Recent history suggests the outcome of Croatia's World Cup Group F opener against Morocco on Wednesday will give a good indication as to how far they can go at Qatar 2022.

After all, Croatia have lost their opening match in three of their five appearances at the World Cup, and on those occasions they failed to get out of the group.

In the two exceptions, they found themselves among the last four, with Zlatko Dalic guiding Croatia all the way to the final four years ago, ultimately losing to France.

While they may have been a little 'Jekyll and Hyde' in nature in the past, there is undoubtedly an underlying feeling of confidence ahead of the matchday one encounter with Morocco at Al Bayt Stadium, the scene of Qatar's 2-0 defeat to Ecuador on Sunday.

Much of the 2018 squad is no longer in the picture, but they still came through qualifying with relative ease and earlier this season topped a Nations League group also featuring Les Bleus and Denmark.

"We just need to take it game by game," striker Marko Livaja said.

"For us, our focus needs to be on the game against Morocco, where we'll need to give 100 per cent, and I think we have really good chances to repeat something similar to what we did in Russia."

Andrej Kramaric added: "We have quality and we can repeat the result from Russia, but it's stupid to talk about it and announce it.

"It's important that we pass the group, and then we'll see what happens."

However, Morocco will believe they can cause a stir after coming through their own qualification campaign in emphatic fashion.

The Atlas Lions won all six games in the second round of the CAF section, scoring 20 and conceding just once – both of which were the second best in the entire round.

They then thrashed the Democratic Republic of Congo 5-2 on aggregate in the third and final stage of qualifying, making them the only team to progress with a winning margin of more than one goal.

Their record at the World Cup is not spectacular, having only ever got out of their group once (1986) in five previous qualifications.

But this will be their second successive appearance at the tournament, a feat they have only accomplished once before, and head coach Walid Regragui clearly has talent at his disposal.

Arguably chief among them is Hakim Ziyech, who provided a reminder of what he is capable of with an outrageous goal from inside his own half in a 3-0 pre-tournament friendly win over Georgia last week.

The Chelsea midfielder, back in the fold after falling out with the previous coach, will be a key leader on the pitch and rallied the troops ahead of the tussle with Croatia.

"We know what we have to do to make everyone proud," he told Morocco's official YouTube channel. "I think for everybody it's a big stage now to show what we are capable of as a team and as a country.

"We are preparing properly. I think we were up to it against Georgia. We feel good, there is a good feeling within the team."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Morocco – Youssef En-Nesyri

While much of the focus will be on talents such as Ziyech and Achraf Hakimi, En-Nesyri will have a lot of the goal-scoring burden on his shoulders. Whether he can cope with that pressure is another matter.

The striker did net against Georgia last week, but generally the Sevilla player has been out of form for 18 months. He has not been helped by injuries, but he has also been wasteful, with his four non-penalty goals in 33 LaLiga games since the start of last season being significantly under his 7.2 non-penalty expected goals (xG) return.

He does have World Cup experience, though, and he will be aiming to become the first Moroccan player to score at two different editions after netting four years ago in Russia.

Croatia – Marcelo Brozovic

Dalic has routinely spoken about how Croatia will focus everything on making the most of their strength: the midfield.

Brozovic has established himself as one of Europe's best deep-lying playmakers over the past four years, and his work allows Luka Modric to push up slightly higher.

Although he has missed a chunk of the season with Inter through injury, Brozovic is averaging the third-most successful passes (60.1) and fourth-most interceptions (1.7) per 90 minutes among Serie A midfielders this term (minimum 350 minutes played), highlighting what he can offer on and off the ball.

PREDICTION

While Morocco certainly have players capable of troubling Croatia, the latter are unsurprisingly clear favourites for this clash.

According to Stats Perform's AI model, Dalic's side have a 47.8 per cent chance of starting their campaign with a win, despite their patchy past record in World Cup openers.

A draw is rated at 27.4 per cent, putting the likelihood of a Morocco win at a marginally lower 24.8 per cent. Nevertheless, it does suggest the Atlas Lions have a credible chance of at least getting a result.

Leroy Sane will miss Germany's World Cup opener against Japan with a knee injury, the German Football Association (DFB) has confirmed.

The Bayern Munich winger was absent from Die Mannschaft's final training session in preparation for the Group E fixture at Khalifa International Stadium on Wednesday.

The rest of Germany's squad took part in the session.

A DFB statement read: "The German national team must be without Leroy Sane in their World Cup opening game against Japan on Wednesday.

"The 26-year-old attacking player from champions FC Bayern Munich is unavailable against the four-time Asian champions due to knee problems. The remaining 25 players of the German World Cup squad took part in the final training session in Al-Shamal.

