The wait is finally over. The 2022 FIFA World Cup is merely days away and fans the world over are salivating at the prospect of football’s biggest spectacle finally getting underway. The curtain will officially be raised on November 20th when hosts Qatar face Ecuador in the 60,000 capacity Al Bayt Stadium.

Then, on day two, two of the tournament’s contenders, the Netherlands and England, will get their campaigns underway, against Senegal and Iran respectively. OddsChecker, which compares odds and provides free offers on World Cup football, has made Brazil the outright favorites to lift the trophy in the desert. And we think the Selecao are dead certs to reach the latter stages. But some of the planet’s usual big hitters could encounter difficulties this winter.

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At every World Cup, there is always a team that capitulates in front of the world’s eyes. And usually, it’s the reigning champions. Four years ago it was Germany. They headed to Russia as defending champions, but shock defeats to Mexico and South Korea meant that they were sent packing. Before them, it was Spain that fell apart. They lost back-to-back games to the Netherlands and Chile and were on a flight home before their third group game had even kicked off.

In 2006, Italy – thanks to Zinedine Zidane’s moment of madness – defeated France in Berlin to lift the famous gold trophy for the fourth time. But in South Africa four years later, both the Azzurri and Les Bleus were eliminated in the group stages.

This year, there are a number of teams who could shock people for all the wrong reasons. Here are two heavyweights that could be sent home before the knockout stages.

France 

The French are no strangers to falling at the first hurdle. The last time they entered a tournament as the defending champions was exactly 20 years ago. They headed to Japan and South Korea fresh off winning a maiden World Cup four years prior, and then they backed that up by lifting the trophy at Euro 2000.

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France were drawn alongside tournament debutantes Senegal, Denmark, and Uruguay, and many expected them to breeze through the group, perhaps even winning all three fixtures. How wrong they were…

Les Bleus were stunned by the Lions of Teranga in the tournament’s opening game, losing 1-0 courtesy of a goal from former Fulham man Papa Bouba Diop. They could only manage a 0-0 draw with Uruguay in their second game and then slumped to a 2–0 defeat to their fellow Europeans.

France’s preparations this year haven’t exactly been ideal. In last summer’s European Championships they squandered a 3-1 lead in the final ten minutes against Switzerland, eventually losing on penalties in the second round. Then, in the recent UEFA Nations League campaign, they lost home and away to Denmark and narrowly avoided relegation by just one point. The French will face the Danes again in Qatar, and it’s highly possible that the Scandinavians could stun the reigning champions.

Tunisia and Australia are the other nations alongside them in Group D, and it’s possible that both of them could cause France problems. Didier Deschamps’ side were drawn alongside the Socceroos in Russia four years ago, and it took a controversial penalty and a last-gasp own goal to see them off. Tunisia on the other hand will be more than up for their tussle with the old enemy, especially considering the countries’ shared history.

We’re not saying that France will fall in the group stages, but at 6/1 with numerous online bookmakers of this happening, it’s definitely not out of the realm of possibility.

Portugal 

We all want to see Cristiano Ronaldo bow out from international football on top. But his recent form with Manchester United hasn’t been the best. He’s even lost his place in the starting eleven to Marcus Rashford. And for his national team, things haven’t been going much better.

They were dumped out of Euro 2020 in the second round by Belgium. In qualifying for the World Cup, they lost at home to Serbia courtesy of Aleksandar Mitrovic’s last-minute winner, meaning that they had to rely on the lottery of the playoffs. Had North Macedonia not defeated Italy in the playoffs, we may not have even seen Ronaldo and his Portuguese teammates in Qatar, as it was the Azzurri that the Portuguese would have had to beat for a place in the tournament.

In Qatar, Fernando Santos’ men will have to face off with Uruguay – who knocked them out in the second round in Russia – as well as Ghana and South Korea. It isn’t the easiest of groups, and Ronaldo’s international career may end in misery.