Brazil, the overwhelming favorite to win the World Cup, has been knocked out, and now the tournament is wide open
- Brazil, the heavy favorite to win the World Cup, just lost to Belgium in the quarter-finals.
- This has been a World Cup of upsets, with traditional powers like Spain and Germany also getting eliminated early.
- With one match to play until the semifinals, it feels like the tournament is wide open.
Brazil, who entered this year's World Cup as one of the overwhelming favorites to win the World Cup, have now been eliminated following a 2-1 loss in the quarter-finals to Belgium.
It's the latest surprise in a tournament full of upsets, which has included Spain's shocking loss to Russia in the knockout rounds and, even more surprisingly, Germany crashing out of the group stage.
With those three teams - three of the game's big powers, and three popular picks to win the World Cup before the start of the tournament - out, the road to World Cup glory and soccer immortality feels wide open for the remaining teams.
Of the remaining teams, France, another popular pick to win it all at the outset, is likely the new favorite. But Belgium has looked good as well, and could be primed to capitalize on its golden generation of players. Or maybe this is year that England finally, finally, wins another major international tournament.