"After lunch, the four-time world champions' squad head to Qatar's capital, Doha, where captain Manuel Neuer and company will spend the night before the opening game."

While the loss of Sane, who has scored 11 times in 45 appearances for his country, obviously represents a blow, head coach Hansi Flick does have a wealth of attacking options to choose from with Serge Gnabry, Julian Brandt, Mario Gotze, Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala all available.

Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams believe the United States have every chance of beating England, with their confidence having not taken a hit in Monday's draw with Wales.

Pulisic supplied the assist for Timothy Weah's deserved opener at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium but the USA were unable to hold on in their opening World Cup game.

Walker Zimmerman's clumsy tackle on Gareth Bale handed Wales' talisman a chance he duly took, lashing home from 12 yards to send the large Welsh contingent behind the goal into raptures.

While Wales were able to celebrate snatching a point from what was their first World Cup game since 1958, the USA were left to lament not making the most of a bright first half.

The USA's expected goals (xG) of 0.66 far exceeded Wales' 0.17 in the first half, albeit they only had three attempts, despite having 66.7 per cent possession.

Pulisic, however, is confident that the USA can match England, who beat Iran 6-2 earlier on Monday, in their next Group B game on Friday.

"Absolutely. I think we have a good enough team to make it out of this group," he told reporters.

"England is our next test, we've got to be aggressive and go to win the game."

It was a sentiment echoed by captain Adams, who said: "Yeah, I think we match up well against them.

"Football is a game of inches, it comes down to mistakes or minimal details. We're obviously going to try and execute our game plan.

"We trust in the coach's ability to set us up well, but they're very flexible as well. At the end of the day it comes down to certain moments."

Head coach Gregg Berhalter fielded the USA's youngest team in a World Cup match since 1990, and Pulisic acknowledged there were nerves among the squad, with the nation having failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia.

"The nerves were there, we were all excited, but now we have to take this experience into the next one," Pulisic said.

"There's a lot of positives from the game in general. The team looks good. Now we have to figure out how to put that together for 90 minutes.

"A point in the first game is better than none. We have to move on, learn from this, it's a lot from our first game.

"I want to win. I'm very competitive. I love this team so much, I'm honoured to play in a World Cup for my country so the least I can do is give it all that I have."

Wales manager Rob Page was relieved to gain an "important point" in their World Cup opener against the United States, and praised Gareth Bale's intelligence in winning a second-half penalty.

The United States took a deserved first-half lead through Timothy Weah, though an improved Welsh side came back in the second and equalised via Bale's 82nd-minute spot kick.

The 1-1 draw leaves both two points behind England after the first games in Group B in Qatar after the Three Lions beat Iran 6-2 earlier on Monday, but Page was happy enough with a point and suggested his team were the ones who could have won it late on.

"It was a really important point for us," he told reporters at his post-match press conference. "I thought for the last 10 minutes if anybody was going to go on to get the winner it was going to be us as well."

Bale's penalty made him just the fourth player to score a World Cup goal for Wales after John Charles, Ivor Allchurch (two) and Terry Medwin, all in their 1958 campaign.

The Los Angeles FC forward had an otherwise quiet game, but once again stepped up when his country needed him, winning the penalty when he got across USA defender Walker Zimmerman and drew the foul.

"We've sort of evolved Gareth's position, put it that way," Page explained about his star player. "He can still play out wide, of course he can, but I like to give him the freedom to come inside and play off a frontman.

"He's very good at finding those spaces, he's intelligent, he's got a wise head, so he puts himself in those positions in the box to be able to get us penalties, and defenders commit to making tackles, and if they don't get their timing right in the box, inevitably it's a penalty." 

Welsh full-back Neco Williams played 79 minutes at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium and was visibly emotional at full-time, later revealing he had only found out last night that his grandad had passed away.

Williams posted on Twitter after the game: "Yesterday was the toughest news I've ever had to face and that was listening to my mum tell me my grandad past away last night.

"To go from crying all day to start in a World Cup game was extremely tough but I got through it from the support of my team-mates and family."

Wales face Iran in their second Group B game on Friday.

Argentina head to their first World Cup since Diego Maradona's death but the Albiceleste great will be there in spirit.

That was the message from Maradona's former agent Guillermo Coppola at the opening of CONMEBOL's 'Tree of Dreams' in Doha to celebrate South America's rich football heritage.

Lionel Scaloni's side are among the pre-tournament favourites in Qatar ahead of Tuesday's Group C opener against Saudi Arabia, searching for a first World Cup crown since a Maradona-inspired triumph in 1986.

There has not been a South American winner of FIFA's top tournament since Brazil in 2002, but Coppola hopes that will change for Argentina in their first outing since Maradona passed in November 2020.

