Russia 2018 Expert Picks And Knockout Stage Upsets

The 2018 FIFA World Cup group stage is finally behind us, which means only 16 nations in the world of soccer remain in Russia with one common goal: Hoisting that beautiful golden trophy depicting two humans together holding the globe. The latest odds and betting lines have Brazil and Spain as the heavy favorites.

Brazil is on the same side of the bracket as South American rivals Argentina and Uruguay, along with dark horse favorites Belgium and Euro 2016 champion Portugal and Euro 2016 runner-up France.

If you’re looking for a breakdown of the bracket we have got you covered.

So what is the optimal bracket for the World Cup Challenge?  And which upsets are the key to victory, all from the model that’s returned an incredible 1800 percent profit on bookmakers’ closing odds.

But as we all know, the tournament never plays out the way we see it on paper. There are always surprises. Just ask Germany. The reigning 2014 champs crashed out of the group stage  after losing to South Korea. That means there will be a new champion, so our CBS Sports prognosticators have locked in their predictions, and their brackets are presented below along with round of 16 picks and World Cup final picks.

Round of 16 final picks

AWARD	Thomas Rongen	Nick Kostos	Roger Gonzalez	Igor Mello	Tom Fornelli	Sean Wagner-McGough
Argentina-France	France	Argentina	Argentina	Argentina	France	France
Portugal-Uruguay	Uruguay	Uruguay	Uruguay	Uruguay	Uruguay	Portugal
Russia-Spain	Spain	Spain	Spain	Spain	Spain	Spain
Croatia-Denmark	Croatia	Croatia	Croatia	Denmark	Croatia	Croatia
Brazil-Mexico	Brazil	Brazil	Brazil	Brazil	Brazil	Brazil
Belgium-Japan	Belgium	Belgium	Belgium	Belgium	Belgium	Belgium
Sweden-Switzerland	Sweden	Switzerland	Switzerland	Sweden	Switzerland	Switzerland
England-Colombia	England	England	England	England	England	Colombia

So which team has the highest probability to win the World Cup, and which teams shock the football world? See which long shots can go all the way, all from a European soccer expert who created a model that’s returned an 1800 percent profit on the bookmakers’ closing odds!

Our pundits seem to agree on Spain, Belgium and Brazil all winning their round of 16 matchups and advancing to the quarterfinals. Some of the biggest surprises among our prognosticators include Uruguay winning it all (Nick Kostos), Belgium and Croatia reaching the final (Sean Wagner-McGough),  England reaching the final (Thomas Rongen) and Switzerland reaching the semis (Tom Fornelli).

Four of the six experts have the Brazilian national team hoisting the trophy when it’s all said and done. Here’s a look at each of our expert brackets and World Cup final picks below:

World Cup final picks

AWARD	Thomas Rongen	Nick Kostos	Roger Gonzalez	Igor Mello	Tom Fornelli	Sean Wagner-McGough
World Cup final	Brazil over England	Uruguay over Spain	Brazil over Spain	Brazil over Spain	Brazil over Spain	Belgium over Croatia

-courtesy: cbssports.com