Personally, I suspect the Dutch could end up going far by going under the radar. One of Netherlands or Argentina is guaranteed semi final at least. Neither have been very good so far and both had a relatively easy group (particularly Netherlands - being the number 2 seed in Qatar’s group was a virtual bye), a kind round of 16 draw and, weirdly, not a bad quarter final draw, because neither of them are all that. But they both have the World Cup pedigree, so either of them could turn it up a notch in the later stages.
There were a lot of comments about ‘lucky draw’ when England progressed in the last two tournaments. I’d be interested to see if those same comments come up if the Dutch or the Argentinians end up winning it.
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https://messi.starplayerstats.com/en/season
50 in 118 competitive matches compares pretty poorly with CR7's 98 in 142.
9 goals in World Cups is a low return too, considering the number of games he's played (22).
😳
But they both have the World Cup pedigree, so either of them could turn it up a notch in the later stages.