WORLD CUP BOOTROOM
FRANCE v AUSTRALIA GROUP C TODAY, 11am KAZAN
TV & radio: BBC 1, BBC Radio 5 Live & talkSPORT FRANCE (probable, 4-3-3): Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez; Kante, Tolisso, Pogba; Mbappe, Griezmann, Dembele. AUSTRALIA (probable, 4-2-3-1): Ryan; Risdon, Sainsbury, Milligan, Behich; Mooy, Luongo; Leckie, Rogic, Kruse; Nabbout.
Referee: Andres Cunha (Uruguay). IT’S hard to look past that formidable front line of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele. It’s either triumph or disaster with France at World Cups and they need a fast start. Australia have creativity in Celtic’s Tom Rogic but France will have far too much.
SPORTSMAIL’S VERDICT: 3-1 France
ARGENTINA v ICELAND GROUP D TODAY, 2pm SPARTAK, MOSCOW
TV & radio: ITV, BBC Radio 5 Live & talkSPORT ARGENTINA (4-2-3-1): Caballero; Salvio, Otamendi, Rojo, Tagliafico; Mascherano, Biglia; Meza, Messi, Di Maria; Aguero. ICELAND (probable, 4-2-3-1): Halldorsson; Magnusson, R Sigurdsson, Arnason, Saevarsson; Hallfredsson, Gunnarsson; Bjarnason, G Sigurdsson, Gudmundsson; Bodvarsson. Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland). IT will be intriguing to see what Iceland — the team who shocked Europe two years ago — have in store for Lionel Messi and Co. After scraping through qualifying, Argentina, who named their XI yesterday, need a strong display. Fail to win and there will be questions.
SPORTSMAIL’S VERDICT: 2-0 Argentina
PERU v DENMARK GROUP C TODAY, 5pm SARANSK
TV & radio: BBC 1, 5 Live (2nd half) & talkSPORT PERU (probable, 4-2-3-1): Gallese; Advincula, Rodriguez, Ramos, Trauco; Tapia, Yotun; Flores, Cueva, Farfan; Guerrero. DENMARK (probable, 4-2-3-1): Schmeichel; Dalsgaard, Kjaer, Christensen, Larsen; Kvist, Delaney; Poulsen, Eriksen, Sisto; Jorgensen.
Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia). THERE will be goals in this game. Age Hareide’s Denmark side will be well-drilled and have a creative genius in Christian Eriksen but Peru can cause them problems. Captain Paolo Guerrero scored twice against Saudi Arabia on his return from a drugs ban.
SPORTSMAIL’S VERDICT: 2-2
CROATIA v NIGERIA GROUP D TODAY, 8pm KALININGRAD
TV & radio: ITV, BBC Radio 5 Live & talkSPORT CROATIA (probable, 4-2-3-1): Subasic; Vrsaljko, Vida, Lovren, Strinic; Modric, Rakitic; Perisic, Kramaric, Rebic; Mandzukic. NIGERIA (probable, 3-5-2): Uzoho; Balogun, Troost-Ekong, Ogu; Shehu, Iwobi, Mikel Obi, Ndidi, Idowu; Moses, Ighalo.
Referee: Sandro Ricci (Brazil). NIGERIA’S first-half performance against England suggested they would struggle to win a game at this World Cup. While they improved after half-time, it is hard to see them coping with the physicality of Mario Mandzukic up top and creativity of Luka Modric in the middle.
SPORTSMAIL’S VERDICT: 2-1 Croatia
COSTA RICA v SERBIA GROUP E TOMORROW, 1pm SAMARA
TV & radio: ITV, BBC Radio 5 Live & talkSPORT
COSTA RICA (probable, 3-4-3): Navas; Waston, Gonzalez, Calvo; Gamboa, Borges, Guzman, Oviedo; Campbell, Urena, Venegas. SERBIA (probable, 4-2-3-1): Stojkovic; Ivanovic, Milenkovic, Tosic, Kolarov; Matic, Milinkovic-Savic; Tadic, Ljajic, Kostic; Mitrovic.
Referee: Malang Diedhiou (Senegal). AFTER defeats by England and Belgium, there is not much to shout about for Costa Rica. A repeat of their run to the quarter-finals in 2014 does not seem likely. This will likely be a convincing win for the Serbians — especially with Aleksandar Mitrovic in form up front.
SPORTSMAIL’S VERDICT: 3-0 Serbia
GERMANY v MEXICO GROUP F TOM, 4pm LUZHNIKI, MOSCOW
TV & radio: BBC 1, BBC Radio 5 Live & talkSPORT GERMANY (probable, 4-2-3-1): Neuer; Kimmich, Boateng, Hummels, Hector; Khedira, Kroos; Muller, Reus, Ozil; Werner. MEXICO (probable, 4-1-4-1): Ochoa; Salcedo, Ayala, Moreno, Gallardo; Herrera; G dos Santos, J dos Santos, Guardado, Corona; Hernandez.
Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran). THE Germans are not in great form and the Ozil-Turkey row will not have helped their preparations. While they are not exactly in disarray, Germany have to up their game. It is more likely to be a scruffy win which gets them up and running.
SPORTSMAIL’S VERDICT: 1-0 Germany
BRAZIL v SWITZERLAND GROUP E TOMORROW, 7pm ROSTOV
TV & radio: ITV, BBC Radio 5 Live & talkSPORT BRAZIL (probable, 4-3-3): Alisson; Danilo, Thiago Silva, Miranda, Marcelo; Paulinho, Casemiro, Coutinho; Willian, Jesus, Neymar. SWITZERLAND (probable, 4-2-3-1): Burki; Lichtsteiner, Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Behrami, Xhaka; Shaqiri, Freuler, Embolo; Seferovic. Referee: Cesar Ramos (Mexico). WITH Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Philippe Coutinho, it’s easy to see why Brazil are being tipped as winners. They were emphatic in qualification and, while there is every chance they will run riot against the Swiss, this should be an easy win to kick off their campaign.
SPORTSMAIL’S VERDICT: 2-0 Brazil