"This is going to be the first World Cup that [Maradona] is not physically with us," said the 74-year-old. "But Diego will always be with us.

"The most precious good for Diego was the football. It wasn't life, which is the most precious good that human beings have.

"It wasn't freedom – to be able to decide and to do – which is the second one, the freedom for him was the ball.

"Where a ball rolls there is Diego, do not forget this, when you see a ball rolling say, there is Diego."

Argentina ended a 28-year wait for major silverware by beating Brazil in the 2021 Copa America final.

That makes this the first World Cup they enter as champions of South America since USA 94 and former Argentina captain Javier Zanetti expects his country to come out fighting as a unified group.

Speaking alongside World Cup winners Oscar Ruggeri and Mario Alberto Kempes, Zanetti added: "It means a lot to have a united, consolidated, solid group.

"I trust that Argentina is a group that came to Qatar knowing well what they want."

While Zanetti, now Inter vice-president, acknowledged the ill-timing of the November World Cup, he has little doubt Argentina will hit the ground running.

"We cannot know about the physical condition because this World Cup is atypical," the 49-year-old continued. 

"It is being played in November and many consecutive games were played recently, so there is a lot of fatigue.

"But in general, I trust that players and national teams will arrive in good condition."

Gareth Bale says it is "incredible" to be a World Cup goalscorer but admits he would trade his strike for three points after earning a late 1-1 draw against the United States.

The Wales captain rescued a point for his side with his 82nd-minute penalty after he was fouled by Walker Zimmerman, cancelling out Timothy Weah's first-half opener in Qatar.

It meant the spoils were shared at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, with Rob Page's side picking up a point in their first World Cup match since 1958, to sit joint-second in Group B.

Speaking afterwards, Bale – who now has 41 goals in 109 appearances for his country – acknowledged he was always going to take the crucial spot-kick, but says he would have rather not scored and still won.

"[It was] always me," he told ITV Sport on penalty duties. "[I had] no doubts in my head. I feel like I have to step up, and I'm happy to do so.

"[It is] incredible. But I'd rather have had the three points, to be honest. [It was] not a good first half. They played really well and we were poor.

"But a great talk by the manager at half-time changed a few things around and the boys came out fighting, like we always do. It showed character, we will go again."

Having struggled with fitness issues over the past year, including limited game-time at club level with Los Angeles FC, there were question marks over how much involvement Bale would have against the USA.

But the former Real Madrid forward played the full match, including a lengthy helping of additional time in the second half, which left him bemused.

"I was a little bit tired towards the end," he added. "I can't believe it was nine minutes added on – I don't know where that came from. But we have to dig deep for our country."

Wales next play Iran on November 25 before wrapping up their Group B campaign against England four days later.

Raphinha hopes Brazil will have reason to dance in celebration at the World Cup as he joked Tite's side have 10 routines rehearsed for goals.

Brazil are among the tournament favourites in Qatar ahead of their Group G opener on Thursday against Serbia as the Selecao aim for a first World Cup triumph since 2002.

Barcelona winger Raphinha was one of many to celebrate in support of Vinicius Junior, who was told in September by a Spanish journalist to stop dancing "to respect your mates and stop playing the monkey".

Gabriel Jesus, Neymar and Richarlison – all members of Tite's 26-man squad in the Middle East – were other notable supporters of Brazil team-mate Vinicius.

Raphinha appears a likely contender to start for the five-time world champions and he intends to give Brazil further reason to celebrate in style at the World Cup.

"To tell you the truth, we already have dances prepared for up to the 10th goal," an upbeat Raphinha said on Monday.

"We have some 10 dances prepared for each match, one for the first, one for the second, one for the third ... If we score more than 10, then we'll have to start innovating."

Pedro, Antony and Gabriel Martinelli are the other attacking options at Tite's disposal and Raphinha has no doubts Brazil will go out to play free-flowing football.

"With Vinicius we gain more speed on the attack, while with [Lucas] Paqueta we have more control near the midfield," former Leeds United forward Raphinha added.

"But Brazil has a characteristic of always being offensive-minded, no matter who gets to play."

Richarlison, like Raphinha, will be a World Cup debutant for Brazil after scoring 17 goals in his 38 appearances for the Selecao since his debut in 2018.

The Tottenham striker wants to produce performances befitting of the number-nine shirt handed to him as he aims to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Ronaldo Nazario.

"When you wear the number nine jersey with the Brazilian national team, all you want to do is score goals," Richarlison said. "With these team-mates, I'm sure the goals will come."

Neymar came into criticism for posting a photo with six stars on his shorts, referencing a hopeful Brazil triumph at the World Cup, but Richarlison has no problem admitting the Selecao's hopes.

"We are dreamers, we are going after this sixth star no matter what people are going to say," he added.

