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Jordan Pickford didn’t concede a single goal during England’s qualifying campaign, but he can expect to be more regularly tested at this World Cup.

England’s centre back situation is probably one of the main reasons as to why people don’t have them in the same bracket as France and Spain to win the World Cup. Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa are a decent partnership, but how will they fare in the latter stages of the tournament against some frighteningly good frontlines? 

This puts Pickford in the limelight, and I think this is actually where he’s at his best. He averaged 2.63 saves per 90 for Everton during the 25/26 campaign. Only three sides kept more shutouts than the Toffees in the Premier League, so Pickford can atone for the lack of quality and depth that England have at centre back.

At the last Euros, Pickford was forced into making 18 stops across seven matches (2.35 per 90), with a save percentage of 75%.

I do think England may have to score more than once to win this game. Croatia may be an ageing side, but they do have real threats who can cause the Three Lions problems, having won seven of their eight qualifying matches themselves.

Croatia also have a very consistent record at international tournaments over the last few years. They beat England 2-1 in the 2018 World Cup, with the sides also facing each other in the Nations League over the last few years, with England getting their revenge in those matches.

England have seen 2+ goals in nine of their last 11 matches across all competitions, with the exceptions being friendly matches against Japan and New Zealand.

Tuchel has already outlined his plan for England at this World Cup, and a large part of that strategy will be to make the most of corners and set pieces.

This has been a running trend throughout the Premier League season, and Tuchel is insistent that he wants his side to mirror the style and approach of the domestic division, so we can expect quite a direct and physical style of play from England throughout the summer.

England averaged 7.5 corners per game during qualifying, confirming this avenue as quite an important route to goal for Tuchel’s side. The way England play should also lend itself to high corner counts, with the likes of Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke set to be direct runners in the wide areas when Harry Kane drops into deeper pockets.

Elliot Anderson is going to be a key player if England are to go deep at this World Cup. He’s impressed in every game he’s played for England under Thomas Tuchel and is now one of the first names on the team sheet.

He's really good at winning fouls. He was hauled down on five occasions when England faced Costa Rica in their final warm-up game and won 80 fouls across his 37 appearances during the 25/26 campaign for Nottingham Forest in the Premier League (2.16 per 90).

This record stays pretty consistent when we look at his qualifying data. He started four games and won eight fouls (1.95 per 90), also having 126.7 touches per 90 - which is a great indicator when backing players to win fouls, as he is clearly the tempo-setter in the England squad.

Tbh, this is pretty self explanatory.

One of my first times trialling this new market, and I think Modric is perfect for it.

When looking into the bet, a key pass is defined as 'the final pass leading to a shot at goal from a teammate' so I did some deep diving into his stats for those.

When looking purely at his Qualifying stats, he managed two key passes leading to shots against the Faroe Islands and Gibraltar, and managed four against Montenegro.

He managed at least one key pass leading to a shot in every single qualifier, that's 8/8, and that includes him playing limited minutes in in most of those games, for example against Gibraltar he managed two in just 21 minutes.

You also get a shot created if he manages an assist, or wins a penalty leading to a scored penalty. He managed two assists across just four starts in Qualifying, giving us even more opportunity to land this bet.

Anderson was quality for cards in the Premier League, picking up eight for Forest, and I can see him being integral doing a lot of the dirty work in that England midfield.

Throughout the qualifying games, he committed the joint most fouls (8), and was statistically the best player per90 for fouls committed (1.95).

He's against an experienced Croatia side, and is also likely to be brought out of position at times to defend against Perisic, who despite playing as a defender, is one of the key attacking players for the opposition.

Anderson also gets fouled for fun, he was fouled five times against Costa Rica, so there's the slight chance he loses his temper.

Kovacic had limited minutes in qualifying, so it's tough to base off that, and he's also rarely played for City this season. But I feel a lot of this plays into it, he will be lacking match fitness compared to his opponents.

He's now likely to be up against the likes of Anderson and Bellingham. Players who consistently win fouls, in qualifying Bellingham won 2.56 fouls per90. Anderson won 1.95 per90, and was also fouled five times against Costa Rica.

I see him getting caught out at least once, and potentially committing a tactical foul or two to avoid going behind.

This is a great boost for England's opening game against Croatia. Kane scored eight goals across his eight appearances during qualifying, averaging 2.11 shots on target per 90.

