Football Previews

Denmark opened their World Cup campaign with a win over Peru last week, but in truth the result did not reflect the performance of the teams. The Danes were made to suffer for much of the game and they looked less assured than they were in the qualification playoffs against Ireland. They were able to win that game despite their ...

Although Iran currently top their group after winning their first game, they have to be seen as lucky group leaders as they did not impress in that win against Morocco. As a matter of fact, the Asians had just two shots on target for the whole 90 minutes and also had just 32% of possession. The Iranians now face a ...

Uruguay came into this World Cup as one of the favourites because of the quality of their squad, however, their first game was not the most ideal way to go about winning a World Cup even though they eventually won the game. Luis Suarez was very disappointing in front of goal as he was thwarted by the Egyptian goalkeeper and ...

Portugal built their Euro 2016 triumph on a defencive tactic and many expected them to carry on the same style at this World Cup, however, their first game showed that to be untrue. The Portuguese clashed with Spain on match day two of this World Cup and it was a thriller. Portugal twice took the lead through Cristiano Ronaldo, but ...

Russia head into their second World Cup game with a chance to qualify for the next round after a resounding win over Saudi Arabia in the first match. The Russians did not have the best results before the finals started, but they surprisingly beat Saudi Arabia, scoring two goals in added time to finish the game 5-0. Aleksander Golovin was ...

Poland and Senegal finally get their chance to play each other at this World Cup. They are in a very competitive group with Japan and Colombia also having the chance to go through.  Every game matters and they will both be looking for a bright start here. Poland won 8 of their 10 qualifying games and they only failed to ...

At the last World Cup Colombia had a great tournament. They reached the quarterfinals before losing to the host Brazil. James Rodriguez should remember that competition as a turning point in his career. He scored one of the best goals of the tournament against Uruguay, after another beauty against Japan. His performances earned him a move to Real Madrid that ...

This is probably the most under-hyped English team heading into a major competition and four years on from their humiliating loss to Iceland at Euro 2016, a team that brings hope with less expectation is heading to the World Cup for the Premier League owners. Tunisia however, are not a team that fear any opponent and they will certainly be ...

This is the time for Belgium’s golden generation to bring glory to their nation, and with many of their players currently heading towards the twilight of their career, they might not get another chance to win the World Cup. The Belgians come into this competition as heavy favourites to top group G ahead of England and they have both the ...

Sweden’s fans were worried about their national team when Zlatan Ibrahimovic retired from international football two years ago. However, this group of players has shown that those worries are needless; in fact the Swedes seem to play better as a team now than when Zlatan was their leader. They head into their first World Cup since 2006 with more team ...

It has been a long and anxious wait for the Brazilians to avenge their humiliating exit at the World Cup four years ago. Who could forget so soon how the German Machines destroyed the Selecao 7-1 in front of millions of Brazilians watching at home and in the stadium. They went on to exit the 2015 and 2016 edition of ...

After a poor set of games, Germany will be happy to have won their last warm up game before the World Cup. That 2-1 win was the first time the Germans have won a game in six attempts. The Germans may have been poor in their friendly games, but they are one of the best teams when it comes to ...

Four years ago Costa Rica qualified for their first World Cup in 12 years and were placed in the same group as England Italy and Uruguay. They stormed to the top of the group after beating Italy and Uruguay, reaching then quarterfinals. This time around no one will be underestimating them, but they are also in a relatively easier group ...

This is most likely the last chance that many of these Croatian players have to win the World Cup. The likes of Mario Mandzukic, Luka Modric, and Ivan Rakitic are already well in their 30s. The Croatians were eliminated at the group stage in 2014, and were knocked out of Euro 2016 by eventual winners Portugal in the round of ...

Peru have enjoyed some ups and some downs in the build up to this competition. After qualifying for their first World Cup in over 30 years, their captain Paolo Guerrero was banned from competing for doping related offences. Other players rallied around and his ban he is no longer suspended. He marked his return with a brace as they beat ...