England With the amount of talent in England's arsenal over the years, the Three Lions have always appeared to be one of the favourites before the start of a major international tournament. But their performance in the World Cup finals have often left the fans disappointed. England have not won a World Cup since 1966, even though they’ve seen a ‘Golden Generation’ during the 2000s which included David Beckham, Michael Owen, Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand who were all stars in their own right. The focus of the manager Gareth Southgate appears to be on forgetting the past and rewriting history. “We are nothing to do with the past. The past can inform us and help us but shouldn’t shape us. We have got to be our own team. This is a diverse team with different sets of skills. They have got a chance to make their own history," he said in an interview. The side had been impressive in the qualifying stages, topping the group with 26 points, although they hardly had any challengers in the group. England also impressed in the warm-up games, winning 2-1 over Nigeria and 2-0 over Costa Rica. With the likes of Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Raheem Sterling up front, followed by a midfield stacked with Jesse Lingard, Eric Dier and Dele Alli, England have yet another squad filled with superstars. But can they silence the critics this year, we just have to wait and see. (PREVIEWS: Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H) Belgium Eden Hazard. Kevin de Bruyne. Thibaut Courtois. Romelu Lukaku. Dries Mertens. Coach Roberto Martinez. Assistant Coach Thierry Henry. This is just a small piece of Belgium squad. On paper, ‘The Red Devils’ squad appears to be filled with some of the biggest names in modern day football. While Chelsea's Hazard and United's Lukaku pose a danger up front, the likes of City's De Bruyne, Spurs' Mousa Dembele add another dynamic pairing in the midfield. Despite injury to captain Vincent Kompany, Belgium has Barcelona's Thomas Meunier, and the Spurs duo of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld to hold up the back line. Behind them stands Chelsea's Courtois, who has been one of the best goalkeepers in English football over the years. No wonder, Belgium are regarded as the "dark horses". But in spite of the talent, the players have failed to work as a cohesive unit over the years, which saw them exiting the tournament in Brazil and the Euro Cup tournament in France two years ago, much earlier than expected. In warm-up games, Belgium finished with a goalless draw against Portugal and then defeated Egypt 3-0 to establish dominance. In spite of a few question marks on the unity int the squad, especially due to the political climate of the country, the side remains the favourite to challenge England for the top spot in Group G. Tunisia Tunisia appear to be an outsiders in the Group G, but with their recent friendly victories over Iran and Costa Rica, they find themselves in the 14th place as per the latest FIFA Rankings and can punch above their weight. Tunisia will be entering their fifth World Cup finals. In all their previous four attempts, they have not been able to go past the group stages, and have only won once against Mexico 3-1 in 1978. The North African nation have faced Belgium in the FIFA World Cup before, in 2002, a match that ended in 1-1 stalemate. They have also faced England back in 1998 and lost 2-0 against The Three Lions. Despite the previous results, this Tunisia team can pack a surprising punch with the likes of Wahbi Khazri and Anice Badri in their attacking roles. The injury to the creative playmaker, Youssef Msakni, who will miss the trip to Russia, though might hamper their hopes. Either way, a chance for going to the Round of 16 remain a distant possibility for now. Panama Not much can be expected from Panama in the FIFA World Cup 2018 as the South American nation make their debut in the biggest football tournament in the world. The side, in spite of the fore of experienced Blas Perez, who is the leading goalscorer for the nation with 43 goals to his name, Panama, are not expected to be a huge challenge for the remaining teams in the group. The ‘Los Canaleros’, will be heavily dependent on Perez and Ramos Torres, who scored the winning goal against Honduras that led to the country qualifying for the tournament in Russia. Panama's coach Hernan Dario Gomez knows his side will have a hard time booking a spot in the Round of 16. But he will hope, the inclusion of dynamic right winger Alberto Quintero, who has been the primary creative playmaker for the side in the qualification round, can get them just over the line, and shock the world. The side, though, have lost their friendly fixtures to Iran and Denmark, before going down 6-0 against Switzerland, since making it to the World Cup, which raises more question marks before the start of the tournament.
