World Cup 2026 preview: Groups I-L – Football Weekly

This is the Guardian. Hello and welcome to the Guardian football week, the World Cup previews group I to L. A group L, how long before teams were in group Z, knocking it into Rose Z. England and the rest of group L can wait until the end as we continue alphabetically. Group I France and their squad goodness. But a tricky group, Senegal and Norway and a tough old draw for Iraq. All the sides in group J begin with A, Argentina, Algeria, Austria and Jordan. Okay, three of them do. Group K, Portugal, DR Congo, Uzbekistan and Colombia. And then group L, cantoucals boys do it. England, those Croatians, I don't have to say it. Ghana and Panama. This is the Guardian football week clean. All right, previewing these four groups, Johnny Lou, welcome. Hello, Bonjour, Sava, Philippe O'Claire. Sava Mofiou. And hello, Barragale Denning. Bonjour. Okay, then group I, France, Senegal, Iraq and Norway, France managed to steal by DDA Dayshon, one at of course, in 1988 and 2018, runners up last time. And then a goal managed by Papcho, got the quarterfinals in 2002 last 16 last time out. Iraq managed by the Australian Greyemarnal, best ever is the group stages. And Norway managed by Stal, Solbacken, got to the round of 16 in 1998. France then, Philippe, very good squad. Isn't it Stasjon's fourth World Cup? Is he won you over yet? No. But it doesn't care because it's one of the things which are far more important than me. I think when you say squad, I think you have to qualify that a little bit because first of all, there's the bad news that William Salida has on his back and that he might not be available for the first game at least of the World Cup. So that's which is a bit of a pity because he's probably our best, I was conceivable, playing centre back. Other than that, it's a team that's very heavily, I mean, when you look at it, it's completely unbalanced by which I mean the attacking potential of it is absolutely frightening and the defence can be a bit frightening as well from time to time because it is not very well balanced. And I would also say that our midfield is nowhere as strong as it has been in the past. When you have to rely perhaps on Goluk Kante at the age of 35 to hold everything together through a minute, it didn't have the greatest of seasons. I don't need to tell you who Brabue is. But going forward, it's true that if you can be embarrassed by riches, France is hiding under the carpet because it's just insane. Even with Yiguit, Ike Tike missing, who probably would have been playing, probably on the left wing, had he been fit, but still, you know, when you've got the like some Bappé and D'Embéli and Barcola and Desiré Dway, who was absolutely brilliant by the way in their last war game and. Who starts? Who starts? Who starts? Who starts? And Ryan Cherky. Oh yeah. It's a big problem because, well, it's not a big problem. It will depend on the kind of tactical setup that D'Essan uses. You would imagine that there are some players that he will not be able to leave out and that's D'Embéli and Bappé and I would say myself, Michael Oli say, but I'm not even sure about that. It would be possible, perhaps, if Killian accepted to go on the left wing rather than stay in the middle to have a team like you would have Bappé and D'Embéli Dway and Oli say behind them, which I have to say, quite like the sound of that. And with the possibility of Cherky coming from the bench as a number 10, plus Barcola as a joke, you think, that's brilliant. So yes, it's who do you leave out in attack? But I maintain that we do have problems at the back. Honestly, players like D'Ebéli and Ibrahim Aconate do not really inspire confidence. Again, had pretty difficult season in the case of Conate. There is still the problem of right back, despite the best, you know, Jules Cunde being very good in some ways, in many ways, in fact, and people were actually saying, maybe we should have one Zérem Rieblinger that, you know, it's the defense in the midfield for me are not as strong as they have been in the past. Attacking wise, yes, it's probably one of the strongest French team ever on potential and paper, but it's not a balanced team. And that's why I don't think that France can be seen as the out and, you know, out, out favorite for the competition. What do you think, Johnny? I think Philippe's right in a lot of ways. I mean, this is, I mean, I think it was a few months ago when they played some, did he get a Columbia and day Shumps get asked about, about bolstering the midfield and he sort of makes a joke about, oh, he's an attack in coach now. I've been holding them back long enough, which is nice, but it's also the sort of thing coaches start to say when, well, actually they've got what I on their legacy. You know, there's a sort of, is it hard to say there's like a Southgate 2024 vibe to all this? Obviously, we know day Shumps leaving after this tour and we know Zadan is coming in and we know that there is a huge amount of pressure domestically for for day Shopt to get the most out of this incredible wealth of attacking talent. And, you know, we got a, I think we got a taste of what that might be like and this, this front four that people assume is going to be the first choice front four, at least say, Dembele, Duet and Mbappe. They've already actually started one game together before, which was the nation's league semi-finally against Spain last summer. And if you remember what happened then, they went four-neil down, they were absolutely overrun. And obviously, you know, a lot of water under the bridge since then, but I think it just underlines the delicacy of that balance, the delicacy that they shop actually has struck so well in previous tournaments in providing that firm platform. And now we're in this place where the questions are, how