Alexi Lalas’ World Cup Power Rankings: Who is the strongest quarter-finalist?

The quarter-final phase of the World Cup is set and will begin on Thursday with France against Morocco. Despite an exciting journey to this point in the tournament, some teams unexpectedly found themselves in the group of eight remaining teams.

The group has some sneaky good teams and confident teams who are sure to qualify for the final on July 19.

So here is my World Cup quarterfinal power ranking. And remember: these are my rankings. If you don’t like them, get your own.

The odds are as of Thursday morning.

Odds of winning: +3300

At eight, the team we just saw beat Colombia will be Switzerland. Switzerland is sneakily good, but I don’t think anyone will challenge Switzerland for 8th place.

Odds of winning: +3000

Our Belgian friends, who have just kicked our ass, come in 7th place.

Odds of winning: +2700

This is a difficult question, but I put Morocco at six. Morocco could definitely be high, but I’ll put it at six. I probably could have put Morocco ahead of Spain.

Ed. Note: Morocco was sent home after losing to France, 2-0, on Thursday.

Odds of winning: +360

This is probably the most controversial case: Spain in fifth place. I think a lot of people would rank Spain higher.

Odds of winning: +460

This is the one that hurts me the most, especially after that game, where they went to Azteca and beat Mexico in a historic victory. He arrives at 4 o’clock and he must feel confident about the future.

Odds of winning: +1400

Norway was a lot of people’s “dark horse”, and they lived up to that and more in the sense that they are no longer a dark horse. I still think that, even with what Lionel Messi is doing right now, what Erling Haaland is doing is just as good, and I could even argue that it’s better given the supporting cast. It’s not a lack of support, as it’s disrespectful to the rest of the Norwegian players, but he doesn’t play in a team as good as Argentina.

Odds of winning: +400

Speaking of Argentina, they’re still at 2. They’ve played two games now and while they were exciting, they were two games that they struggled with and had to suffer through, which is still surprising that they came out on top. Thanks to them. I am still a little generous with Argentina. Argentina was a little fragile.

Odds of winning: +180

Is there really any other choice at this point? Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembélé. I don’t need to say more.