Belgium and England are expected to battle for top spot in Group G

World Cup Group G: Predictions, best bets and fixtures

Football

Sun June 17, 2018 · 6y ago

We analyse England’s group and assess their chances of progressing against Belgium, Tunisia and Panama.

We have all the latest odds, fixture list, verdict and team-by-team guides right here.

Odds

Fixtures

Monday June 18 – Belgium vs Panama (4pm, BBC), Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi

Monday June 18 – Tunisia vs England (7pm, BBC), Volgograd Arena, Volgograd (pictured, below)

Saturday June 23 – Belgium vs Tunisia (1pm, BBC), Otkrytie Arena, Moscow

Sunday June 24 – England vs Panama (1pm, BBC), Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod

Thursday June 28 – England vs Belgium (7pm, ITV), Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad

Thursday June 28 – Panama vs Tunisia (7pm, ITV), Mordovia Arena, Saransk

All times stated in BST, to see more about the locations click here for our stadium guide

Verdict

Gareth Southgate would have been relatively pleased with the draw considering his team managed to avoid the likes of Germany, Brazil, Argentina and France.

Instead Group G’s top seeded team is a highly talented but beatable Belgium.

While Belgium boast the talents of Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Mousa Dembele, they have the likes of Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli.

England have developed a clearer identity under the stewardship of Southgate and are arguably a more cohesive unit than the Belgians. Both teams will expect to beat Tunisia and Panama so they final group game could become a straight shootout for top spot.

Panama qualified for the first World Cup in their history by virtue of goal difference, and an upset of any kind is extremely hard to imagine as their price of 12/1 to get out of the group would suggest.

Tunisia on the other hand finished top of their qualifying group and remained unbeaten. That was, however, in arguably the weakest group in African qualifying and just 11 goals scored against the likes of Congo DR, Libya and Guinea will not be striking fear into the hearts of Southgate or Roberto Martinez.

Group G Prediction: (3/1 with Sky Bet)

1. England

2. Belgium

3. Tunisia

4. Panama

Best bets

England winner, Panama last place at 5/2

Jesse Lingard England’s top scorer at 10/1

Squads

Belgium | Full profile

Click on the image for all you need to know about Belgium ahead of the World Cup

Goalkeepers: Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg), Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool).

Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Thomas Meunier (Paris St-Germain), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur).

Midfielders: Yannick Carrasco (Dalian Yifang), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham Hotspur), Leander Dendoncker (Anderlecht), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United, pictured above), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Monchengladbach), Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Youri Tielemans (Monaco), Axel Witsel (Tianjin Quanjian).

Forwards: Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea), Nacer Chadli (West Brom), Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United).

England | Full profile

Click on the image for all you need to know about England ahead of the World Cup in Russia

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley).

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Harry Maguire (Leicester), Danny Rose (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Manchester United).

Midfielders: Dele Alli, Eric Dier (both Tottenham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea).

Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jamie Vardy (Leicester), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal).

Stand-by: Tom Heaton, James Tarkowski (both Burnley), Lewis Cook (Bournemouth), Jake Livemore (West Brom) and Adam Lallana (Liverpool).

Tunisia | Full profile

Click here for all you need to know about Tunisia ahead of the World Cup in Russia

Goalkeepers: Farouk Ben Mustapha (Al Shabab, Saudi Arabia), Moez Hassen (Chateauroux, France), Aymen Mathlouthi (Al Baten, Saudi Arabia)

Defenders: Rami Bedoui (Etoile du Sahel), Yohan Benalouane (Leicester City, England), Syam Ben Youssef (Kasimpasa, Turkey), Dylan Bronn (Gent, Belgium), Oussama Haddadi (Dijon, France), Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly, Egypt), Yassine Meriah (CS Sfaxien), Hamdi Nagguez (Zamalek, Egypt)

Midfielders: Anice Badri (Esperance), Mohamed Amine Ben Amor (Al Ahli Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), Ghaylene Chaalali (Esperance), Ahmed Khalil (Club Africain), Saifeddine Khaoui (Troyes, France), Ferjani Sassi (Al Nasr, Saudi Arabia), Ellyes Skhiri (Montpellier, France), Naim Sliti (Dijon, France), Bassem Srarfi (Nice, France)

Forwards: Fakhreddine Ben Youssef (Al Ittifaq, Saudi Arabia), Saber Khalifa (Club Africain), Wahbi Khazri (Rennes, France)

Panama | Full profile

Click on the image for all you need to know about Panama ahead of the World Cup in Russia

Goalkeepers: Jose Calderon (Chorrillo), Jaime Penedo (Dinamo Bucharest), Alex Rodriguez (San Francisco).

Defenders: Felipe Baloy (Municipal CSD), Harold Cummings (San Jose Earthquakes), Erick Davis (Dunajska Streda), Fidel Escobar, Michael Murillo, Adolfo Machado, Luis Ovalle, Roman Torres (Seattle Sounders).

Midfielders: Jose Luis Rodriguez (Gent), Edgar Barcenas (Cafetaleros de Tapachula), Armando Cooper (Universidad de Chile), Anibal Godoy (San Jose Earthquakes), Gabriel Gomez (Bucaramanga), Valentin Pimentel (Plaza Amador), Alberto Quintero (Universitario).

Forwards: Abdiel Arroyo (Alajuelense), Ismael Diaz (Deportivo La Coruna), Blas Perez (Municipal), Luis Tejada (Sports Boys), Gabriel Torres (CD Huachipato).