much structure do they actually need, how much freedom should they be given? I think the talent in that squad gets them to quarter-final semi-final without too much trouble, actually, they are simply that good and their highest level, the level of football they're capable of playing is so high. But against teams that can really hurt them, that can play against them with genuine freedom and invention, I do wonder whether that defend is going to hold up against really, really elite opposition. One thing as well is that I think the most fluid and fluent performance I've seen from France recently was in the friendly against Colombia. You know, they went to America, they played Brazil with what I would call the A team and then he used the A+B players for the game against Colombia, wearing, by the way, the most magnificent kit I've seen of French team play in for a very long time, reminiscent of the 1982 legendary team and they looked fantastic. But anyway, my point being that it was the most fluid and fluent performance and who was starting, actually, Cherkien, Acleush, both started that game. And they played with a freedom, I mean, one touch football, it was absolutely extraordinary, it was like watching, you know, one of those 80s team, or perhaps a 2000 team as well. And this is when the Ziré Dwyard used to score his first two goals for France. So and I left, I finished watching the game thinking, well, I don't know exactly where I stand with this team because most of the people have just seen one of the players who have been so convincing would probably not be in the team that will start the tournament in America. So these are choices that they're sure it's going to have to make. And I'd like to, you know, I'd like to hope that this being his last tournament for France is going to take the hand breaks off and be perhaps a little bit more, I don't know, encourage his players to be a bit more. Because he our dealers, be more angst, post a coagulist. Yeah, be more, be more Aussie, be more Aussie. But you know what, I don't think that's going to happen. No, but below France, we presume they'll win the group and then how do you see it? I think Senegal finished second, they have a rock solid defence, they only conceded two goals in seven games that Afcon, which they won then didn't win and now as we've established, we don't know what they might win it again. They have a big mix of experience and use. So tournament know how in the form of Sadio Mani, Caledoucoulo Ballet, Drissa Gannagay, Edward Mendi and then they've like a trio of teenagers that have been chucked into the squad of San Edgel, Ibrahim Imbei from PSG and Balsapoto, Yai from Biron Munich, apologies for the mangled pronunciations, I don't think I've done very well there. But I think they are the African team that is most likely to go deep into the tournament and probably too good to be referred to as their courses. I was wondering, Philippe, is there match so they open against France? I think France might not necessarily win that game and it could even lose a book, is that a big needle match? it's certain he is. And all the more so that Peptue or the manager was in the team of the 2002 World Cup. He didn't play against France, but he gave the pass to Orichamahau, which the Golden Gold, which enabled them to be Sweden. But he wasn't that group of players, the Bruno Metzui group of players. So yes, there is Needle. It's, by the way, it's not unpleasant Needle, there's just a very competitive issue. The nice Needle. It's a nice Needle. But I'm not absolutely sure. That France will finish top of that group at all. And I would just say, when I see that group, I really regret the fact that the eight best placed third teams will go through. Because if it were only two out of four, this group would be absolutely monstrous. Senegal are really, really tough. And when you've got a front line with NDI, Jackson and Manny, and you realize that's not even what they're the strongest, but as Barry said rightly, their defense, which is just crazy. And we've seen as well, you know, what they did in the Afcon. They're basically with Moral Co. the best African team in that single. So I would say Senegal, I've got the chance. And they've got the chance to top that group. If they start well against front, absolutely. And as well, Johnny, you've got Norway who do have Harland supported by Saul Oth and Strand Lars and Big Man, Big Man, Big Man with, you know, Erdogan behind them. Like they are a top heavy team, and I was mentioned at the other day, but that is not a team you want to play against, particularly. No, absolutely, no. I mean, I think a lot of people are talking them, talking them up as dark horses. The famous tournament Dark Horse, which is probably putting the kiss of death on them. But they were the top scorers in qualifying. We know what they did. The way they tore Italy apart in qualifying was frightening. So this is a squad that obviously marshalled and led by Harland and the threat he creates goes into this tournament with a huge amount of hope and quite a bit of expectation, actually. They're actually not actually that many precedents for a team that, I mean, the Omen's for a team that hasn't competed in the World Cup for so many years. And there have been quite a few of these teams over the years. I remember Peru coming in, in, you know, right, really fancied in 2018, Canada as well. There aren't that many precedents for a team coming back to the World Cup after such a long layoff and doing well. Then you Turkey in '02, you'd say, it's perhaps the only real outlier. But generally, the tournament know-how is such a huge deal. And you wonder if Norway get to a big knockout game or whether that lack of tournament know-how is going to sort of derail them. But they do have so much talent as an Ode Garden and Santa