World Cup Predictions 2018: Squads That Will Make Deep Runs

The draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup has been finalised, and the 32 teams who will battle it out in Russia for football's greatest prize can begin making plans in earnest for the tournament.

Although qualification claimed some high-profile casualties such as Italy, Chile and the Netherlands, many of the game's biggest stars will be taking part as they aim to lead their nations to glory.

FIFA provided the draw for the finals:

Of course, only a handful have a realistic chance of winning, or even reaching the semi-finals.

Germany stand out as a likely candidate, as do five-time winners Brazil, who are ranked behind only the reigning champions in FIFA's world rankings.

Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe placed the pair at the top of his rankings ahead of the tournament:

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Too early to rank the World Cup's 32-team field?

Absolutely not: @stighefootball breaks down the early favourites to triumph in Russia.  pic.twitter.com/vvQVT36Y1k

— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 16, 2017"

Argentina, who were runners-up in 2014, boast an incredible array of attacking talent, including Lionel Messi, but their hopes of emulating that run rest almost singularly on his shoulders, which is no easy burden to bear even for a player some consider to be the greatest of all time.

Belgium have relatively little history in the tournament to speak of—a semi-final run in 1986 is their best showing—but with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard among an impressive squad, they could be dark horses.

Roberto Martinez's management of the team should be a concern for anyone backing the Red Devils, though, with even De Bruyne publicly criticising the Spaniard's tactics.

As for England, they'd likely settle for a quarter-final place, having failed to reach that stage since 2006. 

Here's a look at who else will have their eye on a deep run in Russia:

France

Didier Deschamps is yet to fully unlock the potential of his France side, which is perhaps not too encouraging considering he has been in charge since 2012.

TF-Images/Getty Images

That manifested itself in qualifying, where Les Bleus scored just 18 goals—the same number England managed and better only than Iceland in European qualification.

It's worth noting, however, that they had Sweden, the Netherlands and Bulgaria in their group. Even the two weakest teams—Luxembourg and Belarus—are ranked inside the world's top 100, significantly higher than the sides who propped up the other UEFA groupings; namely Andorra, San Marino, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Malta, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar and Kosovo.

A team of France's quality should still have been more convincing, but it was a somewhat tricky group to navigate and they nevertheless topped it with only one defeat.

The French also have an incredible amount of strength in depth, as noted by Sky Bet:

Even Germany star Mats Hummels is taken aback by their depth, per Goal:

While a number of nations will invariably take part in the tournament without one or two key players who have been lost to injury in the run-up, there are few positions in the France side in which they don't have a multitude of top-class alternatives waiting to step in.

That talent was able to get them to the final of UEFA Euro 2016, and while the World Cup will be trickier, they're capable of going far.

Prediction: Semi-final

Spain

Spain will feel they have something to prove at the World Cup having been perhaps the most disappointing team in the tournament last time around.

In 2014, La Roja came into the World Cup as reigning champions and two-time European winners but failed to escape the group stage as they lost 5-1 against the Netherlands and 2-0 against Chile—a 3-0 win over Australia was not enough to salvage their campaign.

They impressed in qualifying as they saw off Italy, racking up 36 goals and conceding just three in their unbeaten 10 games.

The Racing Post's Mark Langdon noted the strength of their first XI and those waiting in the wings:

The player most in form for La Roja right now is David Silva, who has racked up 11 goals and five assists since Julen Lopetegui took charge in July last year.

Silva has an incredible 118 caps for Spain, but it is perhaps only recently the midfield maestro has received the recognition he deserves, as noted by Sid Lowe on the Spanish Football Podcast:

With Andres Iniesta now 33 and his considerable powers slowly beginning to wane, Silva has adopted the mantle of chief playmaker in the side, and he's thriving.

Like France, Spain have a phenomenal amount of talent to choose from, so they won't be short of options come next summer.

If Silva can maintain his form and fitness, he can play a key role in guiding their exceptional squad to a much stronger campaign than they achieved last time.

Prediction: Final