We continue giving you snapshots of all 48 teams in the field. England vs. Croatia will be another match at AT&T Stadium, and it should offer plenty for neutral fans to watch.
Group G
We are some distance removed from Belgium being the world-class power that it was eight years ago, but Kevin de Bruyne can still make magic with his feet and Romelu Lukaku can still bull his way through defenders and score. They’ve got some newcomers, too, in dynamic winger Jérémy Doku and playmaker Charles de Ketelaere. My feature about Iran covered the complicated geopolitics of their situation, but almost all their players are domestic. (Remember when they had strikers good enough to play in the German league?) Egypt is in a similar situation, but in Omar Marmoush and the aging Mohamed Salah, the Pharaohs have players who are dangerous in front of goal. Rounding out an easy group for the Belgians is New Zealand, which relies on Chris Wood, an old and slow striker who nevertheless is coming off a career season for Nottingham Forest.
Group H
All eyes are on Spain here. I’m not sure if I trust their defense, which is full of interesting talents like Pau Cubarsí and Dean Huijsen who haven’t been tested by World Cup pressure. Their fans are crossing their fingers that Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal’s torn hamstring will heal in time for the tournament. Spain’s offense will take a major hit without him. Their matchup against Uruguay will be one to watch, since the South Americans field Barcelona team captain Ronald Araújo and Real Madrid vice-captain Federico Valverde. Far shorter on quality is Saudi Arabia, whose players mostly ply their trade in the well-heeled confines of their country’s domestic league. (They just fired their head coach, too, which is seldom a good sign this close to a tournament.) Making their World Cup debut is Cape Verde, the set of Portuguese-speaking islands off Africa’s west coast. This will be a career highlight for the country’s all-time leading scorer Ryan Mendes as well as Columbus Crew defender Steven Moreira.
Group I
This might be the Group of Death here. On one hand, France have so many offensive options (Kylian Mbappé, Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola, Michael Olise) that they won’t even miss Hugo Ekitiké, who got seriously hurt playing for Liverpool. On the other hand, Les Bleus’ defense will have their hands full playing against Norway. They have two extremely large humans — Erling Haaland and Alexander Sørloth — who can light up scoreboards at the highest levels, while behind them is the playmaking sharpness of Martin Ødegaard. Should something happen to the starters, reserve strikers Josh King and Jørgen Strand Larsen would be starting for many other countries. Neither team will overlook Senegal, which has hard midfield runners in Idrissa Gueye and Pape Gueye (no relation) and speed up front with Ismaïla Sarr, Nicolas Jackson, and the still-potent Sadio Mané. Pity poor Iraq, who are back in the World Cup for the first time since 1986. If the Mesopotamia Lions can just make a game of it against any of these opponents, they should be proud.
Group J
Here we have Argentina. I have reasons to doubt whether they can repeat as champions, starting with goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez’ streaky form over the past four years. Regardless, they still have the firepower of Lautaro Martínez, Julián Alvarez, and that Messi guy. They also have a fairly easy group. Austria has a bunch of useful Bundesliga players like playmakers Marcel Sabitzer and Konrad Laimer. Feel happy for team captain David Alaba, a defensive mainstay for Bayern Munich and Real Madrid who will be making his World Cup debut at age 33. The strength of Algeria will be on their backline, with heavily experienced Aïssa Mandi and Ramy Bensebaini holding down the center and Manchester City’s Rayan Aït-Nouri launching attacks from the left-back position. For World Cup debutants Jordan, watch for team captain and main goal threat Musa al-Taamari, who cuts in from the right wing for French club Rennes.
Group K
Plenty of intrigue here. Cristiano Ronaldo will be available for Portugal after he was initially suspended for elbowing an opposing player during a qualification loss to Ireland. The suspension has been temporarily and suspiciously lifted for the World Cup, but his team is so flush with attackers that they might be better without the aging superstar. Their talent at all positions makes them a threat to win, but their lack of consistency opens a door for the others. Colombia has toughness in defense (Jhon Lucumí, Davinson Sánchez) and goal threats up front (Luis Díaz, Jhon Durán). Fun fact: Attacking midfielder Yáser Asprilla is the son of Faustino Asprilla, who played for Los Cafeteros during the last American World Cup in 1994. The last time the Democratic Republic of the Congo was in the World Cup, it was 1974 and the country was called Zaïre. The Leopards will have reason to believe they can advance out of the group, too, with attackers like Yoane Wissa and Cédric Bakambu, as well as Premier League defenders like Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Axel Tuanzebe. The most familiar face for debutants Uzbekistan will be on the sideline: Coach Fabio Cannavaro captained Italy to that World Cup win in 2006. The White Wolves are led by hulking Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov.
Group L
At some point one of these tournaments is going to break England’s way. Right? Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo arrives to stabilize the midfield, and if playmakers Cole Palmer and Phil Foden can blow hot and cold, Harry Kane is still there and scoring goals aplenty. For Croatia this will be a last hurrah for all-time great midfield operator Luka Modrić. As always, there are lots of goal threats in the famous checkerboard jerseys, including the late-blooming Ante Budimir. If giant left-back Joško Gvardiol can get healthy in time for the tournament, it will give them a huge boost. Previous editions of Ghana were strong through the middle of the pitch, but the Black Stars’ best players now are on the wings, with Antoine Semenyo, Mohammed Kudus, and Iñaki Williams all either delivering threatening crosses or dribbling inside and shooting. Panama may be favorites to finish last, but Los Canaleros have more talent than others in that position, with Dynamo Kyiv’s Eduardo Guerrero scoring goals and Beșiktaș’ Amir Murillo manning the right-back position.
