Messi is just four goals away from standing alone as the top World Cup goalscorer of all time. He currently has 13 goals to his name and is chasing down Miroslav Klose's record of 16. He scored seven times during the previous tournament in Qatar.

Interestingly, Argentina were awarded five penalties at the last World Cup, the most ever by a team in a single edition of the World Cup. Messi took all of them so being responsible for these is another big benefit.

Messi was Argentina's top scorer during qualifying having scored eight times in ten starts. Julian Alvarez was next best with four goals across 16 starts.

It took Raphinha a bit of time to settle at Barcelona, but he’s thrived since adapting to the higher standards of the club. Across the last two seasons, Raphinha has made 90 appearances for Barcelona and scored 55 goals (0.61 per game).

Brazil don’t have a clear favourite to lead the line given Joao Pedro’s surprising emission from the squad, so I expect a lot of their goals to be concentrated in the wide areas which is where Raphinha can shine.

Raphinha is 29, so this is likely to be his last World Cup given the constant emergence of attacking talent in Brazil. He’ll have all the motivation to try and get Brazil as close as they can to the big prize. He was their top scorer during qualifying and he was also responsible for penalties.

Harry Kane goes into this World Cup on the back of an incredible season. He has scored 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich across all competitions.

He scored two goals in five matches at the previous World Cup, finishing behind Rashford and Saka. He does have fond memories at these tournaments though having won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Kane scored eight times during qualifying for the World Cup and Eze was the next best with three. As the penalty taker too, Kane seems such a straight forward pick on paper.

Kylian Mbappe has been unbelievable in his two World Cup appearances so far. He scored four in seven when France won the tournament in 2018, and last time out he scored eight in seven as he won the Golden Boot in Qatar.

Mbappe was France's standout player during qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. He scored five goals and provided three assists across four appearances. He was also on the penalties.

Cristiano Ronaldo is still going incredibly strong. Domestically he scored 28 goals in 30 appearances this season for Al-Nassr. He took six penalties too, something that he is well known for.

He's still firmly among Portugal's most important players. He averaged a goal a game during qualifying as he scored five in five and he will step up from the penalty spot if required.

Portugal have DR Congo and Uzbekistan first, this could be an opportunity for Ronaldo to add to his tally. He's also 27 goals short of reaching 1000 career goals so he will want to make headway there.

England have a very interesting group, and I actually think people have written off the Three Lions a bit too much following Tuchel’s squad announcement.

Tuchel is a master of navigating knockout competitions, and Group L is actually quite a fortunate one for England as they take on an ageing Croatia side, a messy Ghana outfit and a Panama side they have pummelled before.

Gareth Southgate’s tenure has made the early stages of knockout tournaments fairly straightforward for England, there is now an expectation for England to walk the group - which they did at the last World Cup, topping a group with Iran, USA and Wales with some convincing performances on the way. 

Panama failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, and faced a hammering when they faced England back in 2018 in the group stages. Panama lost all three games in that campaign, conceding 11 goals in the process.

The chaos behind the scenes at Ghana may make the battle to avoid a bottom placed finish a competitive one, but Ghana have far more pedigree in the group stages of the World Cup which should just give them the edge. 

Argentina topped their group without too much drama at the last World Cup, beating out the likes of Poland, Mexico and Saudi Arabia to claim top spot.

Their group looks just as appealing for a seamless route into the knockout stages this time around with Messi’s side drawn in group J alongside Algeria, Austria and Jordan.

Austria are the biggest threat to Argentina in this group, but i’m not too convinced that their style of play will be effective at the World Cup due to the intense heat and humidity which will naturally affect their pressing approach under Ralf Rangnick.

Jordan are taking part in their first ever World Cup, having failed on nine previous occasions to reach the showpiece event. They are one of the sides that have benefitted from the expanded format, but will struggle to get anything from their three matches in this group. 

The final game of the group sees Argentina take on Jordan which is a nice way for the games to fall for this bet, I can’t see anything other than Argentina coming out on top and Jordan propping up Group J.

France are one of the favourites to win the whole tournament, and have recent experience of doing so having won the World Cup back in 2018.

France have managed to top their group in each of their last two World Cup campaigns, only losing one of their six matches across these games. This group does look a bit complex on paper with Norway and Senegal certainly capable of springing a surprise, but France have the experience and depth to qualify as group winners.

Iraq are featuring at the World Cup for the first time in 40 years. They are another side that has benefited from the expanded format of the tournament, but have been given a very tough draw in the group stage with this group loosely labelled as ‘the group of death’.

Iraq have never won a game at the World Cup, so they would need to break history if they are to avoid a bottom placed finish but such a fairytale is unlikely given how competitive this group is. 

Germany kick off their World Cup campaign against Curacao, which sets up this bet nicely as Naglesmann’s side could easily come away heavy winners in that opening game - setting the stage for their dominance in this group.

I expect Germany to come out on top, with a dogfight between Ecuador and Ivory Coast for that second spot. Curacao are a brilliant story, but their campaign is likely to remain as just that - they’re the smallest ever team by land mass and population to ever appear at a World Cup, and that standing should show through their displays in the early stages.

Recent heavy defeats against Scotland and Australia would suggest that this stage is a step too far for Curacao to do anything special, and their group is particularly tough with one of the outside serious shouts for the trophy in Germany and two potential dark horses in Ivory Coast and Ecuador.