Football Previews

Iran and Portugal face each other in a game that will decide who goes through from this group. The Iranians need a win to go through, while the Portuguese just need to avoid losing. Iran were fortunate to win their first game as they were on the back foot for most of the game, but the Moroccans were unlucky and ...

This game sees two of group A’s qualifiers matchup to see which team tops the group and hopefully avoid a tougher draw in the next round, particularly because Spain and Portugal are favourites in group B. Uruguay played just one warm up friendly before the World Cup and many thoughts perhaps they would struggle in the competition. They did struggle ...

This game is a battle of twice losers with just some bragging rights over their Arabic neighbours up for grabs as both teams have been eliminated already. The Saudis came into this competition with high confidence having almost held Germany to a 1-1 draw in their last warm up game, however, that wasn’t to be as they were swept away ...

Most knew this was an evenly matched group when the draws were made for the World Cup but we still expected Poland to qualify as one of the top two sides, however, they put in a lackluster performance in their first game against Senegal and lost the match 2-1.  They are now playing catch up. The Europeans perhaps underrated Senegal ...

Japan were considered the most likely team to finish bottom of this group when the draw was made, however, the Asians won 2:1 against all odds in their first game. It was an emotional win after they had suffered an earthquake the previous day. Japan had a reason to win their first game after Carlos Sanchez was sent off for ...

England faced Tunisia on Monday in their opening World Cup game and although they were dominant from the start, they left it late to clinch the winner. England’s dominance in that game led to them wasting several chances and VAR was also unsurprisingly not consulted when the Three Lions had two clear penalties for fouls on Harry Kane. When Markus ...

Four years ago Germany lifted the World Cup after beating Argentina thanks to a Mario Götze goal. They entered this year’s competition as one of the favourites yet again, but their display in their first match has made it a hard job for them to reach the knockout round now. The Mexicans exposed the unusually slow German defence many times ...

16 years ago South Korea co-hosted the World and shockingly reached the semifinals, with some help along the way. However, since that time they have struggled at major tournaments and come into this game without a win in seven World Cup games, five of which have been losses. They lost their first game to Sweden and it wasn’t just an ...

Many consider this competition to be last chance for Belgium’s golden generation to get their hands on a trophy and they seem to still have their issues. Their main problem has been a lack of team work and that showed up yet again in their first game leading them to drawing the first half. However, a Dries Mertens stunning goal ...

Serbia qualified for this World Cup off the back of a disappointing attempt to reach Euro 2016 after they were deducted points and finished second from bottom in a surprisingly easy group. They topped their qualifying World Cup group again to reach Russia 2018 ahead of the Republic of Ireland. Serbia had the luxury of picking an array of stars ...

Nigeria are a talented team but they lack any form of cohesion or invention as we found out in their first game. They also have a tendency to be hot or cold without notice. They beat Argentina 4-2 in one of their warm up games, only to lose 4-0 to Morocco in another one. They carried the form of the ...

Brazil came into this World Cup as favourites just like in any other edition, however, their first game didn’t go to plan as they were held to 1-1 draw by Switzerland. The Selecao had the possession to win the game and when they took the lead via a Philippe Countinho wonder goal, it appeared as if they would get off ...

On Saturday Argentina became the latest victims of Iceland’s meteoric rise in football when the tiny nation held Messi and his teammates to a 1-1 draw. The Argentines were expected to walk all over Iceland in that game, but the northern Europeans came more prepared than we thought and they held firm to add another storyline to their fairytale run. ...

When France were pitched against Australia in their opening game of the World Cup, many predicted that the star-studded French would walk all over their Asian opponents, however, that was far from the case when the two teams faced off. Australia defended deep and pressed the French players all over the pitch and went in at half-time all square. France ...

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 ...