England have seen 2+ goals in nine of their last 11 matches across all competitions, most recently putting three goals past Costa Rica.

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Kane scored eight goals across his eight appearances during qualifying, averaging 2.11 shots on target per 90.

Kane scored eight goals across his eight appearances during qualifying, averaging 2.11 shots on target per 90.

Kang-In Lee was fouled four times against Czechia last time out, which was more than any other player in the South Korea squad. 

That means he has now landed this selection in each of his last four international starts, averaging 3.22 fouls drawn per 90 in his last ten appearances for the national side. 

The PSG winger should find duels against Jose Gallardo on the flank - the Mexican defender is averaging 1.82 fouls per 90 this season playing for Toluca in Liga MX.

Raul Jimenez is another player to back to hit the target against South Korea on Friday. The veteran Mexico forward made the net bulge with one of his 2 shots against South Africa in last week’s World Cup opener.

A deeper look shows that 11 of Jimenez’s 46 goals for Mexico have come since the start of 2025, underlining just how consistently he has been hitting the target at international level. He also tested opposition goalkeepers regularly in the Premier League last season, averaging 0.78 on-target efforts per game for Fulham.

Like the aforementioned Son Heung-min, Jimenez also tends to be on spot-kick duty, which only adds weight to this angle.

In 78 minutes against Qatar in the opening match, Ruben Vargas picked up a hefty four fouls won.

Against a Bosnia midfield that is prolific in giving away free kicks – Ivan Basic committed two fouls in the opening game while the fit-again Ivan Sunjic, who was their leading foul-maker in qualifying, may well start – this trend is primed to continue.

Vargas has been fouled on 2+ occasions in each of his last two starts for club and country, while he has also drawn at least one foul in each of his last five starts.

With the Bosnian midfield so prolific in giving away free kicks, he should draw another high foul count.

Look for Czechia to earn a minimum of four corners against South Africa.

The Czechs were strong flag kick performers during World Cup qualification, averaging 7.50 corners per game. In fact, only Belgium (83) recorded more corners than Czechia (75) across European qualification.

A closer look shows that Miroslav Koubek’s side earned at least four corners in each of their eight qualifiers during the regular campaign, as well as their two playoff ties. The case is strengthened by the fact that Czechia also won the corner count 5-4 against South Korea in their opening World Cup game last Friday.

On top of all that, South Africa were forced to defend at least four corners in two of their four outings at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, including nine against Angola.

After losing their opening games, both sides will need to go all out for three points, which should set up an open and entertaining encounter.

Moreover, nine of Czechia’s 10 World Cup qualifiers produced at least two goals, including each of their two playoff ties. That trend also carried over into their two pre-World Cup friendlies, and they opened their campaign last week with a 2-1 defeat to South Korea.

As for South Africa, seven of their last nine games have produced two goals or more, including three of their four outings at the Africa Cup of Nations. That trend also held in last week’s 2-0 defeat to Mexico, and all signs point towards a repeat in Atlanta.

Patrik Schick looks well placed to hit the target at least once against South Africa on Thursday evening.

The Czech forward has long been a talismanic figure for his country, and that was no different during qualifying, when he scored five times across his eight appearances.

He averaged 3.47 shots per game, with 1.60 on target. Indeed, Schick tested the opposition goalkeeper in six of his eight qualifying outings, including a key strike against the Republic of Ireland in a playoff semi-final tie.

On top of all that, Schick averaged a sizeable 1.58 shots on target per game for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga last season.

In what is a must-win game for Czechia, Schick should get ample opportunity to hit the target at least once against a South Africa side that conceded 16 shots against Mexico last time out.

Take Tomas Soucek to be fouled at least once against South Africa on Thursday evening.

The Czech ace was a consistent source of winning free-kicks during World Cup qualifying, drawing an average of 0.81 per game. A closer look shows Soucek was brought down a total of eight times across his ten qualifying appearances.

There is further encouragement in the fact that the towering midfielder drew an average of 0.90 fouls per game in the Premier League last season, earning West Ham eight set-pieces in his final seven outings of the campaign.

Soucek is likely to come into close contact with Teboho Mokoena, who has committed a combined total of seven fouls across his last three competitive appearances for South Africa and was booked against Mexico last Thursday.

Mbekezeli Mbokazi is extremely effective when it comes to drawing fouls.