Barrier and Nusso and Oscar Bob as well. It's a really, really, really stacked team. I have to, well, confession, I'm speaking to you from Oslo. So, where Norway beats Sweden Noblesseid. So you're Nobel Prize finally believe? I have actually been put up in the hotel when Nobel prizes stay, which I could not afford if I had, before I went as invited to that conference. But there you go. In any case, more importantly, Norway beats Sweden last night. It was basically the farewell game before they flew off to the World Cup. And they left Martin Udojard on the bench, obviously. Elling Holland didn't play there, but Stranglassen scored two, and Norway were really good, very, very good. And what really is impressive is that how relaxed it seems to be. You know, even in this country where people are very critical towards football, as you know, Norwegian fans, I've got very strong views about the World Cup. I've got very strong views about sports washing and all this sort of thing. But they really, that team is really provoked them and output of, I don't know enthusiasm, which is quite remarkable and which doesn't seem to have got to them at all. They seem to be totally relaxed in that role. And they are, well, okay, are they dark horses? I don't know. Are they a little bit not as light as other horses? Probably. But there is a really fun, wonderful dynamic in momentum behind them right now. And I think they're more balanced and more complete that perhaps they're given credit for or not given credit for. But as a word on Iraq, I mean, the scenes are back down, they call it quite unbelievable. Australian Graeme Arnold, the manager, but this is a they've been given quite a tough little role here. That's for sure. And I think weirdly, if they can get a result, it's unlikely. This could be one of the groups where it doesn't go through. Which would be remarkable because when you look at it on the face, you just go, oh, I was going to France, Senegal, Norway, through. But Iraq, it's the first World Cup for 40 years. They'd be Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff to get to it. Graeme Arnold is a good coach. They've got this awful draw. I reckon they would be happy with a point. A win would be excellent and could really put the cat among the pigeons and get now the group of either stuff or the absolute dreams, but it seems so unlikely. Group J, then Argentina, Algeria, Austria and Jordan. Argentina managed by Lionel Skalone for West Ham fans, 1878, 86. And of course, last time out, 2022, Algeria managed by Vladimir Petkovich. Best ever is the round of 16 in 2014. Austria, that's where Ralph Rannik is, came third in 1954. And Jamal Salami manages Jordan, their first appearance at the World Cup. This journey seems like a pleasant draw for Argentina. Yeah, it is actually. And which is, I think, quite a good thing for them because we saw how slowly they started four years ago where Saudi Arabia, let's be real almost put them out in the first weekend. And Argentina has spent, they spent the last two or three years playing quite a lot of what I'd call joke friendly. You know, they've been playing teams like Australia and Beijing and Indonesia and Puerto Rico. Basically, what they've done is they've tried to take their most bankable asset on like a US tour. It's basically like a spring steam tour. They've tried to play every city in the US and they've taken them to New Haven and Sacramento and Fort Worth, whatever. And it creates a bit of an issue really because, first of all, it's allowed them to sweat their most bankable asset, the most famous plane and pretend they're acclimatizing for the World Cup. But it's hard to see any point where they've been remotely tested in any of these friendlies, which makes it kind of hard to gauge where they are as a team. The spine of it, the continuity from four years ago, I think 10 of the 11 started, basically everyone except Maria from the 2022 final is in this squad. So obviously, Skolod is gone for continuity there. And this essentially a squad that's four years older. Martinez is four years older. Messi is four years older. Tally Fiko is four years older. I saw a clip, like a couple months ago, of Otomendi, who may well start for him in central defense, getting put on the floor for Ben Fiko by some teenager called Oscar, P. H. F. Skie. And looking like every day of his 38 years. Yeah, essentially, in his 38 years old, Otomendi is 38 years old. And he could end up starting in central defense for the defending champions. So the formula, I think, is pretty clear that they're going to use their nows and they're going to use their platform and their stability to suffer and sweat and take teams to the places they don't want to go. But it's really hard to gauge what their highest level is because we haven't really seen. We haven't really seen them play at a high level. It's the last cup of America. Yeah, and I wonder, Bazz, will Messi become an issue like Ronaldo? He can't play like Messi used to play. But he isn't Ronaldo, you know? I don't think he's as petulant and self-indulgent as Cristiano Ronaldo. That is my bar. Need to have his minutes managed. He will need Hule in Alvarez and Lataro Martinez to help him out. Step up, take some of the weight off his shoulders. This Argentina team, as Charlie said, the content is usually strong, but there's a real end of an era of feel about this. I'm feeling they might not do very well. But they're obviously in with a shout. They're over and here's the runaway favorites. They were last time, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had a very fairly exit. