World Cup 2018 Group G Preview
GROUP G
Sean O'Conor
Belgium
Coach: Roberto Martinez
Formation: 3-4-2-1
FIFA World Ranking: 3rd
Best World Cup: 4th place in 1986
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Belgium Kit 1 |
Belgium Kit 2 |
Belgium v Panama 18 June; Sochi
Belgium v Tunisia 23 June; Moscow (Spartak)
Belgium v England 28 June; Kaliningrad
The Red Devils on paper should win this group as they are ranked highest by FIFA.
Yes, if you ask people who is ranked after Germany and Brazil they will probably pause and few will realise it is this northern European country of 11 million people.
Everyone knows they have glittering individuals who could walk into most teams at the finals. Just reading the Belgian lineup makes one gulp.
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and a back three of Toby Alderweireld, Vincent Kompany and Jan Vertonghen is a world-class defence.
The dazzling Kevin De Bruyne in midfield with the equally talented Eden Hazard ahead of him alongside Dries Mertens with Romelu Lukaku up front is an attack to die for.
Add the steel of Axel Witsel in midfield with Mousa Dembele and Marouane Fellaini if needed and the attacking alternatives of Adnan Januzai and Michy Batshuayi and you ask yourself why they are not ranked first in the world already.
Making a beautiful necklace out of this string of pearls is of course the challenge, a task which Roberto Martinez's forerunner Marc Wilmots failed to perfect.
Wilmots' team reached the last eight of Brazil 2014 but lost 1-0 to Argentina. They then went to Euro 2016 with high hopes but were beaten in the group stage 2-0 by Italy yet thrashed Hungary 4-0 in the Round of 16.
As they began their quarter-final with Wales they were hot favourites to win but ended up losing deservedly to the relative minnows 3-1.
So will it be the last eight again for this golden generation?
As always, accommodating so many shining individuals from different clubs into one system which replicates their domestic roles is next to impossible.
De Bruyne for instance, probably the best player in the Premier League, has never been so on fire for Belgium, probably because he has to sit deeper in midfield to allow his captain Hazard to buzz around the box, stopping him from going on his buccaneering runs he does so well with his club.
The Man City ace recently voiced anxiety at the Belgium three-man defence which when on the back foot he thought left too large a gap between it and the midfield. Martinez to be fair has experimented with different shapes but clearly prefers the three man line.
The other problem is that two of the trio are not in peak form. Alderweireld and Kompany spent much of the season injured but at least Vertonghen played 36 games for Tottenham. Thomas Vermaelen, an alternative, played less than half that for Barcelona.
The former Everton coach has studied his team hard and insists he has striven to tighten up the defence and instill a system of ball circulation and penetrative attacking, but now comes the exam.
Whatever their shortcomings, they should make light work of Panama and Tunisia first and qualify for the next round before they meet England in Nizhny Novgorod on the 28th of June.
How far they go is hard to say at this stage. They qualified almost faultlessly with nine wins and a draw and a goal difference of plus 37 from ten games.
Since then the good work has continued with draws with Mexico and Portugal, and shut-out victories over Japan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt before their final warm-up saw a 4-1 win over Costa Rica.
All these wins have pushed the Red Devils up the FIFA rankings but Portugal apart, they have not played anyone in the top ten since 2016. How they would measure up against a Spain, Germany, Colombia or even England is difficult to judge.
The knockout stages will bring better quality opposition and unfamiliar styles. If Belgium flunk the test again, there will be a collective sigh from the football world.
This is an exceptionally gifted squad, many of whom, especially in defence, could well be playing their last World Cup.
Should they fail the axe will probably fall on Martinez. His perceived tactical intransigence and discarding of popular midfielder Radja Nainggolan already count against him. The eyebrows that were raised when he was appointed will be happy to say 'I told you so'.
But the Spaniard could well prove the doubters wrong with a number of victories. Belgium repeating their record-breaking run to the semi-final in 1986 looks unlikely, but not impossible.
Panama
Coach: Hernan Dario Gomez
Formation: 5-4-1
FIFA World Ranking: 55th
Best World Cup: First time qualifiers
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Panama Kit 1
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Panama Kit 2
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Panama v Belgium 18 June; Sochi
Panama v England 24 June; Nizhny Novgorod
Panama v Tunisia 28 June; Saransk
Welcome to Los Canaleros - the Canal Men in their first ever World Cup!