The South African centre-half demonstrated that trait against Mexico last week when he was fouled on three separate occasions. Mbokazi’s foul-drawing ability was also a feature of South Africa’s qualification campaign, as he drew an average of 1.34 fouls per game.

He has also been reliable when it comes to winning free kicks for club side Chicago Fire in MLS this season, earning an average of 0.94 per game during the early stages of the campaign.

He is likely to come up against Czechia’s Patrik Schick, who leads the line with plenty of aggression and physicality. The Czech forward committed an average of 1.60 fouls per 90 during qualification and was guilty of four fouls against both the Republic of Ireland and Denmark in Czechia’s two playoff ties.

The central areas are likely to be quite congested here, which should force a lot of the play to the wings, which is ideal for corners.

This is quite a low line for corners; we’ve seen quite an increase in sides utilising set pieces and corners in particular as a route to goal over the opening few days of the World Cup, and I expect that to continue throughout the tournament. 

Panama’s games during qualifying saw an average of 9.70 corners per game. They saw 8+ corners in 90% of these matches, and we’re only looking for seven in this game for this leg of our Bet Builder.

I think this is quite an even contest and could take a while to come to life, but it’s really important for both teams given that the other nations in this group are Croatia and England, who are both expected to finish in the top two.

Ghana’s recent form has been pretty poor, and their struggles actually go back to the start of the year when they failed to qualify for AFCON, which was a real shock. They have a chance of redemption here, but have failed to win any of their last seven matches, seeing 2+ goals in five of these games.

Panama have shown more resolve in their warm-up games for the World Cup, losing just one of their last five matches and seeing 2+ goals in all five of these games.

I think Panama can definitely get on the scoresheet, and possibly even nick a result, in this opening game.

The mood around Ghana is pretty sour; they’ve failed to win any of their last seven matches, also failing to keep a clean sheet in any of these games.

Panama have shown in their warm-up matches that they can carry a decent attacking threat. They scored twice against Brazil, put four past the Dominican Republic, and managed to break down a pretty stubborn Bosnia side in their final preparation game.

I can see this game getting very scrappy, particularly in the early knockings, which should lead to a few cards for both sides.

Panama are quite an aggressive side; they averaged 14.1 fouls per game during qualifying and also picked up 14 cards across their six games (2.33 per game).

As previously mentioned, this is pretty much a straight shootout for who will possibly progress as one of the best third-placed sides, so I expect quite a bit of tension and a few early cautions, which should make this leg a decent one to cheer on.

Antoine Semenyo is the main star in this Ghana side, with Kudus missing the tournament due to injury.

He’s enjoyed a very strong season for Bournemouth and Manchester City in the Premier League and will be one of Ghana’s key attacking threats at the World Cup.

He’s very consistent when it comes to getting shots away, averaging 1.15 shots on target per 90 in the Premier League during the 25/26 campaign and 2.20 shots per 90 in Ghana’s qualifying campaign for AFCON, which was ultimately unsuccessful.

There’s also a decent chance that Semenyo leads the line for his nation here, giving him an even better chance of finding the target.

Czechia can bounce back from last week’s defeat by seeing off South Africa on Thursday evening.

Miroslav Koubek’s side were on a six-match unbeaten run before that setback, winning four, with the other two ending in penalty shootout victories. Last week’s setback should not have too damaging an effect on morale, and the Czechs will be aware of the need to respond on Thursday evening. 

South Africa looked the weakest team on paper in Group A before the tournament got underway, and that still appears to be the case after a 2-0 defeat to Mexico. They have not helped their own cause either, with two players sent off on Matchday 1, which further reduces their chances in this crucial clash. 

Bafana Bafana’s pre-tournament form also does not make for great reading. After losing to Cameroon at AFCON, they failed to win any of their next four friendlies, drawing with Jamaica, Nicaragua, and Panama, as well as suffering a defeat to Panama.

It’s hard to look past Patrik Schick in the to score or assist market on Thursday night.

While Schick failed to fire against South Korea last time out, he is likely to find chances easier to come by against South Africa, who looked defensively suspect against Mexico.

Moreover, his international numbers are impressive, netting 26 goals across 54 appearances for his country. Five of those came in eight World Cup qualifying appearances, and he has since scored in a friendly against Guatemala. While Schick is more of a goalscorer than a provider, he can still chip in with assists, having done so on six occasions for Czechia and four times for Bayer Leverkusen last season.