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a couple of very strange results in that group, to be honest. I think it's in, it looks like Argentina and three others, but I think it's a bit more unpredictable than that. I'm really quite curious to see what this Algerian team is going to do with Petkovich, who is somebody who talk about big tournament experiences, got it. You look at some of that's the Algerian squad. I'm still Captain Barry at Maraise by the way. There are some absolutely terrific players, and I mean absolutely terrific players. And I really don't know what exactly to expect of them. For me there are a bit of an unknown quantity. And also I look at this Jordanian team and I know everybody's going to laugh at them. But I have a look at what they did at the end of last year in the Arakka. I was absolutely fantastic. There were only beaten in extra time by Moralco after beating Saudi Arabia and Egypt, who are two powerhouses. They had a fantastic tournament. That was just a few months ago. And we have very, we don't know those players. I mean apart from perhaps there's one who plays for a switch down. Who is on the if switch down books, which is not by the same thing as playing for a switch down. Sure. But yes, but they are a team that could surprise people. And this group for me looks like I don't really know what's going to happen, which is wanting to look forward to. And I do think as well that this is a Argentinean team doesn't feel me with the most confidence to be honest. Johnny, you go with that. I think so. I mean, obviously you look at Jordan as the outsiders, Algeria, like we say. They actually have a good predegree. They have a good squad. Austria are the team that can really hurt them. We know how they're going to play on the Ralph Ragnar. And that game against Argentina, the Argentine Austria game in Dallas at a new local time. It has real epic potential. They've got Marco and Altevej in what's almost certainly going to be his last tournament. They've got all of the guys like Marcel Sabitzer and Conrad Lymer and Kevin Danso. And so if they can adapt, if Austria can adapt their style of play to the conditions that they're going to face this summer, and they won't be able to play their incredibly high energy, high pressing style, they won't be able to press high and play like and run like demons for 90 minutes. If they can adapt, I think they have a squad that potentially could top the group but certainly could bloody the noses of one of the tournament favourites. Well, just one thing about Altevej, they have to cover almost 5,000 kilometres, jump in two town zones in their three qualifying games, which is I think well over twice the distance. Anyone else has to travel. I don't know if that will be an issue in these days of luxury first class, private planes and whatnot. But it is possibly worse than Orton, not so Austria, Paul Weiner from PSV and Karinie Chokumeka and Borussia Dortmund, X-Aston, Villain, Chelsea. They've just declared for Austria having previously played underage football for Germany and England respectively. Interesting and that'll do for part one. We'll do group K in part two. Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly. So group K, Portugal, DR Congo is Beckerstown and Colombia. Portugal managed by Cristiano, managed by Roberto Martinez, concert in 1966. Last time I got to the quarterfinals, DR Congo, managed by Sebastian Desibari, best in the group stage of Zaire in 1974. As Beckerstown managed by Fabio Canavaro. That's where he is. Colombia managed by Nestor Lorenzo, got to the quarterfinals in 2014 and the round was 16. Last time they were in the tournament. Portugal then, as they do look so strong, don't they? Was it Mark Langdon predicting they might win the whole thing? Yeah, they look brilliant. The squad looks absolutely formidable. But and it's the massive obvious bot, but there's no gate around it. Cristiano Ronaldo is still hanging around. That squad like an eggy farrot. And I just think his presence is incredibly damaging. Roberto Martinez keeps picking him. I don't know why I guess he's having pressure put on him by both Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese F.A. Because he must know, he must know that the presence of this man, this monstrous ego is detrimental to the squad. Now in the very unlikely event that someone can sit Cristiano Ronaldo down and say, mate, you're going to be a fringe player. Just get behind the lads. You will get minutes. There's no reason why they couldn't go and win this tournament. There's unpapered their squad is as good as any other, I think. But yeah, that's the massive, massive question mark over this squad. Yeah, and you look at the rest of it, you know, Bruno Fernandez, Vittinia. That and a slightly smaller question mark. Xiao Felix is obviously still there. Which Xiao Felix turns up. The prolific Xiao Felix of the Joe Felix it looks like he's never played football before. You look at their squad, Johnny. Vittinia, Joe Neves, Rapolo, Yao, Benardo, Silva, you know, Mendez, etc, etc. But do you go along with that, his assessment? Look, I've had so much fun with Cristiano Ronaldo at tournaments over the last few years. I remember when he got dropped against Switzerland four years ago. I took great pleasure in writing a sidebar from the game that didn't mention him once. It was all about Gonzalo, Ramos. It was all there. And finally Portugal bring on their big man at the end and Rafael Laiar gets his goal. So and then a couple of years ago, I wrote, you know, when they went out to France, I wrote about, I called him the chain wrapped anvil that will bring them all down. And, you know, I think that's the, basically the popular view these days outside Portugal. I actually, weirdly, I believe it a little bit less than I used to. First of all, you have the nation's league finals lost, lost summer where Ronaldo does, he does play a big part. He scores against Spain in the final. He scores the winner against Germany in the semi-final. The goal, you know, the goal