China
China are an extremely disciplined and consistent team with seemingly one issue, they struggle to defeat world class teams. With an exemplary and destructive record against teams on or below their level, they come into this World Cup with one of the most experienced squads of all of the nations. Whilst it can be hard to discover the style of the Chinese team, such is the nature of their strict governance, their statistics certainly don’t lie.
Their structure and organisation led to them conceding only 17 goals in 26 games in 2018, with only five goals conceded in their 18 wins. However, China have been unable to crack the big teams such as the USA, Australia and Japan despite having more than enough experience and attempts to defeat them. They will have to shake this stigma very quickly in France as big fixtures against Germany and Spain loom large. The Chinese have always been fighters though and will look to establish dominance in France.
PREDICTION: Group: 3rd Overall: Round of 16
Fact: If China escape their group in 2nd place a Round of 16 fixture against USA is likely, who they last defeated in 2015. However, this victory was monumental, as young forward Wang Shuang scored in the 59th minute to end a 104 match home unbeaten streak for the USA, essentially ruining hometown hero Abby Wambach’s farewell game.
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