front while the other 10 work like dogs to account for his lack of athleticism in the hopes a chance falls to Dzeko and he puts it away they have a couple of very promising youngsters in Esmir Bajraktarevic and Kerim Alajbegovic of PSV and RB Salzburg both are tricky wingers with Bajraktarevic playing off the right trying to cut in on his left foot to create or shoot and Alajbegovic being a two footed taller winger who can cut in or go down the line and but a cross in if Bosnia are too make it out the group these two have to play a key part in it despite only being 21 and 18. Defensively and in midfield, they will be compared with guys like Sead Kolasinac and Amar Dedic, aiming to use their experience of top-level football to stop crosses and shots coming in at the full-back position.
Bosnia could surprise Canada and finish second in this group and make a run into the knockout rounds; equally, they could lose to Switzerland and Canada and draw against Qatar and get knocked out in the group. They likely finish somewhere in between and get 3 points and will be depending on goal difference to get them into one of the third-placed spots.
Predictions
In my predictions, Bosnia and Herzegovina progresses as one of the 8 best 3rd place teams.
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