He also tends to take penalties for the Czechs, which further supports this selection.

A strong case can be made for Tomas Soucek to hit the target at least once in this contest. The big Czech midfielder boasts a quietly impressive return of 17 goals across 91 appearances for his country.

He is well renowned as a major threat from set pieces due to his aerial ability, and that is something Czechia could capitalise on against a South Africa side that are among the shortest in terms of average height at this World Cup.

What’s more, Soucek hit the target on three occasions across his 10 World Cup qualifying appearances, with two of those efforts finding the net. Notably, he delivered two on-target efforts during West Ham’s final Premier League game of the season against Leeds.

It is also worth pointing out that Soucek has been known to take penalties for Czechia when Patrik Schick is not on the pitch.

Back Teboho Mokoena to commit two or more fouls on Thursday evening. While Mokoena was guilty of just one offence against Mexico last week, he was shown an early yellow card in the first half and was therefore walking a tightrope.

Nevertheless, he still produced a combative display, and the same is expected here, with the stakes rising for both nations. Mokoena was penalised on seven occasions across his four outings at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, including four infringements in one game against Cameroon. It is also worth noting that he committed multiple fouls in two pre-World Cup friendly matches against Panama.

The all-action South African is likely to come up against the aforementioned Tomas Soucek and Alexandr Sojka, the latter of whom was fouled against South Korea last time out.

Canada raced to nine corners in the first half of their opening match against Bosnia and are likely to win another high count in this regard against a Qatar side they will expect to dominate. Jesse Marsch’s side want to impose themselves on their opponents in every game and they do this by attacking down the flanks. It has consistently won them a huge corner count in recent games. Across the six matches they have played this year, they have never dipped below seven corners, while they have topped out at 12 on two occasions and average 9.5 per game in that sample.

Qatar are a side that habitually pick up multiple bookings per match, as shown against Switzerland in their first game as they picked up a couple. That continued a remarkable streak in which the Gulf nation have earned 2+ cards in 14 of their last 16 competitive matches.

They landed this bet in both their fourth round qualifiers and in eight of their 10 third-round games. The only fixtures that they did not were the blowout defeat (4-1) against Iran and the easy win (5-1) over North Korea. With Canada of the mindset that they will take the game to their opponents, and are likely to have direct runners in possession, the referee will be presented with plenty of opportunities to show his cards. Referee Cristian Garay averages 4.86 cards per game this season.

The Canadian right back mustered one shot against Bosnia in the opening match and stands a strong chance of replicating that feat in this game. Johnston will face a scenario familiar to him at club level with Celtic, where he often faces low defensive blocks.

In Scotland this season, he had at least one shot in four of his six starts for the Glasgow side, in which he completed 35 or more minutes, including three of his last four games. He will be encouraged to attack, too, with both full backs getting forward an aspect of Marsch’s attacking philosophy. During the previous World Cup, he had a shot in two of Canada’s three matches. There is a slim chance that the ultra-attack-minded Alphonso Davies is fit enough to replace him and get a few late minutes.

The Celtic right back is the type of player who is ever involved in the thick of the action, and that means putting up a high foul count. He has made at least one foul in each of his last six competitive international starts, including a couple against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the opening match of the tournament.

His likely head-to-head opponent is Akram Afif, who has won 1+ fouls in 36 of the 38 competitive international matches where fouls data is available, including winning two fouls in each of his last three games.

Bosnia and fouls have gone hand in hand in recent matches. In their opening World Cup fixture against Qatar, they committed 20 fouls, which is not an unusual figure for Sergej Barbarez’s side.

Indeed, it was the 5th time in 11 games that they have hit the 20-foul mark. Over the course of their 10-match qualifying run, they committed at least 14 fouls on nine of 10 occasions and were the most prolific criminals in UEFA in this regard.

Even accounting for extra time against Wales and Italy, they averaged 16.5 fouls per 90 – the highest figure in Europe. The Swiss, meanwhile, won 12.5 fouls per 90 on average but have not faced a team so prolific in this regard as Bosnia.

Both matches in Group B finished 1-1 in the opening matchday, keeping alive a strong trend of both these teams being involved in games with 2+ goals.

For Switzerland, six of their last seven have seen at least a couple of strikes, while nine of Bosnia’s last 10 games have all seen at least a couple of goals (5 of their last 6 have finished 1-1).

