Henry Hardwicke
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The 2022 soccer World Cup gets underway on Sunday, November 20, and Group H is likely to be a battle for top spot between Uruguay and Portugal. Both nations boast plenty of talent on the soccer pitch, and it will be interesting to see how Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo performs after his recent explosive interview. Alongside those 2 are Ghana and South Korea, who will be looking to cause an upset and qualify for the knockout stages. Our soccer expert is breaking down each team and giving their best bet for Group H.
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Portugal 2022 World Cup Group H prediction
Portugal won the European Championships in 2016, but they are perennial underachievers in the World Cup and have gone past the second round only once since 1966.
They can still call upon Cristiano Ronaldo, who has netted 5 World Cup goals, but they lack the star quality of previous eras and required the playoffs to reach Qatar after finishing 2nd in their qualification group.
Fernando Santos’ side, who recently tied 0-0 with Ireland, finished behind Spain in their Nations League group after winning only 3 of their 6 games.
They should qualify, but the quarterfinals look to be their limit and Brazil could be waiting in the last 16 if Portugal finishes second.
Ghana 2022 World Cup Group H prediction
The lowest-ranked team in the group, Ghana beat arch-rivals Nigeria on away goals in a playoff to reach their 4th World Cup.
Quarterfinalists in 2010, Otto Addo’s side have kept 6 clean sheets in their last 7 matches and lost just twice in 12 outings, but the opposition in Qatar will provide a much sterner test than some of their recent opponents.
They won’t be pushovers, especially with the likes of Arsenal’s Thomas Partey and Jordan Ayew of Crystal Palace to call upon, but it is tough to see them sneaking into the top two spots despite a recent influx of new players, including Inaki Williams.
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Uruguay 2022 World Cup Group H prediction
Uruguay finished in 3rd place in South America’s qualifying group, losing home and away to Brazil and Argentina, who were comfortably first and second.
Diego Alonso’s side reached Qatar by winning their final 4 games, including a crunch 1-0 victory over Peru, while the only goal they have conceded in 7 outings came during a 1-0 friendly defeat to Iran.
The squad possesses plenty of star quality, including Federico Valverde of Real Madrid, Rodrigo Bentancur for Tottenham and Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez, while Luis Suarez is still around.
The 2-time champions, who’ve not lost competitively to any of the teams in their group, will likely be in a shootout with Portugal for top spot.
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South Korea 2022 World Cup Group H prediction
The 2002 semifinalists head to Qatar after winning 17 of their 24 games since June 2021, but there must be a concern over the quality of opposition, given they came through an initial qualifying group containing Lebanon, Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka.
Paolo Bento’s side recently suffered a 5-1 drubbing to Brazil in a friendly, while they have only twice reached the knockout stages in nine attempts at a World Cup.
Only a handful of their squad play in the major European leagues, with Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son the star of the show, but they may well be playing for 3rd place.
2022 Soccer World Cup Group H Best Bet: Uruguay to win the group (+200)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
It is hard to look beyond Portugal and Uruguay qualifying for the knockout stages. They are the 2 top-ranked teams in the group, but there could be value in backing Uruguay to win the group, as they have done in 2 of their last 3 World Cups.
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2022 World Cup Group H finishing order prediction
1. Uruguay
2. Portugal
3. Ghana
4. South Korea
2022 World Cup group predictions
Don’t miss our picks and predictions for EVERY 2022 soccer World Cup group:
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