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Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has named seven countries he thinks will compete intensely for the 2022 FIFA World Cup trophy later this year. He picked England, Brazil and France among others as potential title-challengers.
The FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar this year, and Silva's Portugal is amongst the favorites for the biggest trophy in international football.
Portugal missed the chance to directly qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup after losing 2-1 to Serbia in their final qualifiers group game. However, the 2016 Euro champions defeated Turkey and North Macedonia in World Cup Qualifiers to secure a spot in Qatar. They have been placed in Group H alongside South Korea, Ghana and Uruguay.
In a wide-ranging interview with ESPN, Silva discussed his views on several issues, including his future at the English club and the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
The midfielder believes Portugal are a strong side but there are many other strong teams in the fray and the competition will be intensely fought amongst them. Naming other national teams who he thinks are the favorites to win the title, Silva said:
''We are going to try it [winning the World Cup]. We know it's very, very tough because you have Germany, Argentina, Brazil, France, Spain, Holland, England. We are going to be up there, and we know we have great players, but we're one of like 10 favourites.
"It's not like the Premier League where you have two or three teams, maybe four or five, competing; in the World Cup, it's more unpredictable. Out of 10 teams, you cannot know who is going to do better.''
Quizzed over the impact of the long mid-season break on the club's performances in the Premier League, Silva said:
''It's going to be a tough season and very different from all the others because we have the World Cup in the middle. It's kind of weird. It looks like we're going to have two Premier Leagues: one before and one after.
"We're not going to win anything in these months [before the World Cup], but we can lose it all so our job now is to make sure we don't lose it and are able to fight for all of it in the last six months of the season.''
Leicester City defender Ricardo Pereira's injury could rule him out for this year's FIFA World Cup with Portugal
Leicester City defender Ricardo Pereira has been ruled out for the next six months after suffering an Achilles injury in their pre-season match against Sevilla. The serious injury could rule him out for the FIFA World Cup with Portugal later this year.
The 28-year-old full-back has undergone an operation on his achilles this week. Club manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed the Portugal international's injury and believes that the full-back could be out of action for a long time.
Pereira also missed Portugal's Euro 2020 campaign due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury that he picked up just before the tournament. In the last few seasons, Pereira's professional career has been marred by injuries as he has missed more than 40 club games over the past two seasons.
