ScoreboardSummary

Back-to-back Euros finalists England and back-to-back World Cup top three finishers Croatia highlight a very competitive group alongside a dangerous Ghana team and a Panama team that will be looking to build on its 2018 performance.

A very interesting group with one of the most talented teams in the tournament in Portugal, a Colombia team with one of the best wingers in the world but not a lot else and two teams at the bottom, either returning after decades away or making their debut. A group where many different things could happen

Reigning champions Argentina have been handed a very manageable group in Group J, but the fight to get through this group will be close. Austria and Algeria are very well matched, and debutants Jordan are a level below the other two but have the attacking players to cause both Austria and Algeria major problems

The hardest group at this tournament has three teams that will fancy their chances of making at least the quarter-finals: France, Senegal and Norway and poor Iraq, who, despite being pretty good as pot 4 teams go, have been handed a death sentence before a ball has even been kicked

Group H is Spain's to lose; they have been handed maybe the easiest group of any team in the tournament. Uruguay are not as scary as they have been historically and are closer talent-wise to Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde than they are to Spain, and both Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde should be happy if they win a match.

Group G is one of the weaker groups in the tournament. Belgium should walk it, but the battle for second between Iran, Egypt and New Zealand should be close and hard-fought, with no obvious favourite for it.

Group F feature two battles: the battle for first in the group between Japan and the Netherlands, and a battle for third and potential qualification between Sweden and a tricky Tunisia side.

Group E is, in my opinion, likely to be the most interesting group in the tournament with three very closely matched sides in Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast. Curacao, as the fourth team in the group, couldn't have been given a tougher group at their first World Cup, and if they score, that is a great result against three of the better teams at this tournament

Group D is one of the most wide-open groups, with all four teams having a realistic chance of getting into the knockouts. Will the Hosts, USA, buckle under the immense outside noise? Can the Aussies replicate their run to the round of 16 from Qatar? South American teams are always dangerous, and Paraguay are no different, and Turkey are perhaps the favourites despite being the pot 4 team.

Group C on paper should be one of the best in terms of entertainment at this World Cup, with a weaker-than-normal Brazil 2022 semi-finalists Morocco, a returning Scotland side with one of the best midfields at the tournament and a plucky newcomer in Haiti who are much better than most people are going to give them credit for I'd be amazed if there wasnt an upset at some point in this group stage

Group B shapes up as one of the tournament’s weakest collections, lacking a traditional global powerhouse due to Canada taking the top seed from Pot 1. However, Switzerland arrive as the clear and definitive favourites to top the section, leaving a wide-open scramble for the remaining qualification spots. While co-hosts Canada and a dangerous Bosnia and Herzegovina side look to battle it out for the knockouts, Qatar face an uphill task and are widely expected to finish rock bottom of the pile.

It's World Cup time, starting with Group A. I'll be running through each group, giving my preview of each team and an overall prediction of each group and the ceiling and floor of every team in the tournament before the tournament kicks off on Thursday with Mexico vs South Africa.