against Germany comes from a fierce Ronaldo press, which I didn't think, you know, I didn't think it possessed him. No, it's no Wilson. I know. If you watch the goal, if you go back a few phases, Ronaldo charges down, charges down the keeper, and they win that possession, he's, I think he is prepared to knuckle down a little bit. You know, he's sharing the freakic duties at Al Nasser with Jral Felix, which I think is a good sign. And I think if he does, if Barry says, if he does accept a reduced role, or the fact that he's not necessarily going to be the star of this team all at the time. And they're all kind of signs that that is happening. That he sort of recognized that this might, this is probably, you can't, you can never say certainly, this is probably his last World Cup. And, you know, whether there's this kind of messy effect where everyone else says, let's win this one, let's run like bastards to win this one for him. And, you know, which is, I got a bad reason to want to win a World Cup from an outside perspective, but does kind of have a weird internal logic to it. And the other factor is, who does play up front if Ronaldo doesn't? Because obviously, you know, we're talking about the talent that's stacked in every other area of the team. But, you know, if it comes down to it, do you really want, you know, Gonzalo Ramirez has had, you know, very, nothing kind of season, that PSG Jral Felix obviously, you know, Rafael Laias, you know, international scoring record is terrible. Ronaldo will have a role to play. And, you know, when it comes to, you know, marshalling that six to 18 yard, you know, area, there's actually nobody, nobody you'd want, a few players you'd want more in that, in that, in that position. It's amazing. Well, it's amazing. It comes just to Johnnie, I think that everything I thought before we started this preview is wrong. Your son, very convincing, John. I can bits myself. I mean, you know, we've all got this kind of orthodoxy now. I do think that Gonzalo Ramirez would be a better option than Christian or Ronaldo, this big said, you know, like climbing down from that little cloud. The other thing, part of the problem for me is the fact that I don't think that they've got the manager who is going to deal with that question particularly well. When you've got a manager who hates confrontation, absolutely hates it. Even more than you, Max, which is saying something, he hates to put, you know, to roll the roll. I love confrontation. Yeah, yeah, you do. He is more than a diplomat. It's a bit of a polyanna, really. So, therefore, it's not going to dress this. It's always going to be able to fall back on. Well, look at his, look at Ronaldo's international record. Look how important he's been in the recent past with us and so forth. And then what the other players think about Christian or Ronaldo, actually, I don't think anybody knows because I don't think anybody would dare to say anything in Portugal about the great man because he would immediately find yourself being ostracized. On the other hand, if you're talking about great squad, this is the most balanced, most complete squad of them all. I include France, certainly, but I also include Spain in that. It's by far from one end of the pitch to the next, the most balanced. And the midfield is just insane. Really insane. Yeah, yeah. And actually, Barry, they do, the group looks friendly, doesn't it? Yeah, so DR Congo in the group managed by Sebastian. SAB, it's their first World Cup in 52 years. Obviously DR Congo massively populated country, but it's constant conflict there. Most of the players in European, born in Europe, they've got Erdogan Bessak, Axel Tunes, Abey, Johan Whissa, who has not had a good season by any standard since he's moved to Newcastle. They're a Brazilian team, they're tactically disciplined. I think much of their realistic path to the knockout involves getting a result against Colombia in the second game and then beaten Uzbekistan. And I don't think that's out of the question. Oh, they also have Sondralans, Arthur and Masawaku. Masawaku. Any thoughts on Colombia or Uzbekistan? Yeah, I mean, Colombia, about a couple of years ago, went on this incredible run. Between about 23 and 24, they'd be Spain, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, I think maybe Mexico, they reached the final of the Copper America. And at that point you say, this is actually a legitimate contender. And what has happened to them since then, I don't really know, but I saw highlights of that France game where basically a first string Colombia loses, gets destroyed by a second string France. And it's really clear something's gone quite a rye in that team. They're not taking John Joran, John Joran. I think it's really sad, it's just lost all appetite for the game. And so they decided they couldn't take in the one-off training camp in Spain, they decided they couldn't take him. And what you have left is a team based around Hammer's Rodriguez who might even retire at the end of this tournament, they fall. And a mixture of, I think players who are a little bit past their peak, the guy's like Yeri Meena and Lewis Diaz who has been brilliant for Bayern this season, but is 29 and has played a full club season at high intensity. So it's a team that's low on confidence and maybe not entirely sure of their best starting 11, maybe not even entirely sure what their identity is anymore. So I think for the other two teams in this group, it could be kind of chaos. I'm really looking forward to this group because I don't think Colombia are going to perform like they like people are expected of them too. And D'Alcongo and Uzbekistan are the sort of teams that can create a lot of chaos in that group. Whoever wins this group gets a lot easier run or draw basically, brackets, I think is the word we're using