Group D

Argentina: New England Patriots

Lionel Messi of Argentina (Photo by Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)

When greatness is obvious, it’s easy to pair from sport to sport. For the Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi, he will likely go down as the greatest soccer player to ever play this beautiful, world-wide game. For New England and Tom Brady, its signal caller will likely go down in the history books in the same manner.

Though Brady and Messi are the focal points, they do have help around them – talent that they elevate themselves. Argentinians Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain are forwards who have plenty of experience succeeding at the highest level as strikers for their clubs in Europe, and having Messi feed them and work off them only makes them better. Such is the case with Patriots players like Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and even a guy like Chris Hogan.

It’s easier to be great with greatness around you. The Patriots begin every season expecting to win it all. Such is the case with this year’s Argentina in the 2018 World Cup.

Iceland: Chicago Bears

I stated earlier that the French team might be the most fun to watch at the 2018 World Cup, but that might not be true. It might be an Iceland team that pulled a World Cup bid form a country that holds a population of 335,000 – about the size of Corpus Christi, Texas.

With Iceland’s national team coming from such a small pool of people, it’s natural that this group plays as close-knit as you can see on the field. The chemistry each man has next to each other is what elevates them as a whole probably higher than their individual talent warrants. If you ask me, that’s what it’s going to take for the Chicago Bears to make some noise in the upcoming 2018 NFL season, too.

Neither squad has certain star players, but that doesn’t mean they’re void of talent, either. Gylfi Sigurdsson for Iceland is a player who has star quality, at times, and can really set up the rest of his team for success with hard work and execution. I’ll have to point to Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky for the comparison there, as these two squads will go as far and have as much fun as those two men lead the cast around.

Croatia: Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys Offensive Line (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

I think it’s fair to say that the Croatian national team has some of the best midfield players in the world on their roster. Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic, Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic and Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic, they have world-class talent in their heart of where the game begins, and that will always give you a chance. In correlation, that’s how I see the Dallas Cowboys’ offensive line. They control the middle and the destination of the ball much like Croatia does with their midfield. Dallas offensive tackle Tyron Smith has the same sort of impact Modric does, and the rest of the names around each bring top talent an chemistry to boost offense and defense.

For Croatia, throw in Juventus’ Mario Mandzukic, Milan’s Nikola Kalinic and Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramaric and you have strikers who can put up points in front of that stellar midfield. And for the Cowboys, quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott feed of their trench players in the same manner. When the midfield/trenches are taken care of, both of these squads can look like well-oiled machines on offense.

Nigeria: Arizona Cardinals

There is young talent and some veteran experience for both Nigeria and the Arizona Cardinals, but is it in the right places to get it done, is the question.

For Nigeria, the likes of Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi give you a combination of youthful exuberance with the never-back-down mentality required to succeed with little experience. Those three have already thrived in the Premier League, and much of that can be credited to their attitude and approach. For the Cardinals, running back David Johnson, safety Budda Baker and linebacker Haason Reddick represent the youth who have stepped up.

John Obi Mikel is the Nigerian’s most experienced talent, and he boasts the captain’s armband with that. Such can also be said about wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald for the Cardinals. However, the two squads also face the same problem of perhaps too much youth at a key position. For Nigeria, it’s starting a 19-year-old keeper, Francis Uzoho. For the Cardinals, it might be throwing quarterback josh Rosen into the fire of action in his rookie season. Whether or not these young men crack under pressure will determine how far each team can go.