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What to watch for today

After more Icelandic heroics yesterday, today gives us our first look at the tournament’s two top favorites, Brazil and Germany.

Costa Rica v. Serbia | Group E
Costa Rica made it to the quarter-finals in 2014 after topping a group that included England, Italy, and Uruguay. It’s many of the same core players this time around – Keylor Navas in goal, Bryan Ruiz and Joel Campbell in attack – but the squad’s average age is over 29 and lacks an in-form goalscorer. Yet, they only allowed 8 goals in their 10 final qualifying matches. Opposite them, Serbia have taken on dark horse status, and for good reason. Only three players created more chances in Serie A this season than left back Aleksandar Kolarov, while Aleksandar Mitrović scored 12 goals in 20 matches to drive Fulham to promotion. Add in Mourinho’s favourite destroyer Nemanja Matic, plus one of the tournament’s brightest young talents in midfielder Sergej Milinković-Savić, and Serbia could be this year’s surprise.

1pm BST / 8am EST

Germany v. Mexico | Group F
Today gives us our first look at reigning champions Germany, who have enough talent to field three competitive sides in the tournament. They face a Mexico side that is more concerned with attacking than defending, setting us up for a frenetic Sunday. El Tri will look to PSV’s Hirving Lozano, who was one of the Eredivisie’s most dangerous attackers. Add in the experience of Guillermo Ochoa, Andres Guardado, and Chicharito, and they won’t be nervous in the face of the title holders. The only unknown for Germany is how 22 year old Timo Werner will lead the line in his World Cup debut, but that’s truly nit-picking an incredible side.

2pm BST / 9am EST

Brazil v. Switzerland | Group E
Oh yes, it’s samba time. Brazil went out in humiliating fashion on their home turf four years ago, but they cruised through qualification without any of the stodginess of the prior few years. They’ve been reborn under manager Tite and bring the joga bonito you expect from Brazil. Marcelo, Neymar, Jesus, Coutinho – this is going to be fun. Switzerland on the other hand, aren’t quite known for their flair, but Xherdan Shaqiri does have a habit of hitting a couple screamers in major tournaments, so they can get you out of your seat. We won’t take sides, but we’ll all win if we get some beautiful play from Brazil and a Swiss belter.

7pm BST / 2pm EST

Photos from Russia

Banned from stadiums in their home country, many Iranian women were in Russia not only for their first World Cup match, but their first official football match, period. Our friends Where Is Football captured their stories at their historic win over Morocco.

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What to watch for today

Yesterday gave us two winners after the 89th minute and a Ronaldo hat trick in a six goal thriller. Now we get four matches in one day?! How did we get so lucky?

France v. Australia | Group C
France have an absurdly talented squad – Griezmann, Mbappe, Kante, Pogba, Umtiti – but they haven’t yet found a clear plan to cohesively utilize those talents. But out of all the problems to have, how to best integrate your many stars isn’t a bad one. France doesn’t even need to be at full speed to reach a final, as they showed in Euro 2016. Australia faced the longest qualifying battle to get here – 22 matches including continental and inter-continental playoffs. With that, they’re lucky to be here, let alone with aspirations of a deep run. However, what they lack in fireworks, they make up for in grit and could frustrate France today.

11am BST / 6am EST

Argentina v. Iceland | Group D
Messi, it’s your turn. After Ronaldo’s heroics, the Argentinian has a chance to reply a day later. Argentina have reached three consecutive finals in major tournaments, but this time will be managed by former Chile and Sevilla mastermind Jorge Sampaoli. If he can enter the tournament with a clear vision for La Albiceleste, it could be the difference between reaching a final and winning one. Their first opponents, Iceland, are at their first World Cup after topping a qualifying group that included Croatia. Iceland’s two most important players – creative force Gylfi Sigurdsson and captain Aron Gunnarsson look to have recovered from their injuries in time to start.

2pm BST / 9am EST

Peru v. Denmark | Group C
A winner in this match will be the favorite to exit Group C alongside France. Denmark’s play flows through Christian Eriksen, who had 11 goals in qualifying and would be an influential creator in any side in the world. And with Kasper Schmeichel in net, they allowed only 8 goals in 10 group qualifiers. Peru are at their first World Cup in 36 years after a qualifying campaign that included draws against Colombia, Argentina (twice), and a win over Uruguay. They’re led by energetic captain Paulo Guerrero, whose attacking burden will be shared by Jefferson Farfan and Edison Flores.

