Group H Preview ~ World Cup 2022
Ghana – Uruguay – Portugal – South Korea (Rankings As Of Finals Draw, April 1, 2022)
Ghana National Team Profile:
FIFA World Rank: 61
Manager: Otto Addo
World Cup Appearances: 4
Best Finish: Quarterfinals (2010)
Odds to Win Cup: +35,000
Odds to Win Group H: +1,100
Odds to Qualify: +250
Group Stage Points Total O/U: 2.5
Group Stage Schedule:
November 24 vs. Portugal
November 28 vs. South Korea
December 2 vs. Uruguay
Out of all the teams competing in Qatar from CAF, Ghana presents some interesting questions playing in this group. Naturally, the whole damn world has Portugal and Uruguay taking the top-two spots in the group to advance, so how do South Korea or Ghana breakthrough?
Thomas Parley essentially did all of the damage in the CAF World Cup qualifying for Ghana, as he scored 3 goals and was the biggest one of all to land this team here at all. Parley scored the only goal for Ghana in their tie with Nigeria, and because it was an away goal, it was all they needed to find. A scoreless front leg led to one game for the right to compete in the 2022 World Cup, and Ghana found its way here.
André Ayew will be asked to take his 109 caps of experience and make a showing here in Qatar. Ayew is the current leader on this active roster with 23 goals to his credit, and he has some help around him with Parley and another familiar face. His brother Jordan Ayew plays his club football in the Premier League for Crystal Palace, and his 20 goals give him a chance to catch his brother at any time.
So, scoring is an issue here, and anyone we see up front for Manager Otta Addo’s squad is going to have much more of an influence than they did in qualifying. Throughout the entire process of qualifying, Ghana only scored a total of 8 goals, and that’s against other African sides that could come nothing close to matching Portugal and Uruguay on a stage like this. That’s why they’re not here!
It is extremely hard for me to give Ghana enough credit to score goals against the 3 teams in this group that can slow anyone down, on any pitch, in any competition.
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Uruguay National Team Profile:
FIFA World Rank: 14
Manager: Diego Alonso
World Cup Appearances: 14
Best Finish: Champions 2 (1930, ‘50)
Odds to Win Cup: +5,000
Odds to Win Group H: +200
Odds to Qualify: -215
Group Stage Points Total O/U: 4.5
Group Stage Schedule:
November 24 vs. South Korea
November 28 vs. Portugal
December 2 vs. Ghana
Well, it’s us and Portugal, or so it seems. The line setters and most major outlets are going to point right to that as I said above, so what could go wrong for Uruguay in Qatar?
Luis Suárez was busy carrying Uruguay through the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying process, matching Neymar from Brazil with 8 goals for his Nation en route to a third-place finish. Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay are the trio of team’s in Qatar being given the best odds to get through their groups, landing in the Round of 16, if not even further, of course.
Giorgian de Arrascaeta contributed 5 qualifying goals to the mix behind Suarez, and I don’t think many of us doubt that this team can score goals. It’s the other side of the ball that we have to be concerned and it started exactly in those qualifying games to get here. Scoring 22 goals in qualifying are great, but they also gave up 22 goals and could have just as easily been in Peru’s position of having to play extra football to claim the bid to Qatar. Peru didn’t even get here losing in PKs to Australia in the Inter-Continental Playoff, so avoiding that process helped matters.
The opening match with South Korea for Uruguay is going to present some issues because they can slow you down and they will transition you all game looking for spots to attack. South Korea is certainly no offensive jugernaut in Qatar, but they do know how to keep the ball out of their net too. If that match ends in a draw, this whole group might flip on its head.
Uruguay is favored to win both of their matches against the supposed weaker opponents in Group H, but Portugal is also heavily favored to take the 3 points in the middle match of group play. Their team total of 4.5 group points is staring me in the face telling me they can’t get there, so you might just see that tip at the bottom of the page when you get there.
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Portugal National Team Profile:
FIFA World Rank: 9
Manager: Fernando Santos
World Cup Appearances: 8
Best Finish: 3rd Place (1966)
Odds to Win Cup: +1,600
Odds to Win Group H: -150
Odds to Qualify: -650
Group Stage Points Total O/U: 6.5
Group Stage Schedule:
November 24 vs. Ghana
November 28 vs. Uruguay
December 2 vs. South Korea
Ronaldo, Ronaldo, and Ronaldo. Thank you, and that is the Portuguese chance of doing anything in Qatar. We all know who #7 is, and he knows it better than all of us! I mean let’s not even start with the size of the ego in the man, and hey, confidence and arrogance can be intertwined. Some of us don’t care for it, and everyone in Portugal can’t wait to see him do his thing, and he is still doing his thing.
However, what was that stuff he pulled with Man U about a month or so before the Cup? Walking off the field before a match ended certainly didn’t go over well, but he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about any of it.
When it comes to brass tax, #7 is going to be why, how, or what Portugal does here in Qatar, but yes, other dudes pull their weight.
Serbia was the first Nation that almost kept Portugal out of this year’s World Cup, and North Macedonia also had its chance to knock Os Navegadores out of a bid for Qatar.
Portugal could only manage a second-place finish in the last stage of UEFA Group A qualifying, and it led to them having to get past Turkey and North Macedonia to earn the bid. North Macedonia took out Italia, and I am still crying about it, and then the North Macedonians fell 2 – 0 to Portugal in the final match of UEFA WC qualifying.
Will #7 score a few goals, however? I mean do you see the price to expect it to happen? Well, you’ll see exactly what he needs to do and what the line is to do it below.
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South Korea National Team Profile:
FIFA World Rank: 28
Manager: Paulo Bento
World Cup Appearances: 10
Best Finish: 4th Place (2002)
Odds to Win Cup: +30,000
Odds to Win Group H: +1,000
Odds to Qualify: +220
Group Stage Points Total O/U: 2.5
Group Stage Schedule:
November 24 vs. Uruguay
November 28 vs. Ghana
December 2 vs. Portugal
The odds are against them, but they already know that coming into any competition of this magnitude. South Korea can usually challenge and keep pace with some of the upper-tier football Nations, but they are a defensive-style team that has to find more upfront.
Scoreless draws are tough to manage because 1 point at a time usually pans into an early exit. When goal differentials start breaking ties, South Korea will have to do more to change that in Qatar.
Iran and South Korea tore through their group to earn easy bids to appear in the 2022 World Cup, and the Taegeuk Warriors only allowed a total of 3 goals in the final qualifying round while scoring 13 of their own goals.
Son Heung-Min plays his club football with Tottenham in the Premier League, and he needs just one tally in Qatar to tie Park Lee-Chun for third place on the all-time South Korean top-scorers list.
This team has experienced players all around the pitch, and they carry a ton of influential players that play their club football all around Europe and Asia. Someone forgot to tell them that they will be bottom feeders of Group H with Ghana and that they will be exiting from the event after 3 games played.
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World Cup 2022 Group H Predictions and Bets: (Bookmaker BetOnline)
Uruguay Under 4.5 Group Points @ +100 1U
South Korea Over 2.5 Group Points -120 1U
Cristiano Ronaldo Goals Scored Over 2.5 +110 1U
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