This is one of the biggest mismatches on paper in the opening round of fixtures with 36 places between the sides in the FIFA rankings.

Switzerland usually do well in international tournaments and find themselves in a pretty straightforward forward group. I expect them to kick things off with a convincing win having scored 3+ goals in games against Jordan and Germany already this year.

Qatar have not won an international game since October, and finished bottom of their group in the 2022 World Cup without winning a game - conceding 2+ goals in all three of their group matches.

Scotland have enjoyed a pretty positive build up to the tournament with convincing wins over Curacao and Bolivia, putting four goals past both sides ahead of this opening match.

Haiti have shown in recent warm-up games that they can carry an attacking threat having netted against Peru and New Zealand in recent weeks, putting four past the latter which was a result that raised a few eyebrows.

Scotland scored 2+ goals in five of their six qualifying matches, this is pretty much a must win for Steve Clarke’s side if they want to get out of the group given that their remaining group matches are against Brazil and Morocco.

I expect Group C to be one of the higher scoring groups at the tournament, starting with an entertaining clash between Brazil and Morocco.

Brazil have seen 3+ goals in each of their last three matches ahead of the tournament, including putting six goals past Panama in a recent warm-up game. 

Carlo Ancelotti has spoken about giving his attacking players freedom, which should result in a Brazil side that have a pretty positive attitude in forward areas - but this also opens them up to being a bit vulnerable at the back.

Brazil have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last five matches, including clashes against Egypt, Panama and Tunisia which would suggest that there is a real defensive vulnerability that can be exploited by a Morocco side many are touting as dark horses.

Australia could surprise a few people at the World Cup, they’ve shown some real grit in their warm-up matches against Mexico and Switzerland, only narrowly losing to the host nation and holding an experienced Switzerland side to a 1-1 draw.

Their 10 qualifying matches produced 23 goals (2.3 per game) and they take on a Türkiye side who have real talent in forward areas and should be an exciting watch if they can all pull together. They’ve won each of their last four matches, seeing 2+ goals in each of their two warm-up games against Venezuela and North Macedonia.

Türkiye saw 29 goals across their six qualifying matches (4.83 per game), so they’ve already shown that they can be an entertaining watch and could even cover this goal line on their own.