Italian football has suffered its biggest setback recently and they continue to rebuild towards a better future with Roberto Mancini at the helm. The Italians are one of the world’s biggest teams and they are expected to partake in every global or continental showpiece, so it was a slap in the face when they couldn’t make it to the last World Cup. That failure cost their then manager his job and Mancini has been given the task to restore their former glory days. He has largely been experimenting as he continues to search for his best team. They managed to avoid relegation from the Euro Nations League, but they have won just one of their last seven games and they should give their fans something to cheer in this game. USA also failed to qualify for the World Cup perhaps in a more disappointing manner as the likes of Panama did qualify ahead of them. They had to fire two managers following that failed qualifying campaign and Dave Sarachan who remains an interim manager hasn’t have much success either. They come into this game on the back of a single win in seven games, while they are a side filled with talented players, there seems to be so much work left to be done in the rebuilding of one of the biggest teams in North America.

France’s victory at the 2018 World Cup in Russia has made them the team to beat at the moment. Les Blues played and defeated the likes of Argentina, Belgium, and even Uruguay as they went all the way in Russia and they have not been doing badly in their games after that competition so far. They beat the Netherlands and Germany in the Euro Nations League, but a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Netherlands in the reverse fixture now means that Germany has to beat the Dutch men for Les Blues to qualify for the next round. However, Didier Deschamps’ men would now focus on beating Uruguay for the second time in as many games in this match. Uruguay reached the quarterfinals of the last World Cup before they were eventually eliminated by France and they would be looking for revenge in this game, even though their recent form doesn’t make them favourites. The South Americans beat Mexico 4-1 just after their World Cup campaign, but they have since all three subsequent matches the last of which was a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Brazil.  

Russia head into this game with the knowledge that a draw would be just enough for them to get promoted from group B into the elite group of this competition and the 2018 World Cup hosts should dig deep to get that here. When Sweden visited Turkey at the weekend, Russia was hoping that the Scandinavians would be denied victory but that was exactly what they achieve, and that 1-0 win means the 2018 World Cup host would have to wait until the end of this game to confirm their qualification. Russia has continued to improve since their impressive run at the World Cup and they head into this game having not tasted a defeat in any of their last 3 games in this competition. They are 3 points ahead of Sweden and have a superior goal difference, so mathematically they should qualify when one considers Sweden’s struggle in front of goal. When these teams first met in Russia, it ended goalless and a low-scoring affair has overshadowed their past meetings as well.

Croatia seems to still be suffering from a major hangover after their World Cup run to the final and their fans would hope that things get better soon enough. They were beaten 6-0 by Spain in this reverse fixture, and could only get a point from their home game against England. This game offers them the chance to get over their recent run of poor form, but it would be and unwise idea to bet on them beating Luis Enrique’s men. When Croatia reached the final of the World Cup in Russia, they had one key characteristic, and that was their doggedness and ability to keep fighting until the final whistle. However, they seem to have lost that after losing the competition’s final to France. They have had a bad spell at the back and offer almost nothing when going forward, their fans would be wondering how they can break a defence with Sergio Ramos when they could beat poor Jordan by just a lone goal in their last friendly game. Spain have banished their World Cup blues to start Luis Enrique’s tenure on a bright note. They may have been beaten by England in Seville in their last game, they remain a generously talented side. However, conceding 4 goals at home against England showed that they are also a side that is vulnerable at the back, and Croatia could take advantage of that.

Belgium has been on an upward trajectory since they named Roberto Martinez as their manager, and it seems that it is only a matter of time before this Golden generation of players delivers a trophy to their nation. They have continued were they left off at the World Cup after winning third place. They have won two of their Euro Nations League games so far and their fans would be expecting them to win a third consecutive game at home here. They did draw with neighbors Netherlands, in a friendly in the last international window, but they should get maximum points in this game. Belgium defeated Iceland 3-0 away in the reverse fixture and their performance against a more organized Switzerland side also shows that they are set to get all the points in this match. Iceland have struggled to live up to the high expectations that their performances in recent years have placed on them. Being grouped together with Switzerland and Belgium, it was always going to be a major hurdle for them, and when they were beaten 6-0 by the Swiss in their first game, they had set the tone for a poor showing in this competition. They almost ran away with a win against France in their last Friendly game to show that they can still pull off a surprised win, however, we don’t expect them to start winning in this competition from this match as they have lost all their games so far.