Vinicius Jr., Dembele rise; Rashford, Di Maria fall

We are less than a month away from the World Cup in Qatar, when the host nation will kick off the tournament on Nov. 20 against Ecuador.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (U.S.)

All 32 finalists are making their closing plans for the tournament, hoping that star players don’t get struck down by injury and head into the World Cup in top form. Away from that, there’s plenty of players who are desperately hoping to break into their country’s 26-man squad, which has to be named by Nov. 13.

Each week, we’ll take a look at the favourites to see how they are shaping up and also check in with other nations as their players either shine or struggle.

– World Cup finals bracket and fixtures schedule

JUMP TO: England | France | Germany | Spain | Netherlands | United States | Mexico | Argentina | Australia | Senegal | Tunisia | Belgium | Morocco | Cameroon | Portugal | Ghana | South Korea

BRAZIL
Fixtures: Serbia (Nov. 24), Switzerland (Nov. 28), Cameroon (Dec. 2)

Squad announcement date: Nov. 7

STOCK CLIMBING

Vinicius Junior: It might seem hard to believe, but Vinicius Junior is not guaranteed a place in Brazil’s starting line up. With a tweak here and there, the team has three different selections. Vini appears in two, but in the other — which is probably the most likely formation — he is on the bench. His task over these next few weeks, then, is to use every Real Madrid match as a stage from which to proclaim his merits — and he certainly did that at the weekend, with an outstanding display in the 3-1 win over Sevilla. A few more matches like that and it will be hard for Tite to leave him out next month.

STOCK FALLING

Lucas Paqueta: If last week the injury worry was Richarlison, this time it is Paqueta, who is possibly even more important to the team. In those tactical switches, Paqueta is the joker…