Group E of the World Cup has two of the previous three winners in Spain and Germany, as well as Japan and Costa Rica. This group is very top-heavy as Spain and Germany are very talented and deep teams, but neither has had much success since winning the World Cup. If these World Cup struggles continue, it can open the door for an underrated Japan side or heavy underdogs, Costa Rica, to make it out of the group.

Spain

Spain has been playing amazing football under Luis Enrique and is coming off an impressive semifinal run at Euro 2020. Aside from the Euro, Spain has a number of things pointing in their favor, such as young stars and recent success in the Nations League. With the emergence of players such as Pedri, Ferran Torres, Gavi, and others, it is an exciting time for Spanish soccer. This group of players also has the experience to match their promising future and have proven they are the real deal. This proof came from the Nations League, where they reached the final.

While the Nations League is not the biggest or most competitive competition, it is still a good sign that this young Spain team is on the right track. The only caveat is that 2022 might be too early for this group of players to reach their full potential truly. However, their full potential is winning the World Cup, as the 2010 team did, so even if they don’t reach their full potential this year, they should not have any issues making it out of Group E.

Germany

While Germany is not the machine they were in 2014 anymore, they still are not a team anyone wants to face in the World Cup. Coming off an early Euro 2020 exit and the failure of 2018, Germany will be looking to bounce back in 2022. Their team is in an interesting position heading into 2022, still having players from the 2014 team but also having exciting young players in Kai Havertz, Sané, and Gosens. The mix of youth and experience is interesting in this squad, and this will probably be the last tournament we see players from the 2014 squad as Germany starts to phase in the new generation. All in all, while Germany is in a weird place heading into the World Cup, I think they will still finish second in this group. However, I believe Japan will give them a scare.

Japan

Japan is a perfect example of a team with few household names but fights until the final whistle and plays very disciplined football. Japan is never an easy opponent and always gives their opponents a hard time. This was proven in their 2018 World Cup run, where they had favorites Belgium on the ropes for most of the match. I will not be shocked if Japan can upset the Germans for second place in Group E.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica joined Canada, the United States, and Mexico as CONCACAF representatives in the World Cup after defeating New Zealand in the World Cup playoff. Unfortunately, while reaching the World Cup is a great achievement, this is where the good news will end for Costa Rica. They have been drawn into a challenging group with two previous winners and simply do not have the team it takes to make it out of this group. However, this does not mean they will go down easy. Costa Rica always plays physically and makes it hard on their opponents, but unfortunately, that won’t be enough for the Costa Ricans to prevail in Group E.