The little Central American country of four million went football crazy last October when their national team beat Costa Rica 2-1 in the Rommel Fernandez stadium in Panama City in front of a modest 26,000 crowd.
Trinidad & Tobago's shock elimination of the United States on the same night meant Panama, a country traditionally more interested in baseball, were suddenly in the finals for the first time.
88th minute matchwinner Roman Torres, a 32 year old defender with Seattle Sounders and Christian Karembeu lookalike, became a hero and the government declared a national holiday. Expect the country to close down for three days in June.
Seven of their squad play in MLS in fact and only two in western Europe: Teenage midfielder Jose Luis Rodriguez at Ghent and striker Ismail Dias of Deportivo La Coruna. Nine of 23 are aged 30 and over and they have no household names.
Coach Hernan Dario Gomez, who coached Colombia in France '98, might well field the oldest front pair in the finals - 36 year-old Luis Tejada and Blas Perez, a year older.
The strike force is not red hot - nine goals in ten games in the final qualifying and one in five friendlies this year: Los Canaleros have lost to Denmark and Norway (both 1-0) and Switzerland (6-0). Draws with Northern Ireland and Wales were seen as triumphs by comparison.
They have been hastily acclimatizing to European football as two top UEFA sides await in Russia.
At least that means the side is experienced and have developed understanding over the best part of a decade, but one expects facing Belgium and England in their opening games will provoke a siege mentality. If Panama are not parking the bus it will be a major surprise.
Their back four is bolstered by two defensive midfielders ahead - Animal Godoy and Gabriel Gomez, but they have some pace on the break in wingers Edgar Barcenas and Alberto Quntero as well as substitute striker Gabriel Torres.
While Panama seems set fair for immediate return, CONCACAF is a weak region with a generous three and a half berths in the finals. If that was intended to engineer American participation in the finals it failed this time.
That said, Costa Rica surprised the world four years ago so we should not be too hasty in writing off the Panamanians.
Having missed out on Brazil 2014 at the last hurdle, no one begrudges their participation. The football world is hoping that four million people hitherto starved of the emotional World Cup experience in their nation have something to cheer in Russia.
Tunisia
Coach: Nabil Maaloul
Formation: 4-3-3
FIFA World Ranking: 21st
Best World Cup: 1st Round 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006
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Tunisia Kit 1
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Tunisia Kit 2
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Tunisia v England 18 June; Volgograd
Tunisia v Belgium 23 June; Moscow (Spartak)
Tunisia v Panama; 28 June; Saransk
The Eagles of Carthage return after missing out on Brazil but winning African Group A comfortably without losing a match.
The aim once more is to get to the knockout phases, a stage which has so far proved elusive but it looks once more a bridge too far with England and Belgium to beat.
Tunisia's opener in Volgograd brings backs memories of that hot and angry day in Marseille in 1998, when England won 2-0. While they will fancy their chances against Panama, that is their final group game, which by then might be a dead rubber.
If somehow Tunisia can avoid defeat against England then that will give them hope going into the Belgium clash but the order of games goes against them.
We can expect therefore a rearguard action against the two Europeans with the hope of a lucky break or two. Expect a lot of channel balls and punts forward as they break out of mass defence and direct play to be the order of the day.
They can also be prone to a bit of time-wasting should the opportunity occur, and will not be on a charm offensive in Russia.
Against England they will probably play a Christmas tree with Taha Yassine Khenissi, last season's top scorer in African club football, as the lone striker.
They are a young side with their fulcrum the 23 year-old Troyes playmaker Saif-Eddine Khaoui who has replaced the side's key player Youssef Msakni, lost to injury.
Left back Ali Maaloul likes to get forward and score for his club although has yet to net for his country, and attacking midfielder and free kick taker Wahbi Khazri, who spent last season at Rennes on loan from Sunderland, is their top-rated player on the transfer market at a modest £9 million.
Another danger man is Naime Sliti, the Lille dribbler who plays on the left behind the main striker. On the other flank is the red-haired Fakhreddine Ben Youssef who will also be hunting the channels balls.
Leicester City centre back Yohan Benalouane is also in the squad, one of a handful of French-born players which has so many diasporal Tunisians it calls to mind Jack Charlton's The Republic of Ireland or the USA under Jurgen Klinsmann.