these days, yeah, I mean just to carry from what Johnny was saying about Colombia, actually look at that squad. It's old, it's very old. There are only two players under the age of 25 in it, which is very old, especially in modern football and relying on players who've got tons of experience, but were on the wrong side of 34 for the most part. So and I, Johnny, I was also struck by how easily France dismantled them. So there were not probably famous last words, but this could be a pretty tough World Cup for Colombian supporters is the way I would put it. And finally, as Pakistan, beyond Fabio Canavaro, what have you got for us? Well, he was appointed after they qualified. Uzbekistan have a history of glorious failures and during misses when it comes to qualifying for the World Cup. They're at this one, Abdukadir, Kuschenov, Mancidi defender is obviously their best known player. They're expected to be a tough watch trying to grind out draws and nick goals on the break, but it would be a surprise if they finished anywhere other than bottom. All right, that'll do for Group K. We will finish our previews with Group L at England. Welcome to Part 3 of the Guardian Football Weekly Group L, then England. Croatia, Ghana, Panama, England, managed by Thomas Tukal. The best they've ever done is they won it actually in 1966. I got to the quarterfinals last time, Harry Kane putting that penalty over the bar against France. Croatia, managed by Zlatko Dalic, runners up in 2018, came third last time. They're in defatible and they're in a good ball. Ghana managed by Carlos Quiros. Got to the quarterfinals in 2010. Of course they did. We will remember that game. Not down the group stages last time. Panama managed by Thomas Christensen have been there once before 2018. Let's start with England then. Davies, is this the most settled starting in England? I've had going into a World Cup. Yeah, people keep moving the goalposts on England. They are, you know, 2018, the rap on England is that they always underperform at Tournament. 2018, you've reached semi-finals. Oh, but you didn't play anyone. You didn't play anyone good. So you never beaten anyone good. You lose to the first big nation. You come up against Euro's 2021. They beat Germany and they reached the final. Yeah, but you want hope soil. You can't really answer. It's this sort of thing where nations become bad by virtue of having been beaten by England. So 2022, they play brilliantly against France and the quarterfinals and they're a penalty kick away from potentially going all the way there. Yeah, but you know, you're full of short again. And then Euro 2024, they reached the final. Like very unlikely. Oh, yeah, but you know, again, you didn't beat anyone good because you know, Netherlands aren't a big footballing nation anymore. And also you play terribly. It basically comes down to this. And if they win, then the whole thing is, you know, the whole project almost is vindicated. And I think I've taught myself into this. I think they will. And I think because when I'm looking at teams going into an national tournament, I'm always asking, what's their motivation? What's their greater purpose? What is their why? And it's kind of struck me with England that there's a real kind of purpose, sense of purpose, almost arrogance to them now. We are the best league in the world. We are the, you know, the center of the footballing universe. And now's the time to prove it. They have, you know, maybe not the best squad in terms of talent, but I really love the way that Tuchel has plotted out every area of the pitch and every kind of possible scenario that he's picked a squad that is calibrated to the demands of a tournament. They know how to keep the ball now. They're pretty good at keeping the ball to the point of view where, you know, to the point where people start to say it gets boring, but they have the highest possession of of European qualified, which is going to be crucial in the heat. Declan Rice and Elliott Anderson and Drew Bellingham, if he starts one of the best midfields in the tournament. And they have the best striker in the world, potentially on current form. So there's, I see no reason why they can't do it. It's just, can they get over this, you know, the neurosis and the shit that people will throw at them and the kind of the circus that will follow them? I think that's the big unknown because I think they've got all of the keys this time. Barry, do you want to come anymore? I'm hearing that. Yeah, look, I'm obviously concerned. I think this is a really good England squad. I have very a lot of time for Thomas Tuchel as a manager. I suspect he will be better than Garrett Soutgate. And by the way, imagine my shot glass night, I was doing the washing up and I suddenly heard my own voice coming from the television. And I was in one of the opening scenes of the the drama, Dear England. Now, I don't remember giving anyone permission to that. I certainly haven't received a royalty check or a piece. They're not creative enough. They're not positive enough. No, I was talking them up. I was appalled. I'm sure they could have found an England journalist to do this. That's a job for Henry Winter, if ever. I saw one. But anyway, there I was. So, yeah, that was a shock to the system. I might have folded it up. You're in dear England. Anyway, that's by the by my concern. My main concern for England will be the conditions. The potential of a game against Mexico in Mexico in the quarter final. But otherwise, I get a great chance. What do you think, Philip? I agree with that. When I heard Barry say, my main concern for England, I think, is that England would win. I think that would be our top thing. Then we could have perhaps a little, I don't know if you're going to watch England's final game together. But we could have a replay of what