Part 4: Group by Group short analysis

For this exercise instead of giving you full tactical previews or resort to citing irrelevant facts, I will give you a few pointers on what to watch out for in each group and how I expect each group to play out.

Group A

The hosts have a great advantage as they were drawn one of the weakest groups in the tournament, but despite the lack of top competition advancing is far from a sure thing for Russia.

Let make things simple, Uruguay is by far the best team in the group while Saudi Arabia is the weakest link, the battle for second place will come down to Russia and Egypt who play each other in the second round of the tournament.

If Salah is healthy I expect Egypt to win and advance behind Uruguay, if he’s not, then it might come down to goal differential.

Although the opening match is not very pleasing, it will be an important game for the hosts if they fail to beat Saudi Arabia by multiple goals, their chances to advance will be very slim.

PREDICTION: 1) URUGUAY 2) EGYPT 3) RUSSIA 4) SAUDI ARABIA

Group B

Spain and Portugal are getting all of the attention on this group and deservedly so, there is a big gap talent wise with the Iberian peninsula sides compared to Morocco and Iran don’t discount the latter two so quickly.

The game between Morocco and Iran will tell us a lot about both teams, so far in studying them I have noticed that both have good tactical discipline and have sound fundamentals, looking at how they qualified is easy to note that both teams tend to defend well. I give Morocco the slight edge over Iran.

Though I don’t expect either to advance, both are capable of stealing points from Portugal and Spain and seems unlikely either will get beaten by three or more goals in any game.

When it comes to the two favorites, the group can go either way, but the depth Spain has should give them the edge over Portugal, but if it comes down to goal differential Portugal may end up on top.

UPDATE: I originally had Spain as group winners, following the sacking of its coach Julen Lopetegui, I have made a switch, the winner of the Morocco and Iran now has a better chance to pull off an upset.

PREDICTION: 1) PORTUGAL 2) SPAIN 3) MOROCCO 4) IR IRAN

Group C

France is a heavy favorite a group which should be wide open for the fight for second place. France has the depth and talent to win this group comfortably, playing Australia, Peru and Denmark should help them find their best form ahead of the knockout stage.

Peru and Denmark who face each other on the opening weekend are the favorites to claim the second spot, but Australia has shown positive signs in their preparation and shouldn’t be dismissed especially if they keep it close with France. Denmark has the class and flair, Peru has the grit, and the Socceroo's the tactical discipline, there’s only space for one more along with France.

When it comes to Les Blues on thing to monitor is how their defense works throughout the tournament, which seems like the weaker side of their team.

Denmark will struggle if Christian Ericksen is not in good form and Peru has shown they can succeed with or without their lethal striker Paolo Guerrero.

PREDICTION: 1) FRANCE 2) DENMARK 3) PERU 4) AUSTRALIA

Group D

This is perhaps the toughest group to predict. Argentina has been on a very shaky form and with only one warm-up game against Haiti, we haven’t seen much to be excited about this team.

Iceland gave us the best story of Euro 2016 but since securing their place at the World Cup they have looked far from their best ever since. Croatia tends to have great players all over the field but has a history of underachievement while Nigeria has simply looked poor in their warm-up matches. Personally, I’m excited to watch all of the game in this group but now I’m a bit concerned that the teams who are in the least poor form will be the ones to advance.

Argentina has firepower in the final third to compete against anyone, an above average midfield, and a shaky defense. The biggest question for La Albiceleste will be how much they’ll miss the injured goalkeeper Sergio Romero, looks like Willy Caballero and Franco Armani will compete for the starting role.

Croatia will rely on their midfield and attackers, their defense is their weakest link, Nigeria will have to rely on midfield experience and physicality while Iceland will rely on the counter, and tactical discipline.

PREDICTION: 1) ARGENTINA 2) CROATIA 3) NIGERIA 4) ICELAND

Group E

This is really Brazil and three more. The South Americans are among the top contenders to lift the World Cup Trophy on July 15 and the first round shouldn’t be too much of a task for a star-studded Brazilian team.

There are only a handful of questions that need to be answered before the tournament begins, it looks as if Neymar is good to go, but who will complete the front three along Gabriel Jesus, will it be Roberto Firmino, Willian or Philippe Coutinho, If not Coutinho, then he may play from a deeper role in the midfield which opens up a few more questions.

The only big question mark for the team is how good will Danilo be playing at right back, with the injury to Dani Alves, Danilo who has played most of the year as the second option at right-back for Manchester City. It wouldn’t be a shocker to see Marquinhos a center back who has some experience playing in that position play as the right back allowing Miranda and Thiago Silva to be the two starting center backs.