7pm BST / 2pm EST

Croatia v. Nigeria | Group D
AIn a wide open Group D, either of these teams could realistically finish first, or last. Croatia are yet another squad with insane talent, but infrequent cohesion. Real Madrid’s Luka Modric, Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic, and Inter’s Ivan Perisic are just three names in a star studded attack that finished second in their qualifying group behind Iceland. Nigeria are likewise more interested in attacking than defending, which should give us an entertaining finale to this evening. Alex Iwobi and Victor Moses bring Premier League talent to their attack, but as seen in their friendly against England, it’s their defence that could be their undoing. No matter how this match finishes, we’ll be treated to some stylish kits.

8pm BST / 3pm EST

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What to watch for today

The hosts kicked things off yesterday by gliding to a 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia. Now we’re treated to a three-fixture match day to begin the weekend.

Egypt v. Uruguay | Group A
Unless you’re Uruguayan, you welcomed the news from Egypt’s manager Hector Cuper that Mo Salah looks to be fit for this match. When Mo plays, we all win. Egypt and Uruguay are the two favorites to move on from Group A, but Russia’s 5-0 win yesterday does add a bit of extra pressure to this match up. In 2014, Uruguay emerged from a group including England, Italy, and Costa Rica, and will be expecting to top this group. They boast Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez in attack and Atlético Madrid’s center back pairing – which propelled them to a second place finish in South American qualifying. Egypt will be playing in their first World Cup since 1990 and with a global phenomenon in their ranks. A loss in their first match would make their next two matches nervy, but their defense-first approach will give them a good shot at a result today.

1pm BST / 8am EST

Morocco v. Iran | Group B
All the attention in Group B is on Spain and Portugal, but one of Morocco or Iran emerging from this group should be on your radar. Remember, Portugal didn’t get out of their group in 2014 and had a very slow start to Euro 2016. A win for either Morocco or Iran in this match, plus a loss from Portugal against Spain (or a Spanish implosion after their managerial drama) throws this group wide open. Morocco didn’t concede in their six group matches in qualification and feature Hakim Ziyech in attack, who has led the Eredivisie in assists the last two seasons. Iran has a similarly tough defense, going on a run of 13 qualifiers without conceding. They nearly managed a result against Argentina in the 2014 World Cup, before conceding a 91st minute Messi winner. This is an even match up that could lead to one of tournament’s surprise qualifiers for the knockout rounds.

4pm BST / 11am EST

Portugal v. Spain | Group B
The absolute craziness of Spain sacking their manager on the eve of the World Cup has made the 2018 World Cup’s first match up between football superpowers even more intriguing. Confident words have come from the Spanish national team players in the fallout, but tonight we’ll see if they’re as focused as they claim. Spain has added a bit more directness to tiki-taka, and as long as they haven’t been too rattled, they should still be one of the favorites in the tournament. Portugal should give them plenty more to think about from the outset, with Ronaldo’s evolution into a ruthless poacher and Bernardo Silva’s creative spark. At the back however, they’ll have to hope 35 year old Pepe and a lost José Fonte can hold things together.

7pm BST / 2pm EST

There is still time to join FotMob’s World Cup Predictor! Make your picks, share your custom prediction graphic, and compete in leagues against friends. The predictor closes when Russia v. Saudi Arabia kicks off.

Your predictions

With over 150,000 predictions in FotMob’s World Cup predictor, the clear favorite to win the World Cup is…….Brazil! Here are the 10 most popular picks for World Cup victors:

1. Brazil
2. Germany
3. Argentina
4. France
5. Spain
6. Portugal
7. Belgium
8. England
9. Mexico
10. Egypt

Other notable facts:
– The most popular final matchup is Brazil v Germany.
– The least popular team was Japan, who have 25 brave predictors hoping they win the final.
– The most popular prediction for England was that they’ll lose in the semi-final.
– The favorite dark horse prediction is Mexico reaching the semi-final.

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Get up to speed

A quick roundup of the latest headlines as the tournament kicks off:

– Spain boldly sacked manager Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the tournament, replacing him with Fernando Hierro.

– The 2026 World Cup will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

– England’s Marcus Rashford suffered a knock in training, but said there is “nothing to worry about.”

– France’s Kylian Mbappe also had an injury scare, but is feeling “100%.”

What to watch for today

Russia v. Saudi Arabia | Group A
No pressure, Russia, but no host nation has ever lost the opening match of the World Cup. The hosts take on Egypt and Uruguay next, making this match a must-win both as a point of pride and for survival. Russia is the lowest ranked side at the tournament, but Saudi Arabia sit just three places above them and have lost their last three matches. Both teams typically sit deep defensively, but a draw does nothing for either of them, so hopefully we’re treated to an entertaining match. It may not be the most mouth-watering fixture, but as the curtain raiser, it’s still a must-watch.

4pm BST / 11am EST