Who’s looking like title contenders and/or favorites?
Almost at the halfway mark of the 2022-23 season, Arsenal and Manchester City are looking head and shoulders above the rest.
The Gunners will have their hands full for the duration of their title challenge, as Erling Haaland continues to take the Premier League by storm with an almost impossible goal-scoring record.
Newcastle, Tottenham and Manchester United are locked in a battle for the top four, while Liverpool have improved and will be back in the Champions League scrap and Chelsea are struggling.
Who are the early-season candidates for relegation?
Newly promoted Nottingham Forest moved off the bottom of the table with a win before the break, with Wolves and Southampton currently occupying the other two relegation places.
Leicester have picked up a few big wins, while West Ham, Everton and Leeds all find themselves within a few points of the bottom-three after a topsy-turvy start.
Below you will find the latest Premier League table.
Olivier Giroud became France’s all-time leading goalscorer as he finished superbly just before half time to net his 52nd goal for Les Bleus.
Kylian Mbappe then finished off Poland late on with two fine finishes, as he broke Pele’s record as the top goalscorer in World Cup history (9 goals) under the age of 24.
Robert Lewandowski scored a retaken penalty kick in stoppage time to move to joint-ninth in the all-time leading goalscorers list in the history of the men’s game.
Poland put in probably their best display of the tournament as they had big chances in the first half but Didier Deschamps’ France held firm and their star forwards made the difference.
Mbappe, Giroud set records but France look far from invincible
The duo of Mbappe (16 goals in his last 14 games for France) and Giroud (3 goals this tournament) works superbly and they are totally different players and feed off each other so well. With Griezmann and Dembele also purring in attack, this is a dangerous France side. But they did show a few weaknesses in this win against Poland. In the first half they were exposed with balls being cut back from the byline and defensively they looked a little sluggish and Hugo Lloris was a little nervy. France will now face tougher tests in the latter stages of the tournament and although they have incredible quality, they look a little top-heavy.
Stars of the show
Kylian Mbappe: Scored two superb goals and grabbed an assist and his pace on the counter gave Poland problems galore. The scary thing about Mbappe is that he seems to keep on improving and can get even better.
Antoine Griezmann: Brilliant movement and crosses as he continues to find space in this free role. He’s having a bit of a resurgence after a quiet few years at Atletico Madrid.
How to watch France vs Poland live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 10am ET, Sunday (December 4) Stadium: Al Thumama Stadium, Doha TV channels en Español: Telemundo Streaming en Español:Peacock (all 64 matches)
🔥 Kylian Mbappe with a sumptuous strike from the edge of the box after a rapid France counter attack. Brilliant finish. #FRA 2-0 #POLpic.twitter.com/0kzMJr9XB1
HOW!? Poland so close to taking the lead but Hugo Lloris makes a superb save to deny Zielinski, then Raphael Varane clears the rebound from Kaminski off the line.
Poland, who have looked very dangerous in spells against France, should have put one of those away.#FRA 0-0 #POL
Olivier Giroud slides in at the back post but he can’t convert and the offside flag goes up. Looks like Ousmane Dembele was offside but that’s a big chance wasted for France.
Moments after France cause problems with Giroud and Griezmann buzzing around in the box, Poland break quickly and Robert Lewandowski smashes a shot from distance just wide. #FRA 0-0 #POL
For France, the group stage was a bit of a mixed bag results-wise, but the quality of performances was undeniable. Les Bleus hammered Australia, the eventual Group D runners-up, 4-1 in the opener, followed by a 2-1 victory over Denmark in game no. 2 and a surprising 1-0 defeat to Tunisia with next to nothing to play for in the finale. After losing Karim Benzema to injury during training just two weeks ago, on top of N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba going down long before the tournament began, Mbappe (3 goals, 1 assist) and Griezmann (1 assist) shouldered the load in the group stage. 22-year-old midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni was the only player to start all three group games, as Didier Deschamps gives the Real Madrid star a crash course in World Cup football.
La 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 de départ pour ce 𝟭/𝟴 𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗲 de Coupe du Monde 🔥
Despite having Robert Lewandowski, one of the best strikers of his generation, Poland managed just two goals during the group stage — both in the same game, their only win, against Saudi Arabia. On the flip side, keeping two clean sheets (also against Mexico) proved the difference in elimination and advancement. Poland are one of four sides (Australia, Morocco and Japan being the others) to have held less than 40 percent of possession and make it through to the knockout rounds.
Current FIFA world ranking: 4
World Cup titles: 2 (1998, 2018)
World Cup appearances: 15
How they qualified: Qualified automatically from UEFA (Won Group D)
Coach: Didier Deschamps
Key players: Kylian Mbappe, Hugo Lloris, Antoine Griezmann
Poland quick facts
Current FIFA world ranking: 38
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup appearances: 5
How they qualified: Qualified from AFC via the intercontinental playoffs
Coach: Graham Arnold
Key players: Mathew Ryan, Aaron Mooy, Mathew Leckie
Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 to close out group-stage play at the 2022 World Cup on Thursday, but it wasn’t enough for Hansi Flick’s side to advance to the knockout rounds.