As far as the other teams go, Switzerland has become a very good defensive team that may not score many goals but since Brazil 2014 has lost only a handful of games. Costa Rica has a lot of experience in its team but seems to be missing a game changer, they are more than capable of advancing but are missing a spark. Serbia may have the most depth out of these three but the problem is for such players to blend in at the right time, the Balkan nation often fail to impress in big tournaments, they have a solid squad in the middle of the park but lack depth in other key spots.

PREDICTION: 1) BRAZIL 2) SWITZERLAND 3) COSTA RICA 4) SERBIA

Group F

Can anyone make Germany uncomfortable in this group? A lot needs to wrong for Germany not to win the group, among the top tests for this team will be whether Timo Werner can become a reliable No. 9 as he has been for RB Leipzig, the fitness of Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan in the middle.

The weakness of this team is at left back, Jonas Hector, though he is good and better at defending than attacking, he is not at the same level as the rest of the backline courtesy of Bayern Munich. The two center backs Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng are great physically, on set pieces and have a great sense of positioning but as Eintracht Frankfurt discovered, they are not the speediest defenders, speed may need to be the key against this team.

Mexico has the second strongest squad in this group but also the most volatile and least consistent. Over the tenure of its coach Juan Carlos Osorio, the Mexican National Team has struggled to play well for the majority of the 90 minutes having achieved so only in a handful of games.

Mexico has enough talent up front to create chances against anyone but its defense has been troubling especially when defending in open field or in the counter if they can address those two issues they can become a great threat to anyone on its path.

Sweden has a few playmakers that can help them win games with Emil Forsberg as an attacking midfielder and a choice of strikers in Ola Toivonen, John Guidetti and Marcus Berg who bring different attributes to the table, but in the end, it will come down to their defense. They are capable of squeezing 1-0 wins, not 3-2 wins.

If their defense shows up Sweden has the right elements to make it out of the group.

Korea Republic is seen as the victim in this group, but the team is tactically disciplined, but in the end, it will come down to how much can Son Heung-Min can do for the team, they’ll go as far as he will carry them.

PREDICTIONS: 1) GERMANY 2) SWEDEN 3) MEXICO 4) KOREA REPUBLIC

Group G

When it comes to U.S. based media I don’t understand the constant veneration toward Roberto Martinez, although as his team has breezed along the way through qualification the teams they have faced are inferior compared to the depth this Belgian side has. Yes, they are really good, the one intriguing change Martinez has made tactically is to play with only three center-backs in the back and no fullbacks since there are no quality players at those positions.

In the end, this team still has to prove itself at the World stage, they have great potential, should reach the quarterfinals but have no chance to get over Brazil or Germany who will likely be waiting.

Panama’s squad is the oldest in the World Cup, the team has a lot of grit and physicality but lack playmakers who can be a threat and change a game.

Panama’s best weapon would be to absorb pressure and try to take advantage of set pieces or the counter. Overall Panama looks like the weaker side of the field.

Tunisia is an intriguing team, though they lack any stars on its team, they function well as a team and are fundamentally sound, in their warm-up games against Portugal and Spain they have shown the ability to move the ball from one flank to the other to generate space and show promise in set pieces. It will be extremely difficult to advance but if England has an off day Tunisia is more than capable to take advantage of that.

Is hard to find a team that will make you scratch your head more than England, they have a lot of potential, and could be a dark horse candidate to make it to the quarterfinals, but the squad lacks creativity out of its midfield, it’s backline still hasn’t faced serious competition and their three goalies have not played in any official tournaments. England should be pleased if they beat Panama and Tunisia and keep it close against Belgium and the winner of Group H in the Round of 16.

PREDICTIONS: 1) BELGIUM 2) ENGLAND 3) TUNISIA 4) PANAMA

Group H

This group along with D and E is one of the groups in which all four teams have real aspirations of advancing to the second round.

Poland arrive at Russia with a solid squad, though there are a couple of holes in the backline, tactical discipline, solid midfield block and arguably the best striker in the world in Robert Lewandowski make Poland a serious contender to claim the top spot of the group.

Senegal has playmakers upfront with Keita Balde and Liverpool’s Sadio Mane, a defense led by Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly. They have the physicality, the speed and enough talent to sneak into the second round.

Colombia arguably has the most depth, the same lethal dose of firepower now with the addition of Radamel Falcao up front who missed out of Brazil 2014 due to injury and the addition of the emerging defending star Davinson Sanchez will make the backline more solid. Despite’s Poland firepower, this Colombian side has all the right pieces to reach the quarterfinals and maybe a bit more.

Japan is one of the biggest question marks for the tournament. They are talented enough to cause trouble, their backline will have a big job to do trying to fend off the star-studded attack of their three group rivals. In the end, the team will have to rely on the creative prowess of Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa in the midfield, the rest of their squad looks a bit shaky.

PREDICTION: 1) COLOMBIA 2) POLAND 3) SENEGAL 4) JAPAN