Switzerland, in particular, will feel unfortunate that they did not score more against Qatar, given they generated a massive 3.2xG.

Bosnia fashioned 0.98xG against Canada, but their coach lamented their defensive mindset in the game and will set his team out more offensively.

It came as a sizeable shock that Manzambi was left out of the starting XI for the Qatar clash, but the Freiburg midfielder is expected to come back into the team for this game, having offered two shots off the bench in a 25-minute cameo in the opening fixture.

That aligned with his shoot-on-sight reputation from the qualifiers, when he had 3.28 shots per 90 – a figure no Swiss player with more than 45 minutes of action could eclipse. He also had 2.96 shots per 90 in the Bundesliga last season, despite playing a more defensive role than he does with the Swiss.

Manzambi is a player who is willing to shoot from range, and again, a Bosnia team likely to sit back and defend, that attribute will allow him to get plenty of efforts away.

Demirovic’s job will be to act as a battering ram at the forefront of the Bosnia attack.

He will be their out ball and will be physical and combative throughout this game, both to relieve pressure on the defence and to win set-piece opportunities his side can profit from. His foul numbers are enormous as he has committed at least two fouls in each of his last six starts for club and country.

During the qualifying campaign, he committed 17 fouls in seven games at a rate of 2.19 per 90. In the opening match against Canada, he gave away four free kicks.

Sead Kolasinac was the standout performer for Bosnia in their 1-1 draw with Canada in the opening group game, as he provided the assist for the first goal, before then completing a spectacular goalline clearance. The former Arsenal defender was left frustrated at full-time as Canada eventually found the equaliser, making this a big game for Bosnia in the context of the group.

Kolasinac finished the match with three fouls - he was lucky to be let off without a booking by a lenient Facundo Tello. The 32-year-old will have another tough test on the defensive front here, coming up against the Swiss wide players.

The Swiss drew 12 fouls against Qatar last time out, and their wingers Ruben Vargas and Dan Ndoye combined to account for eight of those infringements. They sometimes look to interchange on the flanks, which will make life difficult for Kolasinac, who likes to be strong in his challenges.

With Bosnia habitually picking up a high foul count, it’s unsurprising that they also receive a high number of cards.

They have seen at least three cards in five of their last six competitive games, with that run continuing against Canada in Matchday 1. Referee Joao Pinheiro, meanwhile, is a figure who is no stranger to dealing out cards this season. Across all competitions, he has shown 206 cards in 39 games – a rate of 5.28 per match.

His performances in big games have also tended towards many cards: he showed five in the UEFA Super Cup, six in the Champions League semi-final, and 10 in a Conference League quarter-final.

The exception was Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 Europa League win over Aston Villa, when he dealt out only 1 card. Expect the referee to be busy here.

Bosnia scored against Canada from a corner, and they will play with the intention of manufacturing set-pieces such as these around the Switzerland penalty area, as it is one of their strengths.

Although they only had 39% possession against the Canadians, they earned four corners, a figure they had reached comfortably in three of their four previous matches. Even playing defensively against Wales and Italy in the World Cup playoffs, they managed a total of nine and 10 corners, respectively, against those sides, plus hit another 10 against Panama in a warm-up friendly.

As such, this has been a winning bet in four of their last five games.

In 78 minutes against Qatar in the opening match, Ruben Vargas picked up a hefty four fouls won.

Against a Bosnia midfield that is prolific in giving away free kicks – Ivan Basic committed two fouls in the opening game while the fit-again Ivan Sunjic, who was their leading foul-maker in qualifying, may well start – this trend is primed to continue.

Vargas has been fouled on 2+ occasions in each of his last two starts for club and country, while he has also drawn at least one foul in each of his last five starts.

With the Bosnian midfield so prolific in giving away free kicks, he should draw another high foul count.

After committing two fouls in the opening match against Qatar, Elvedi can expect a tough, physical battle against Ermin Demirovic, who is known for his combative and physical style.

While generally a clean defender – he only gave away three fouls in qualifying – it’s notable that he gave up free kicks against Sweden, who were spearheaded by Viktor Gyokeres, who is a similar striker to Demirovic in terms of his approach.

He will be put under pressure quickly and directly from a team that will specifically target winning fouls in dangerous areas, increasing the likelihood of a higher-than-usual foul count from the centre-back.