Anxiety grows as the world's biggest event approaches. With so much expectation surrounding the start of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the bet is to know who the favorites will be, who can surprise and go from underdog to world champion.

It's not just knowing which teams can lift the World Cup that catches our attention. But also discover which players could surprise during the World Cup dispute.

An initial warning: we will not mention Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Mbappe, among other stars. They are already part of the current football Olympus and where expectations are already enormous.

In this article, players from teams that are one or more levels below and who can stand out during the competition will be presented. And understand the reasons that could lead the dispute to be one of the most balanced of all time.

Lovers of the most popular sport in the world, or just those interested in World Cup times, quickly answer the question about the most common period in which the tournament takes place: every four years, with the competition taking place in the middle of the year.

However, the Qatar edition is totally different from all the others. Due to climate reasons, the celebration of world football will take place at the end of 2022. With the opening on November 20th and the grand final on December 18th.

This change of date brings a completely new context: for the first time, the World Cup will take place in the middle of the European football season. Very different from other editions, when it takes place at the end of European, national and continental championships.

The teams arrive in Qatar with their players in peak physical shape, which promises to make the games more balanced and full of possibilities. This allows teams considered weaker to play to their full potential and surprise.

As said at the beginning of this text, we are not going to specify about the formations, nor about the stars, as the expectations for them are already enormous and the stories are prepared and are just waiting to reach the grand finale. See which players could surprise in the Middle East.

The selection of players takes into account technical issues, the moment in the European season and their importance within the team. In all eight groups of the World Cup, there is one standout who could become the sensation of the World Cup.

The Senegalese who made history at Liverpool and is experiencing a new phase, joining Bayern Munich, has the challenge of leading the African country to have a better campaign than in the World Cup in Korea and Japan, when it was the sensation of the tournament, stopping in the quarterfinals. 

In the first phase, they fight directly for the first position in Group A against the Netherlands, Ecuador and the host country, Qatar. And in the debut they already have the main opponent of the group, the Dutch teams of Depay, Bergwijn and Van Dijk.

The Welshman was once considered one of the best players in the world and is part of the 10 most expensive transactions in history, when he left Tottenham for Real Madrid for 100 million euros in 2013, he had a period of ups and downs and left without being missed. in the Spanish capital.

Nowadays, he plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy, in MLS, and was the main player in the campaign that took Wales to a World Cup after 64 years. Focused on preparing adequately and with the hopes of a country, he will fight with the English team and the Americans to take his team further in the World Cup.

But could the striker who made history at Bayern Munich and who is currently twice voted the best player in the world by FIFA's The Best be on that list of surprises? Yes!

This is because even with overwhelming numbers for clubs, the Barcelona striker has not managed to have the same success in the national team until today. Poland did not have notable campaigns in the last editions of the Euro and in the last edition of the World Cup in Russia, eliminated in the first phase.

At 34 years old, this will be his last chance to help take the Poles to the golden times of the 1974 and 1982 editions, when they finished third in the final classification. They will face Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Mexico in group C.

In the current world champion, the highlight is the French star Mbappe. But the Real striker, who has had a dream season, being top scorer in the last Champions League, won by the Madridistas, returns to the national team after controversies with former teammates and is betting on teamwork to give Le Bleus their third world championship. They compete directly with Denmark for favoritism in group D.

The Spanish player, present in the backbone of Barcelona, is one of Fúria's hopes in the quest for the World Cup. One of the highlights of Luis Enrique's renewal is the player's hopes of overcoming elimination in the first phase of the 2014 edition, in Brazil, and in 2018, eliminated in the round of 16 by the Russians on penalties.

To do so, they will have to overcome Germany, Costa Rica and Japan in group E.

The player who enchanted Barcelona, who took him to Catalonia after a super positive season at Leeds, is one of the hopes in the search for Hexa, along with Neymar, Richarlison, Vinicius Júnior, Gabriel Jesus and Lucas Paquetá.

The Serbian impressed the world of football with his great time at Fiorentina, which caught the attention of giants Juventus. Despite the unstable 2022/2023 season and no prospect of titles, Vlahovic stands out for his goals and for saving himself amid Vecchia Senhora's bad phase. They will face Brazil, Switzerland and Cameroon in group G

The Uruguayan was signed at a premium by Liverpool, being the main hope of the two-time world champion team, with the support of Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani, who are going to their last World Cup. The objective is to fight with Son's Korea and Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in group H.

They are the main hopes and are players who can surprise and directly help their teams to a good campaign in the Qatar edition. It's time to keep an eye on them.

And Haaland? Well, he is Norwegian and will watch the World Cup from home, as Norway did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup.