First Round World Cup Breakdown

Entrants by Continent

14 Europe

5 South America

3 Concacaf (second, third, fourth pots)

5 Africa (all in third and fourth pots)

5 Asia (all in the bottom 10 in rankings)

South America is clearly the toughest continent; all five of their entries are first or second seeds, and Chile, #9 in the world, didn’t even make the field.

Europe gets the most entries, because they have 15 of the 23 top-ranked teams in the world. At that, powerhouses Italy and Holland didn’t make it through.

CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean) is top-heavy with three good teams and a few contenders. With the U.S. faltering this time out, debutante Panama isn’t getting much respect.

Africa’s entries are all third- and fourth-seeds – two or three have a legitimate chance of advancing out of their groups.

Asia has the weakest field, and the least chance of surviving the group stage. Their best teams, Iran and Australia, are stuck in tough groups, and the other three are the lowest-ranked teams in the field, except for host Russia.

Muslim Nations are here in unprecedented force: two of the five Asian entries, and four of the five from Africa. That latter represents a significant shift in the balance of power, which has been in sub-Saharan West Africa in recent years, with Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Ghana taking 16 of the 28 qualifying spots in the last six tournaments. This year the balance has shifted, with Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Senegal going to the party, and Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Ghana staying home.

The First-Round Groups: an Overview

Top seeds listed first. Round-robin format; top two advance to the knockout round.

Group A: Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, Saudi Arabia

Russia is a top seed as host, despite being the second-lowest ranked team in the entire field. The lowest is Saudi Arabia, also in this group, along with Egypt, the weakest #3 seed. If I didn’t have complete faith in FIFA and the Russian athletic system, …

Group B: Portugal, Spain, Iran, Morocco

A totally lopsided group on paper, but co-favorites and Iberian neighbors Spain and Portugal meet on the first full day; the loser will have no room for error in the next two games.

Group C: France, Peru, Denmark, Australia

This is one of the “Groups of Death” – France is one of the tournament favorites, Peru is very good and Denmark is likely the best of the “third-best” teams, and Australia the best of the fourth-bests.

Group D: Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria

Argentina will advance, and Croatia is a heavy favorite to take the other qualifying spot, but Euro2016 sensation Iceland, and perennial African powerhouse Nigeria will be tough.

Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia

The other Group of Death: Brazil is the overall favorite, Switzerland’s #6 in the world, Serbia’s good, and Costa Rica is a chronic overachiever, and as a neighbor, a good pick for Americans needing a team to root for; they’ll field eight MLS-based players.

Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea

America’s other home team, Mexico’s tricolor, should battle Sweden for the second spot alongside top-ranked Germany, with dogged South Korea a potential spoiler.

Group G: Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama

Despite Tunisia’s lofty and mysterious world ranking, it’ll be a stunner if Belgium and England don’t advance out of this group. USA fans will have mixed feelings about first-timer Panama, who edged us out of a spot.

Group H: Poland, Colombia, Senegal, Japan

Perhaps the most balanced group: Poland is unconvincing as a top seed; Colombia is very good but mercurial, Senegal is a bit of an unknown, coming out of a weak qualifying group, and Japan tends to outperform expectations.

First Round Schedule by Groups

All games are being shown on either Fox or FS1, and in Spanish on Telemundo. When two games are played concurrently, on Mon.-Thu., June 25-28, one game will be on Universo.

Group A: Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, Saudi Arabia

Group B: Portugal, Spain, Iran, Morocco

Group C: France, Peru, Denmark, Australia

Group D: Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria

Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia

Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea

Group G: Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama

Group H: Poland, Colombia, Senegal, Japan

This article appears in June 1 • 2018.