Ahead of matchday 3 in Group E, the simplest math was as follows: a German win, plus a Japanese loss (to Spain), would see the 2014 world champions jump from 4th to 2nd and avoid a second straight World Cup group-stage exit.
The first part of that equation seemed to be going relatively straightforward, as Serge Gnabry opened the scoring in the 10th minute. A minute later in the other game, Alvaro Morata put Spain ahead and Germany were going through as things stood. But, Japan scored twice in six minutes to start the second half and pull off another unlikely comeback, just as they did against Germany in the opener.
Then, something even more unthinkable happened: Costa Rica equalized, and then they went ahead. At that point, they were going through as runners-up. That lasted for all of three minutes, until Kai Havertz lifted the ball over Keylor Navas to make it 2-2. Havertz struck again 12 minutes later to make it 3-2, and give Germany a small glimmer of hope — that Spain might equalize and save Germany from elimination, but they never did.
In the end, Japan (6 points) advance as Group E winners, joined by Spain (4) in the round of 16.
How to watch Costa Rica vs Germany live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 2pm ET, Thursday (December 1) Stadium: Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor TV channels en Español: Telemundo Streaming en Español:Peacock (all 64 matches)
Key storylines, players to watch closely
For Germany, it’s been a struggle to finish scoring chances rather than waste loads of expected goals (3.09 vs Japan, and 1.29, double that of Spain). 26 shots, 5 big chances nearly 700 passes translated to just one goal against the Samurai Blue, and they were made to pay for their transgressions. Hansi Flick is undoubtedly already under immense pressure ahead of Thursday’s game, through very little fault of his own.
As for Costa Rica, it seemed beyond impossible that they could be in such a position heading into the third game. Even in the victory over Japan, they manufactured all of 0.11 expected goals on 4 shots attempted. Win, lose or draw, that’s paltry offensive output that you might be able to overcome and steal one result at a World Cup, but for most sides it proves to be their undoing. They couldn’t it again, could they?
Current FIFA world ranking: 31
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup appearances: 5
How they qualified: Qualified from CONCACAF via interconfederation playoffs
Coach: Luis Fernando Suarez
Key players: Keylor Navas, Joel Campbell, Celso Borges, Bryan Ruiz
Germany quick facts
Current FIFA world ranking: 11
World Cup titles: 4 (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)
World Cup appearances: 20
How they qualified: Qualified automatically from UEFA (1st place)
Coach: Hansi Flick
Key players: Manuel Neuer, Antonio Rudiger, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka
The 26 players in the France squad for the 2022 World Cup have been confirmed by head coach Didier Deschamps.
France go into the World Cup as the 2nd favorites (+550) to win the trophy as the reigning, defending world champions try to become the first nation to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
Les Bleus were ravaged by injuries in the weeks leading up to the 2022 tournament in Qatar, particularly in midfield, where longtime stalwarts, World Cup winners and probable starters N’Golo Kane and Paul Pogba were lost.
France have been hit with injuries going forward with both Christopher Nkunku and Karim Benzema injured in training. Kylian Mbappe, along with a pair of veterans (Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud) each with over 100 international caps to their name will now lead the charge. They will be strong defensively once again, but how will the incredibly inexperienced midfield (Adrien Rabiot has the most caps with 29, and no one else even has 15) will determine how far they go.
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Alphonse Areola
Defenders: Benjamin Pavard, Axel Disasi, Raphael Varane, Jules Kounde, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Lucas Hernandez, Theo Hernandez, Ibrahima Konate
The five-time World Cup winners will begin their quest for no. 6 as betting favorites to lift the highly coveted gold trophy, formerly known as the Jules Rimet Trophy until 1970, on Dec. 18 in Lusail.
Below is a look at Brazil’s confirmed roster for the 2022 World Cup, along with a few names who weren’t so lucky due to injuries and/or simply not being chosen as one of the 26 by Tite.
Unsurprisingly, Brazil is beyond loaded in attack, with so many options that one (or two) of Neymar, Vinicius Jr, Gabriel Jesus, Antony, Raphinha, Richarlison and Gabriel Martinelli will see very few, if any, minutes at all in Qatar. That’s seven very worthy players for three (maybe four) spots in the team. There will be more rotation this World Cup than any one before due to the condensed schedule of games, but Brazil’s stars of the future will likely take a backseat before their time comes in 2026.
Confirmed Brazil squad for 2022 World Cup
Goalkeepers: Alisson, Ederson, Weverton
Defenders: Danilo, Dani Alves, Alex Sandro, Alex Telles, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Eder Militao, Bremer
Midfielders: Casemiro, Fabinho, Bruno Guimaraes, Fred, Lucas Paqueta, Everton Ribeiro
Forwards: Neymar, Vinicius Jr, Gabriel Jesus, Antony, Raphinha, Richarlison, Gabriel Martinelli, Rodrygo, Pedro
Which players missed out?
Defenders: Renan Lodi (coach’s decision), Gabriel Magalhaes (coach’s decision)
Midfielders: Philippe Coutinho (injury), Athur Melo (injury)
Forwards: Roberto Firmino (coach’s decision), Gabriel Barbosa (coach’s decision), Matheus Cunha (coach’s decision)
