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Didier Deschamps is set to take charge of his final tournament as France’s manager, having delivered the World Cup trophy back in 2018 with victory over Croatia in the final.

He’s a pragmatic and conservative coach, but that actually suits the style of international football which may be exaggerated here given the extra factors of weather and travel. France boast the deepest squad of any side travelling to the World Cup, so they are set up well to go deep.

Aside from disastrous campaigns in 2002 and 2010, France have been very strong when it comes to reaching the quarter finals of further at the World Cup - across their 17 appearances at the World Cup, they’ve reached the quarter finals of further on 11 occasions.

France start with an interesting group consisting of Senegal, Norway and Iraq. If they were to top the group, they would take on one of the best third placed sides in the Round of 32, before a potential clash against Germany in the Round of 16 if Nagelsmann’s side were also to top their group.

Spain are the pre-tournament favourites and reigning European Champions, they’re priced as short as 1.62 to reach the quarter finals of the World Cup and it’s hard to see a world where they don’t reach at least the last eight of the competition.

Luis de la Fuente has assembled one of the most impressive projects in international football, not many sides can be as ruthless and dominant as Spain are on the international stage and that is reflected in their qualifying record, they won five of their six matches - netting 21 goals and conceding just two in the process.

Spain’s group should be routine, they take on Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde in the early knockings of the tournament. If they top their group, which is very likely, then they will take on the second placed side in Group J in the Round of 32 - which is expected to be either Austria or Algeria.

Spain have faltered at the Round of 16 in recent World Cup campaigns, though this is a very different Spain side and one that should be able to battle to at least the quarter finals this time around.

Thomas Tuchel is an expert when it comes to navigating knockout football, and he has a squad with enough talent to reach at least the quarter finals of the World Cup.

This may end up being England’s ceiling given the testing travel conditions that they’ll have to deal with in the early parts of the tournament - but it’s certainly the minimum expectation of a country that’s been desperate for success since 1966.

England’s overall record in the World Cup isn’t spectacular, but Gareth Southgate made it normal again for the Three Lions to expect to be part of the last eight. They reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018 under his stewardship, and also reached the quarter finals in 2022 - suggesting a consistent trend which Tuchel can continue to build on.

If England top their group, they’ll take on one of the best third placed sides - which should be pretty routine given the forecast of sides expected in that bracket. What follows is a more challenging test, a Round of 16 clash against Mexico if they were also to top their group and navigate their Round of 32 tie against another of the best third placed sides.

Carlo Ancelotti has been given the reins of the most expectant nation in football when it comes to the World Cup and it’ll be fascinating to see how the former Chelsea, Milan and Madrid boss does on the international stage.

Brazil’s pedigree in the World Cup speaks for itself, they’re the most successful nation in the history of the competition - but recent campaigns have been challenging, with their last triumph coming all the way back in 2002.

Brazil have the most consistent record of reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup of any of the sides we’re backing here, and shouldn’t have too many problems in the group. If they top their group, they will face the runners up of a group consisting of Japan, Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia in the Round of 32.

Brazil notably have quite a few players from the domestic South American leagues in their squad which could prove crucial to their chances of going deep, these players will be familiar with the climate, altitude and travel conditions more than the UEFA nations - setting up Ancelotti’s side well to reach at least the quarter finals of the competition.

The defending champions kick off their campaign in a group featuring Algeria, Austria and Jordan. It’s hard to see many complications for Argentina in the early stages, Austria could challenge them in the group - but i’m not sure how Rangnick’s high intensity pressing approach will play out in these weather conditions.

Argentina have won the World Cup on three occasions, and notably are the only side other than France with any real experience of actually lifting the trophy in the modern era. They’ve stuck with Lionel Scaloni who led them to glory four years ago, and also still have Messi within their ranks. They’ve reached the last eight in each of the last four international tournaments, including Copa Americas.

If they top their group, they will take on the second placed side in Spain’s group - likely to be Uruguay or Saudi Arabia. Uruguay could be a test, but Argentina tend to be pretty dominant against other sides from South America so their experience and quality should be able to guide them through to a Round of 16 clash which looks pretty favourable.

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.

This is clearly a brilliant boost. Ronaldo has scored 143 goals for Portugal across his 226 caps for his nation (0.63 goals per game). He also scored five goals across his five starts during qualifying, so he's still got the quality to deliver on this stage for Portugal and is also on penalties.

We need him to score just once across his three group games against Colombia, Uzbekistan and DR Congo for this bet to be a winner.

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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. 

Messi scored seven goals at the last World Cup, and you can get 2.0 for him to score just once in the group stages of the World Cup with William Hill.

Messi may be 38, but he's still more than capable of contributing to a successful campaign for Argentina having scored at least 11 goals in each of his four seasons in the MLS.

Messi has scored 116 goals across his 198 caps for Argentina, he will almost certainly reach 200 caps for his nation at the World Cup and is only four goals away from becoming the all time top scorer in World Cup history - giving him plenty of incentive to get on the scoresheet in the group stages.

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Andy's Bet Club writer and expert Grant has picked out a treble for Group A at the World Cup featuring host nation Mexico, South Korea, South Africa and Czechia.

He's backing Mexico to top the group, South Korea to qualify spearheaded by Son and Patrick Schick to come out as the group's top goalscorer.

Want to see more of Grant's thoughts? You can read his full reasoning for this treble here.

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Andy's Bet Club writer and expert Robin has picked out a treble for Group B at the World Cup featuring Canada, Qatar, Bosnia and Switzerland.

He's backing Switzerland to top the group, Jesse Marsch's Canada side to qualify for the knockout stages and international football cult hero Breel Embolo to emerge as the group's top scorer.

Want to see more of Robin's thoughts? You can read his full reasoning for this treble here.

This treble is exclusively available with Betfred, you won't be able to back it anywhere else.

Click below to access Robin's 15/2 treble for Group B at the 2026 World Cup 👇

Andy's Bet Club writer and expert Ramis has picked out a treble for Group C at the World Cup featuring Brazil, Morocco, Scotland & Haiti

He's backing Brazil to top the group, Scotland to qualify for the knockout stages and Raphinha to come out as the group top scorer.

Want to see more of Ramis' thoughts? You can read his full reasoning for this treble here.

This treble is exclusively available with Betfred, you won't be able to back it anywhere else.

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Andy's Bet Club writer and expert Grant has picked out a treble for Group D at the World Cup featuring Turkiye, Paraguay, USA and Australia

He's backing Turkiye to top the group, Paraguay to qualify for the knockout stages and USA's Florian Balogun to emerge as the group's top scorer.

Want to see more of Grant's thoughts? You can read his full reasoning for this treble here.

This treble is exclusively available with Betfred, you won't be able to back it anywhere else.

Click below to access Grant's 40/1 treble for Group D at the 2026 World Cup 👇