you did in the past, which was. Well, of course. The jig, the chef's kiss, we know all the things. I just don't ever believe they'll win it. I don't ever believe they'll win it. I'm at peace with that. I don't think I'm just saying that to make myself feel better. But I agree with the other lads, Philip, that there is balance to this squad. There is a sense of purpose. There is not just picking all the attackers. There is a method with two. Yeah. It's a team of players of one, quite a lot of things with their clubs as well. It's a younger team as well. There have been some pretty sharp calls from two-hole. When he [BLANK_AUDIO] discord. There were the right choices, by the way, perhaps the only thing you would, you know, actually, let's not squabble about that. And the fact is he will be in a situation that I think New England manager has been in before in terms of his own relationship with the old country. He doesn't give a toss about it. He is, yeah, he will not be ruffled by anything that's going to be put in the papers. Absolutely not. And I think he will be, this will have an impact on the players as well. And honestly, yes, I'm sorry Max, but they're my favorites for the tournament. Really? They are. Absolutely. It's the momentum, you know, it's, it's the momentum. We shimms to be, there seems to be a right feel around that team. And it's got, yeah, it has the right ingredients. People used to say, well, they don't have the central defenders. Well, actually, no, they do. Oh, they don't have a defensive midfielder. Well, yes, they actually do. And forward the terrific and blah, blah, you carry on. No, can do it. Absolutely. Do you think belling him starts, Johnny, over Morgan Rogers? I don't think so. I mean, I think he's, he's too kind of shown that he's, he's willing to, to call the sacred cows, you know, I think, leaving out Foden and, and Karl Palmer was just, it was just, I know it, it made sense, but it was such an incredible, it's an incredible thing for an England manager to do. And, and I think, he, you know, he won't have any, any compunction in, you know, leaving belling on the bench or, or subbing Harry Kane off after 60 minutes, if he's, if he's having a stinker, he's, I think he's, he's got the authority and he's got the record and he's got, I think, you know, the stubbornness and the bloody wideness to do that. And I mean, we've talked about the score a bit before, Barry, but I suppose, you know, there are, there are a few surprising, you know, Dan Bern and Jordan Henderson seem to be in as just sort of, you know, good lads. I, maybe that is not fair. You could see Dan Bern being brought on if they're one, they'll down with 10 minutes to go going, look, be a centre back when you're defending, but like, cause some problems up there. Ivan Tony is well as a really interesting select. I think Ivan Tony is a great pick. We take perfect penalty. There's no better penalty taker than him around anywhere. And it looked, this English thing of Nick picking over fringe players who probably won't get a minute, or, you know, anything more than a handful of minutes. It's just ludicrous. I don't really want any power to, but the only selection I have any problem with is the mission of Adam War. And I think he's just a terrific player, but he's not there. So there's no point worrying about him. I think England's first team is excellent. They've got seven good, you know, excellent replacements ready to come on if things get too hot or if they need to change things up. As Philippe has said, Thomas Tuchel doesn't care about any of the sideshow nonsense in the media or the silly questions, press conferences. He doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. He's not enamored to big names or star players. I think it's a great formula for success. The other thing, it might be just an impression, but my impression is that this England team will arrive at the World Cup in a much better state physically than what I was expecting. So I think there will, I think quite few of us would be worried about the effect of burnout, super long season, the Premier League, clubs going quite far in European competitions, at least Arsenal and Filippe Palace and so on. But that doesn't seem to be really the case. And when you look at the performance level of some of the key players in that side, Harry Kane is in absolutely astonishing form at the moment. Declan Rice is as good as it's been all season, which is really saying something. You're talking about really important players in this case. Even Morgan Rogers, who's played, I mean, over 50 games still looks sharp. It's a team that looks sharper than previous incarnations, which tended to arrive at big competitions with players who were either out of form or even carrying slight injuries. And this time, to help us decide it, players who are carrying slight injuries, I'm sorry guys, you're not going to make it. And that is another argument in their favor, especially given the climatic conditions in which the tournament is going to be played. It's the hope that kills you, isn't it? Tense as in what stage will Croatia get tired? Amazing. Barry Peresits is there, Kovacits is there, Kramaric is there, Modric is there. This is just glorious. Yeah, look, this team were runners up in 2018. They came third in 2022. Modric, Peresits, Kramaric, 462 caps, between them, still there. It's just incredible. They do have some young blood, Luka Vaskovich is 19 year old. He's been on loan at Hamburg from Spurs. He will be the heart of the defence probably alongside just called Varadiole. Martin Baterina from Como is sort of the air apparent to Luka Modric. Does Luka Modric start? I don't know, is he come on? Has he got 19 minutes in him? Probably not in the heat. But the presumption seems to be that they will finish second between them and