In the wake of world soccer giant Germany getting bounced from the tournament in the group stage, I will look back at college programs from last season and compare them to the teams currently at the World Cup. I must of course start with the now-ousted German Squad.
1 Germany = Florida State
Germany is absolutely Florida State. They have been good the last few years and came into this tournament with high expectations, (people forget FSU was top 3 in preseason rankings) yet they started off poorly and never threatened to actually win a real award.
2 Brazil = Alabama
Brazil reminds me of Alabama. They have been good forever, and are always the best in their conference/region. They come into this tournament loaded with talent and look to reload and reclaim a title, and so far they are looking good.
3 Spain = Ohio State
Spain has shades of Ohio State in them. They have always been near the top, with mile-high expectations they seem to live up to them for the most part. While they have done great most of the time, they have failed to bring home many valuable titles in recent memory. To be honest, they rarely even play in the championship as of late.
4 Belgium = Wisconsin
Wisconsin is the epitome of Belgium. They always play well, and play hard, they have a ton of talent, yet they haven’t won anytime that I can remember and no one is actually scared of Wisconsin/Belgium winning the whole thing.
5 Argentina = Penn State
Argentina this year reminds me of Penn State. They have a good offense, with one of the best players out there (Messi, Saquon), but they have another position group that is an absolute deficiency that prevents them from threatening. For Argentina it is midfield, for Penn State, offensive line.
6 Portugal = Oklahoma
Portugal is a spitting image of Oklahoma. They also have arguably the best player out of everyone (Ronaldo, Baker), but their defense is an absolute letdown and will probably be what causes them not to be able to top off their year with a win.
7 Switzerland = LSU
Switzerland makes an appearance only because of their relation to LSU. They always have a very solid defense, and that continues this year, but their offense simply isn’t good and they struggle to put up points, causing them to inevitably be very average on the grand stage. They might scare some people, but they won’t actually win.
8 Panama=Kansas
Plain and simple, they are just terrible… the absolute joke of the tournament/season.
Of course going into next season, Alabama will be the favorite, just like Brazil is the favorite to win this tournament, but college football and the World Cup are crazy and anything can happen, so make sure to watch out for some of the dark horses putting the big boys on upset alert.