2018 FIFA World Cup Groups decided – Who will make it through?

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2018 FIFA World Cup Groups decided

The World Cup group stage draw took place on the 1st of December at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow which determined the groups for the 32 nations that will participate in the FIFA World Cup 2018.

The teams were grouped into four pots, being put into pot 1,2,3 & 4 depending on their FIFA rankings. Pot 1 featured the top-ranking nations while pot 4 had the teams with the lowest rankings. This is why even Argentina, who did not qualify until the last moment, were still put into pot 1 for the draw as they are ranked 4th in the world.

The host nation Russia were the first to be drawn and placed into Group A where they will have to face off against Saudi Arabia in what will be the first match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Egypt which features Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah and Uruguay which features Barcelona’s Luis Suarez and many other star-studded players, will be featured in Group A as well.

Group B had the two major draws of Spain and Portugal, while underdogs Iran and Morocco will be hoping to cause an upset or two and qualify for the next stage over the two big favourites in Group B. “It’s a big rivalry and it will be like a derby,” Portugal and West Ham defender Jose Fonte told the media when speaking on the Portugal vs Spain match. “It will be fantastic. Everyone will be up for it.”

Group C sees France along with Australia, Peru and Denmark. France would be considered the clear favourites to qualify in top position from this group but the competition for the second spot should be a fierce battle between the other three nations. France have the likes of Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane, Manchester United’s Paul Pogba, Chelsea’s N’golo Kante, Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann and many other great players in their midst, making them a force to be reckoned with in the tournament.

Group D sees 2014 runner-up Argentina along with Croatia, Nigeria and underdogs Iceland. Iceland, who in the 2016 Euros caused a big upset when they defeated England in the round of 16, will now make their first ever appearance in a FIFA World Cup. Argentina with the likes of Lionel Messi, Paulo Dybala and Sergio Aguero should be considered one of the favourites, yet their performance during the qualification stages is a cause for concern

Group E features the nations of Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia. Brazil will be hoping to put up some good performances in this World Cup to put the painful memory of their devastating 7-1 loss to Germany to rest and with players like Neymar, Coutinho and Willian they should feel confident of that. Costa Rica will be hoping to have a repeat of 2014 where they went all the way to the quarter finals.

Group F features current World Champions Germany along with Mexico, Sweden and South Korea. Germany as defending champions will feel strongly about their chances of pulling a repeat performance from four years ago with the likes of Manuel Neuer who is still considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper in the world. They also stormed through qualifications unbeaten. Sweden, meanwhile will have the spotlight on them after they qualified while knocking out a football great in Italy.

Group G sees Belgium and England drawn together with African nation Tunisia along with World Cup debutants Panama. Belgium, currently going through a golden age of football will believe this could be their greatest opportunity to win the greatest tournament of their careers, with players such as Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois along with many other great players in their side. Panama, though this being their first World Cup appearance will be feeling good after beating USA with a late winning goal to knock them out and secure the World Cup spot for themselves.

Group H drew a very competitive group with the nations Poland, Senegal, Colombia and Japan to be battling it out for qualification into the next stage. Colombia are likely to be the favorites from the 4 after progressing all the way to the quarter-finals in 2014, and with players like James Rodriguez, Juan Cuadrado and striker Radamel Falcao, they will feel good about their chances on progressing to the next round.