Ghana probably. I think it could benefit England to finish second in this group rather than win it, but that's a bit of a gamble to try and finish second rather than first. But yeah, I don't really know what to expect from Croatia. They're obviously good players, but they are pushing on. What about Ghana, Johnny? How do you see them? Yeah, I genuinely don't understand why countries keep highly hiring Carlos Keros. Maybe one team has to have the one team has to have the one team has to have Carlos Keros. It's like who's turn is it? It's like the class Teddy. Who's Carlos Keros? Who takes the goldfish home for the summer holidays? Yeah, he's kind of weathered and he's got a slightly worn patch. I don't know. I mean, he couldn't get Egypt to the World Cup, couldn't get Colombia to the World Cup. Most recently at Oman, what is it about this guy's CV that makes a series of nations that this is our guy. This is the guy. Maybe it's the fact that he stood close to Alex Ferguson, the shimmering reflected glory. Look, they're not coming into this tournament in great form. Germany had a field day against them. Mexico had a field day against them. They've been, I think, in Wales doing their final preparations. Keros has been getting very antsy about all the Thomas party questions he's been getting. I would be surprised if they did well in this group or in this tournament. I would be surprised. We all know about the likes of Semenio, we all know about party. Jordan, are you? I think it's still hanging around there. But I haven't seen anything from them that really should give England or anyone else any course for pause. For me, Gana is one of those teams whose reputation, because of their name, is much brighter than what they actually have to offer. It's been the case for a very long time for Gana, who have always been the team that, of which so much was expected. I mean, back to the '60s when they didn't play in the 1966 World Cup, and the boy-cotted basically. When everybody says, "Oh, look at Gana, they're fantastic." It's always been like that. Generation after generation. This idea that Gana was somehow a kind of African superpower, I've taken hold, that's just not true. It's not true. Their team looks not particularly well balanced to me. I don't think they will make a deep impression on that tournament at all. I'm afraid. Can I just ask one thing for Luca Modrich? Because this tournament is the tournament in which Modrich is probably going to enter a very, very, very small club, which is the players who have got more than 200 caps for their country. He's on 196 at the moment. Messi's on 198. So there's only two. I mean, this Christian one, I'll always weigh ahead, 226. The second game is on 475. Yes. And so we could have two players coming into the 200 club. So who's the other one? Which is you say? Badal and Wutawa from Kuwait, who retired in 2022 and who's got 202 caps. Christine Sinclair has entered the chat, by the way. I know we're post-woke now, but has anyone got a line on Panama? Yeah, I don't think they're going to be the whipping boys. People probably expect them to be the guy out of group containing Bolivia. You're going to USA at the last Copa America. We got to the final of the Conquer Caffnations League. Their manager is Danish fellow Thomas Christensen, who I think had one appearance for Spain. I've that. That's what I've written down here. It was a long time ago. I wrote that down. But I presume it's correct. And yeah, I think I mean, their opener is against Ghana in Toronto. I'm not going to say they could win it, but if they did, it would certainly shake things up. Blimey, I just look Christine Sinclair, 331 games for Canada. So yeah, take that, Luke, got to keep going for the next 20 World Gups. I wouldn't put it past him. Quickly then, so Philip, you think Andrew? Will Wynn the whole thing? Yes, absolutely. And you, Johnny? Yeah, I've gone from France to Spain to France to England in the space of the last 10 days. So come back in a few days, but at the moment England. Barry, who are you tipping through the whole thing? French. Okay, Gombu, everybody? Philly? Well, Harry Kane, got to be logical here, Johnny. I'm going to Holland on the basis that he's playing a rock on the group stage, and Holland against a rock could be even more of a mismatch than some of the other encounters. Bath? In the absence of Christian Bentayker, my tactical guess for this one, which could badly backfires, Spain's, Mikael or your Zabble. Right. Jose Maria La Thallebel. Yeah. Okay, and then some dark horses then, Johnny? I'm going Ecuador. All right. Philly? It's the first time I think that they've been called dark horses. I'm going for Germany. Germany is a dark horse. Nobody talks about Germany at all. Funny that. That's true, but I still think they can't be a dark horse. They're always just a horse. Are they a bazze, Turkey? No, Ecuador or mine is well. Are you a Gly? Or a Senegal? I'm Heijen. No, Ecuador. And Barry, I mean, we've heard England will win it from Philippe and Johnny, where do you think England will go, Baz? Round of 16 eggs at the hands of Mexico. Right. Okay. I'm going to stay across. This was the last episode of Wishful thinking, starring Barry London. Finals on TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, Blue Sky, etc, etc. Keep listening to us all watching us on YouTube. Thank you, Philippe. Thank you very much, Max. Cheers, Johnny. Thanks. Cheers, Barry. Well, I hope you're smirking on the other side of your face in a few weeks. Let it be noted, Barry, that I didn't smirk. I'm not doing any smirking. I'll only smirk if and when. We live for the trophy and I maybe I don't think it'll ever happen. See you in LA, Baz. Football Weekly is produced by Ty Papula. Our executive producer is Joel Grove. Yeah, back for the World Cup. [BLANK_AUDIO]