20 years ago, Ronaldinho scored this legendary goal at the World Cup! How do analysts see this year’s championship?

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is fast approaching. But before the analysis of the prestigious Opta server, let’s remember the legendary goal of Ronaldinho, which was scored exactly 20 years ago. It was June 21, 2002 and the skilful Brazilian was slowly starting to attract the attention of the whole world and no wonder!

Ronaldinho was only 22 years old at the time and was growing up for Europe’s top football. It was the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, where Brazil won the title, that was the imaginary stepping stone for Ronaldinho.

The technical Brazilian transferred from French PSG to Barcelona a year after the championship and entertained fans with incredible coolness for 5 years, after which his career slowly went downhill.

Ronaldinho’s footballing magic and mad creative skills were already there at the 2002 World Cup. With a spectacular goal from a direct kick, he knocked out the then very strong England in the quarterfinals.

Watch the unforgettable goal, which celebrates its 20th anniversary today! Ronaldinho was red-carded 7 minutes after the spectacle, but Brazil held on to their 2-1 lead and went on to advance.

Of course, the question is whether Ronaldinho himself wanted it that way, some fans think he was centering, but only he knows the answer.

Analysts and predictions for the 2022 World Cup

The year 2002 is also the last time the famous Canaries won the World Cup. After 20 years, can the Brazilians finally win the most valuable football tournament in the world?

Opta analysts have compiled a probability table and highlighted the percentage chances of each team winning gold. Brazil is traditionally very high! With a probability of 15.73%, it is predicted that the title for the world champions could go to the hatchery of technical footballers. And what about the other countries?

According to Opta, the defending champions from the 2018 World Cup (France – 17.93%) are the best candidates for gold. What about Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Not much faith in them.

Argentina has a 6.45% chance and Portugal 5.11%, but this model is the first ever released by Opta. The tournament itself is 5 months away and the probabilities are still subject to change.

Sources: World Soccer, The Analyst