2018 World Cup: Track & Field Edition

2018 World Cup: Track & Field Edition

The 2018 FIFA World Cup knockout round has begins this weekend. Let the track/soccer crossover begin!

Jun 29, 2018 by Kevin Sully
2018 World Cup: Track & Field Edition

The 2018 FIFA World Cup knockout round begins this weekend. With just 16 countries left, we decided to see who would win if each country was represented by their current star male track and field athlete. Let the track/soccer crossover begin!

Knockout Round

Uruguay - Emiliano Lasa (Long Jump)

Portugal - Nelson Evora (Triple Jump)

In the battle of the horizontal jumpers, Evora has the clear edge. He’s won world and Olympic titles, while Lasa’s top honor is a sixth-place finish at the 2016 Olympics. 

Winner: Evora


France - Renaud Lavillenie (Pole Vault)

Argentina - German Chiaraviglio (Pole Vault)

Pole vaulters square off in this knockout round battle, but this one, unfortunately, is no contest. Lavillenie has 10 global medals and an indoor world record. Chiaraviglio is a solid vaulter; however, his most noteworthy accomplishment is a U20 gold medal from 2006. Hopefully the World Cup match is closer than this. 

Winner: Lavillenie

 

Brazil - Thiago Braz da Silva (Pole Vault)

Mexico - Edgar Rivera (High Jump)

Braz da Silva famously took gold in front of his home crowd at the 2016 Olympics. Rivera isn’t a well-known high jumper, but did take fourth at last year’s World Championships. Still, advantage almost always goes to the gold medalists. 

Winner: Braz da Silva

 

Belgium - All The Borlees (400m)

Japan - Yuki Kawauchi (Marathon)

It’s hard to pick one of the Borlee brothers, so Belgium gets the services of all three who comprise 75% of the nation’s 4x400m squad. Individually, they are pretty good too. Japan counters with Kawauchi. Others from his country have more impressive marks, but none own as significant a victory as Kawauchi’s Boston triumph. In a scenario where Kawauchi gets to compete 30 times in a year, he gets the edge. But in a one-off, the win goes to the Belgians. 

Winner: All The Borlees 

 

Spain - Orlando Ortega (110m Hurdles)

Russia - Sergey Shubenkov (110m Hurdles) 

In the bottom half of the bracket, we lead off with a hurdle battle. Both Ortega and Shubenkov are active on the circuit, so we can make a pretty straightforward comparison. Ortega has run 12.94 and has an Olympic silver. Shubenkov has run 12.98 and has won gold, silver and bronze in the last three World Championships. That’s enough to tip the balance to Shubenkov, provided he doesn’t have to compete as an Authorized Neutral Athlete.

Winner: Shubenkov

 

Croatia - Stipe Zunic (Shot Put)

Denmark - Benjamin Lobo Vedel (400m)

This is probably the lowest profile of all the match-ups. Lobo Vedel competes at the University of Florida where he runs the 400m. He’s only 20 years old and has run 45.85 and took fourth at the European Indoor Championships last winter. Zunic, a Florida grad, got bronze at last year’s World Championships.

Winner: Zunic


Sweden - Armand Duplantis (Pole Vault)

Switzerland - Kariem Hussein (400m Hurdles)

Duplantis sets a junior record every time he vaults, and has Diamond League victories over Renaud Lavillenie and Sam Kendricks this year. Hussein’s won a Diamond League himself, but his best major championship finish was an eighth place in 2017. Duplantis is the future and the present, and he wins this one.

Winner: Duplantis  


Columbia - Eider Arevalo (20K Racewalk)

England - Mo Farah (Marathon)

Both have gold medals. Both compete for passionate national fan bases. Farah’s 10 global gold medals make him tough to beat in any match-up. Sorry, Eider.

Winner: Farah


Quarterfinals

Portugal - Nelson Evora (Triple Jump)

France - Renaud Lavillenie (Pole Vault)

The depth and breadth of Lavillenie’s accomplishments is too much to overcome. Also, he’s still in the prime of his career while Evora has been overtaken by Christian Taylor, Pedro Pablo Pichardo in the triple jump. 

Winner: Lavillenie


Brazil - Thiago Braz da Silva (Pole Vault)

Belgium - All The Borlees (400m)

All the Borlees have the advantage of having multiple entrants, but Braz da Silva has that gold. If this were an actual soccer match-up it would go to penalty kicks. 

Winner: Braz da Silva

 

Russia - Sergey Shubenkov (110m Hurdles)

Denmark - Stipe Zunic (Shot Put) 

If this were taking place in Russia (like the World Cup), Shubenkov would have an extra advantage. But Russia is still banned from international competition, so there’s no way that would happen. It doesn’t matter, Shubenkov takes it!

Winner: Shubenkov


Sweden - Armand Duplantis (Pole Vault)

England - Mo Farah (Marathon)

The most high-profile of the quarterfinal matches features one all-time great and another who will probably be considered the best to ever do it by the time his career ends. But for right now, it’s Farah. England marches on.  

Winner: Farah 


Semifinals

France - Renaud Lavillenie (Pole Vault)

Brazil - Thiago Braz da Silva (Pole Vault)

The first semifinal is a battle of the pole vaulters. These two tangled in Rio with the home crowd famously booing Lavillenie during the competition. Braz da Silva won that one, but he hasn’t been able to match Lavillenie after that. Redemption for Lavillenie comes at the biggest stage. 

Winner: Lavillenie

 

Russia - Sergey Shubenkov (110m Hurdles)

England - Mo Farah (Marathon)

If you combine what Shubenkov, Aries Merritt and Omar McLeod have accomplished in the hurdles, that probably matches up to what Farah has done by himself in the 5,000m and 10,000m from 2011 to 2017. To boot, he’s still competing at a high level, and could pick up another medal in 2020. Shubenkov had a good run, but he can’t extend it any more.

Winner: Farah


Final

France - Renaud Lavillenie (Pole Vault)

England - Mo Farah (Marathon)

Lavillenie has an edge when it comes to world records. Farah has the better medal haul, including four golds from the Olympics. Lavillenie’s four bronzes are a great accomplishment, but when you are going against Farah, you need gold. 

Congrats, England. You won this hypothetical track and field World Cup bracket. Now don’t mess up the real thing. 

Winner: Farah