Denmark may be the luckiest team at this year’s World after they survived their first game without much effort. The Danes faced Peru last week and were out-thought and out-played by the South Americans, yet the ended up winning the game 1-0. The Peruvians had 17 shots on goal and even missed a penalty, but they still couldn’t convert even the simplest of chances, only for Denmark to score an unlikely winner. The Danes may have survived that game, but they need to improve if they are to beat this stubborn Australia side and book a place in the next round before facing France in their final game. Australia were given no chance before their first game against France, but they defied the odds and held the French team to a goalless draw in the first half. When the French team eventually scored, they replied with a penalty of theirs. It took an unfortunate own goal in the 80th for France to claim all three points, but the Aussies gave a good account of themselves and could win this match if they fight that hard again. Denmark have four wins from their last ten games while Australia have lost just two of their last nine matches.

After a long wait, Poland and Senegal get their World Cup campaign on the way and they are both in one of the unpredictable groups in the competition so every game counts. Poland made a walk of their qualifying campaign, collecting maximum points in eight of ten games. They lost just once – 4-0 to Denmark, but that showed that they have a weaker side to their team- their defence. Their warm-up friendlies have actually gone almost to plan. They beat Lithuania 4-0 in their last game so they would be coming to the World Cup in confident mood, they had previously drawn 2-2 with Chile and their performance wasn’t very poor there either. The Poles have, however, kept just a single clean sheet in their last 5 games, and they would be without Kamil Gilik for this opening game which makes them even weaker at the back. Senegal are making just their second ever appearance at the World Cup after their wonderful showing at Korea/Japan 2002. While they do not have the surprise element like 16 years ago, they come into this competition with a good squad. Sadio Mane is their main man, but he has support from Keita Balde and Moussa Sow upfront, while Kalidou Koulibaly would be leading their defence and they have a wealth of Premier League experience in their midfield. The Senegalese come into their first game following a 2-0 win over South Korea, and they performed well in their previous 2-1 loss to Croatia.

Four ago it was a stunning tournament for Colombia and James Rodriguez in particular. The South Americans stormed to the quarterfinals after beating Uruguay in the round of 16, but the host proved to be too much for them and they exited at the last 8. James Rodriguez scored a stunning goal against Uruguay after another beauty against Japan, he earned a move to Real Madrid that summer and their fans would be hoping he performs that special in this year’s edition too. The Colombians played just a single warm-up game before this competition, although they won, their lack of competitive fixtures may prove decisive. They have not lost any of their last four games leading up to this match. The Japanese have been busy preparing for this competition and even played their final warm-up game on Tuesday. That game ended in a win for them against Paraguay, however, prior to that they had lost two on the bounce against Switzerland and Ghana. The Asians have four losses from their last six games, and they have only won against Australia among all the teams to have qualified for the World Cup, losing to Brazil, Belgium, South Korea, among others.

It’s been two years since England’s humiliating exit at Euro 2016 at the hands of little-known Iceland. Gareth Southgate leads a new team of exciting youngsters and experienced professionals to this year’s World Cup and the Three Lions would be looking to banish the demons of two years ago by going far in this competition. England’s opponent may be less fancied than Spain or Portugal but they cannot afford to underrate them. The north Africans almost held Spain to a goalless draw in their last warm-up game before Iago Aspas popped up with a late winner for the Spaniards. That game shows how resilient the Tunisians are, as a matter of fact, that was their first loss in over a year, they have won five and drawn four of their other nine games during that period of time and they also went through their qualifying campaign unbeaten, so they are no pushovers. England should be prepared to deal with the threats of the former African champions anyway. The Three Lions defeated Costa Rica and Nigeria in preparation for this World Cup. They have not lost any of their last ten games, and the last time they lost to a team outside the top ten ranked FIFA teams, was at Euro 2016.

This could be Lionel Messi’s last involvement in an international competition with Argentina if he fails to lift the trophy. He would come into this competition still heartbroken from the final loss to Germany at the last competition in Brazil alongside the two Copa America final losses to Chile also. They would kickstart their World Cup campaign against Iceland who are debutants at this stage. While the Argentines are favourites to go win this game, they know they have to be careful about this Iceland team as they showed in the last Euros that they can be a menace. Argentina’s only warm-up game was against Haiti and it ended in a 4-0 win for them. Lionel Messi scored a hattrick to take his goal for the Argentines to 64 goals in 124 games. Iceland shocked Europe with their performances at the last Euro which was their first international competition. They qualified for the World Cup ahead of Croatia and they would be looking to continue their fairytale run in this competition. They drew 2-2 with Ghana in their last warm up game, but their preparations have been far from ideal. They have lost three of their last four games and their defence which has been solid have conceded 11 goals in those matches.

This France squad is one of the most talented in the world at the moment. After falling short at Euro 2016 which they hosted, they are expected to go very far when this World Cup starts for them. Les Blues are blessed in attack with the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann. Their midfield also contains the likes of Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi, while four times Champions League winner Rafael Varane leads their defence. France have had mixed preparation for this competition. They drew 1-1 with the USA in their last game, however, they had been efficient in previous games against Republic of Ireland and Italy, winning both. While they have struggled in some games in the past like when they failed to beat Luxembourg at home last year, they are unstoppable when they hit top form. They have won eight of their last 12 games, scoring 25 goals. The quality of the French attackers should worry Australia who come into this World Cup with no established defender that plays in Europe’s top five leagues. Their lack of quality in defence was made even more glaring when they were beaten 4-1 by Norway back in March. The Australians have had good pretournament results, they beat Czech Republic 4-0, before beating Hungary also ahead of this game. However, playing France would be a different game entirely and it would be interesting to see how they go about it.

Most of Croatia’s squad know this is their last chance to win the World Cup or any major competition for their nation as several of this generation’s best players are well over 30 years now. Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic, and Ivan Rakitic are among those who are heading towards retirement. The Europeans crashed out of the group stage of the last World Cup, and were eliminated at the round of 16 at Euro 2016. Their World Cup preparations ended with a 2-1 win over Senegal that follows a poor 2-0 loss to Brazil at Anfield. They have now won four of their last seven games leading up to this match. Nigeria became the first African team to qualify for the World Cup, however, their preparations for the World Cup have not entirely gone to plan. They lost their last friendly game 1-0 against the Czech Republic, that followed a 2-1 loss to England. They have now avoided defeat in only two of their last six games. Nigeria’s team is made up Premier League experience with the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho, Victor Moses and Wilfred Ndidi all Premier League regulars. The Super Eagles have scored in seven of their last ten games, while Croatia have conceded in 10 of their last 15 games.