These include Syam Ben Youssef, Dylan Bronn, Moez Hassen, Khaoui, Khazri, Ellyes Shkiri and Sliti. The association failed however to persuade the acclaimed Sevilla striker Wissam Ben Yedder, to switch from France.
It is all about making history: Tunisia were the first African team to win at the finals when they beat Mexico in 1978 but they have not won at the World Cup since then.
2018 results suggest they will not be pushovers. 1-0 wins over Iran and Costa Rica were followed by 2-2 draws with Portugal and Turkey and a 1-0 loss to Spain.
It will be a huge ask for Tunisia to reach the second round in Russia, but if they are eliminated they are sure to go down fighting.
England
Coach: Gareth Southgate
Formation: 3-5-2
FIFA World Ranking: 12th
Best World Cup: Winners 1966
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England Kit 1 |
England Kit 2 |
England v Tunisia 18 June; Volgograd
England v Panama 24 June; Nizhny Novgorod
England v Belgium 28 June; Kaliningrad
The St George's Crosses are not flying from the vans or hanging from the windows. The jingoistic press coverage has not materialised either.
It has taken a while but England has at last got realistic about its national team. Partly it is the fact the best players in England are not English and partly it is the effect of the Three Lions' repeated failure at major tournaments.
England arrive after going out in the first round of Brazil 2014 and being eliminated by Iceland at Euro 2016, so expectations of the Russian campaign are refreshingly modest.
Ironically as the nation is leaving Europe behind politically, its football team is becoming more continental than ever. Ball-playing goalkeepers and defenders who begin the attack are now minimum requirements while the 3-5-2, or more properly 3-2-3-1-1 shape, affords more passing options and less danger of being caught between the lines.
Jordan Pickford has only recently been confirmed as England's No.1 and has only a handful of caps, a contrast to the English tradition of bringing established custodians like Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton or David Seaman to the World Cup.
But he has good feet, which is why Southgate ditched the unlucky Joe Hart, whose career has plummeted in the space of two years.
The three man defence will most likely Gary Cahill, John Stones and Kyle Walker. Cahill was only recently recalled as Southgate had second thoughts about his youth-first policy. The Chelsea central defender is the only man in the squad with more than 40 caps.
Slots in the five man midfield are still up for grabs, such is the green nature of the side. There will be one defensive midfielder - probably Liverpool's Jordan Henderson, though Eric Dier will run him close.
On on the flanks, little wing backs are the order of the day - Passing expert Fabian Delph and the nippy Kieron Trippier have just forced their way into contention while Ashley Young at 32 the oldest member of the squad, supplies the best crosses.
Moving towards attacking midfielders it seemed until recently inconceivable for Southgate not to pick the sublime Dele Ali, whose club understanding with Harry Kane is a plus.
But Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, whose direct running style like Jaime Vardy had him pencilled in as a supersub, has impressed more than anyone recently, leaving Southgate and the nation uncertain of England's starting lineup.
Jesse Lingard, a utility midfielder who albeit not blessed with world-class ability always gives 100% may well feature too.
The Achilles heel is the lack of vision in midfield.
The only playmakers available were ignored - Jack Wilshere because of fitness concerns and Jonjo Shelvey for reasons of team spirit. That leaves England without the killer ball, the sort which Paul Gascoigne used so well in Italia '90.
That void could be filled by Ruben Loftus-Cheek who has promise and starred against Germany last year yet still has only four caps.
Whomever Southgate selects there will be a huge dose of inexperience involved, which can work well if you play without fear e.g. Michael Owen at France '98, or be your downfall when up against a well-oiled machine.
Do not expect great things of England this time. Southgate has only had two years for his grand projet of transformation as he was parachuted unexpectedly into the job when Sam Allardyce was caught in an unexpected sting.
The team has thus been imperfectly assembled and like all previous elevens, arrives jaded after a season without a winter break (a travesty only recently rectified by the Premier League).
Even Harry Kane, whose eye for goal gets sharper each season, failed to impress at Euro 2016 and looked exhausted. He is also England's only true striker, apart from Jaime Vardy and Danny Welbeck.
The bigger picture however is a push for Qatar 2022. By then Southgate's ideas should have become embedded, the fitness benefits of a winter break will help and the fruits of England's world champion U-17s and U-19s should be ready to pick.
For now, a quarter-final finish seems about right.