There are now less than two months to go until the World Cup in Qatar and, with very little international football to be played before the kick-off, the time for tinkering and fact-finding appears to be over for the tournament’s leading contenders.
Four-times winners Italy will be absent, having failed to qualify for a second successive World Cup, while history suggests an unlikely outsider could well emerge from the pack: few had Croatia down as finalists four years ago.
