We predict a serious battle between England and Belgium to determine the winner of the group. The two teams are going to meet on the last day of the group, promising a game that could become one of the biggest highlights of the group stages. Panama enter the tournament as the newcomers, and eyes will be on them to see if they can deliver or if they stay a surprise. Tunisia are gonna make turn heads — being unbeaten during their qualifying campaign, the team is back after 12 years.
Belgium
Is it finally time for Belgium to start delivering? A lot of people think so. This team is packed with incredibly talented players, and Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United), and Eden Hazard (Chelsea) are just a couple of names. With stars like these athletes and incredible goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea) anything is possible. So why couldn't they perform as the ace team they are before? Fair point. A lot of criticism was “awarded” to bad management. Things changed after the disappointing European Championship two years ago when Marc Wilmots was fired and the Spanish coach Roberto Martinez was invited instead. During the qualification tournament, Belgium was the winner of Group H with a very comfortable result, and there was hardly a competition from other teams. Belgium will definitely be a major threat to any team if De Bruyne and Hazard are at their brilliant best. After so many years, there is a lot expected from this squad, and Martinez is definitely well aware of it. There are almost 20 Belgian players currently playing in the Premier League, and the match between England and Belgium will surely going to be the most exciting one in the group and could decide the winner. Both teams are facing each other on the 28th of June. Do you believe in the current Belgian team and their abilities to make it at least to the semi-finals?
England
The first and last time England won a World Cup was back in 1966 to quite a wide controversy. It has been a difficult journey for England after that. Alongside Scotland, England are one of the oldest national teams in football but the gods of football were not the easiest to please. It would not be an exaggeration to say that similar to Belgium there are many expectations from the English squad, also because of the team’s performances in recent tournaments. The Three Lions did not make it past the group stage in 2014 and the lost to Iceland in the round of 16 at European Championship 2016. But what can we expect from England this year? England is bringing a new team to Russia, and all the eyes will be on Harry Kane, one of the world's top scoring footballers at the moment. Star of Tottenham, Kane is undeniably in the radar for everyone. He's also proved to be successful for the national team, scoring 12 times in 23 games. During the qualifying tournament, England showed confidence and managed to win eight games but not losing any match. At the moment, England is an outsider in the bid for the World Cup trophy but experts and fans claim to see many improvements. What do you think is in store for Gareth Southgate's team?
Tunisia
Tunisia is back for the World Cup action for the first time in 12 years. Their journey to Russia 2018 had been a very fierce one — they went on a winning spree and just like England, they haven't lost a match. So far, Tunisia have never gotten out of the group stage and past round one at the championship but could the fifth time be the charm? Tunisia’s one and only victory in their previous 12 World Cup matches came in 1978, when they won their match against Mexico 3–1 making history — they became the first African nation to win a World Cup match in a global tournament. The Eagles of Carthage are currently coached by Nabil Maaloul, former assistant under Roger Lemerre who guided Tunisia to win the African Cup of Nations in 2004. Maaloul returned to the team and took charge after Henri Kasperczak was sacked after yet another quarter-final defeat at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. Unfortunately, there is sad and bad news for Tunisian team. A lot of hopes very placed on the shoulders of man man — Youssef Msakni but due to a very nasty knee injury he will be absent from the tournament. This happened in April when Tunisian star was playing for his club Al Duhail. The representatives for the club stated that Msakni would not play until October, and this is the most optimistic prognosis.
Panama
This tournament is not only welcoming Iceland as the newcomers but the world's finest are also joined by Panama — also known as Los Canaleros. Currently this team can be found as the number 55 in FIFA rankings. But should we be fooled by this? Yes, nobody is expecting much from this team but on their way to Russia they happened to defeat Costa Rica 2–1 in the final qualifier. Panama might be a small state, but do not forget that they finished ahead of the USA. The leading man of Panama is Luis Tejada from team Universitario; he is the best striker for the national team, having scored 43 goals for Panama. Currently Panama are in the hands of Hernan Dario Gomez who has performed magic before — Gomez got Colombia into the 1998 World Cup in France, and then he did the same thing for Ecuador four years later. As we can see, he has scored again. Football fandom is gradually growing in Panama, and their presence in Russia is just going to trigger it even more. Panama is a very hard working team, players know each other well, and their thirst to show their best is a factor to keep in mind.
We at Ticombo do not see it as an easy group, and we believe it might bring us some very memorable moments. Would you say that Panama are the potential “whipping boys” as some have commented?
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