Wales had talisman Gareth Bale to thank once again as their captain won and scored a penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw with the United States at the World Cup.

The USA bossed the first half of Monday's encounter at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, but Bale – Wales' record goalscorer and leading marksman in major tournaments – stepped up when it mattered to ensure the Dragons' first World Cup match since 1958 did not end in defeat.

Timothy Weah had put the USA deservedly ahead in the first half, scoring in a World Cup when his illustrious father – 1995 Ballon d'Or winner George – was never able to play in one.

But Bale, largely anonymous before his late show, drew a rash tackle from Walker Zimmerman and duly smashed home the resulting spot-kick to seal a share of the spoils in Group B.

The USA should have been rewarded for a strong start inside 10 minutes as Josh Sargent hit the post with a close-range header after Wayne Hennessey had spared Joe Rodon's blushes, preventing an own goal.

But Wales caved to the pressure in the 36th minute. On a quick counter-attack, Christian Pulisic brilliantly found Weah, who coolly prodded past Hennessey.

Kieffer Moore's introduction in place of Daniel James was the catalyst for Wales’ improvement.

Ben Davies forced Matt Turner into a fine save with a diving header, with Moore heading over from the resulting corner.

With Brenden Aaronson fluffing his lines at the other end, Wales got their lifeline when Zimmerman clumsily lunged in on Bale, who – with eight minutes remaining – lashed home an unstoppable spot-kick into the right-hand corner, giving the huge mass of Wales fans behind the goal a moment to savour.

Lionel Messi begins his World Cup campaign on Tuesday against Saudi Arabia, whose head coach is looking forward to the challenge.

Herve Renard's men face Argentina in their Group C opener and the experienced French coach insists his team are not just in Qatar to make up the numbers.

All six of Messi's goals at previous World Cups have been scored in the group stages, while he has netted 12 times in 19 games for Paris Saint-Germain this season.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Renard said: "Cristiano [Ronaldo] and Messi are football legends and thanks to them, football is different. It's an honour to be here and play against them. 

"When there's a fight you have to be one hundred per cent motivated to beat the best. That's the beauty of sport. In sport, there can always be surprises.

"We have to be ready. Above all, we have to be very good in all three games, not only against Argentina. All three are equally important."

Saudi Arabia will come up against Mexico and Poland after taking on the Albiceleste in what appears an incredibly challenging task for Renard's men in Group C. 

While conceding it is unlikely Saudi Arabia will qualify, Renard insisted his team – ranked 51st in the FIFA rankings, one place below hosts Qatar – will "fight against the forecasts".

"We love it when they forget about us from the outside," he said. "We like this, that they consider us the smallest team. It doesn't matter to us. It's justified if we take into account the FIFA ranking. 

"I don't think we'll go to the next round but we're here to fight against the forecasts. In the World Cup, there are surprises and that is the mentality we have."

Louis van Gaal says the Netherlands will assess Memphis Depay's fitness following his cameo in their victory over Senegal.

The Oranje marked their return to the World Cup finals with a 2-0 win over the Africa Cup of Nations champions, with late goals from Cody Gakpo and Davy Klaassen sealing the points in Group A.

Depay began the game on the bench due to an ongoing hamstring issue, but was introduced for the final 28 minutes at the Al Thumama Stadium and the Barcelona forward will hope to feature against Ecuador on Friday.

"We had agreed before the game that he would play about half an hour," Van Gaal said of Depay, who has been limited to just two LaLiga appearances this season. 

"With Ecuador, he will want to play, but I have to assess his form after this game. I never thought we would lose and, with the entry of Depay, I wanted to have more chances to score. He is a player who can make the difference."

Van Gaal oversaw his 38th victory in charge of the Netherlands, the most by any manager in history, and praised the displays of Gakpo and goalkeeper Andries Noppert, who registered a clean sheet on his senior international debut.

But the head coach is seeking an improvement from his players as the tournament progresses.

"Gakpo was decisive, I left him inside because he knows how to score goals and is very agile," he added. "Senegal had three chances, but we have a goalkeeper who knows his stuff between the posts.

"We didn't play very well, too many times we gave them the ball and the chance to score. We had to be more compact. We can only improve, there was probably some tension between the players."

Memphis Depay was frustrated to be restricted to the role of a substitute in the Netherlands' World Cup opener, but he is confident of having a greater impact in coming matches.

Depay had been ruled out of Monday's match against Senegal in Louis van Gaal's pre-match news conference.

But the Barcelona forward appeared on the bench and was introduced in the final half an hour with the game still goalless.

Although Depay did not get on the scoresheet, he was involved in the build-up to both Oranje goals in a 2-0 win, with Cody Gakpo scoring the first before Davy Klaassen tucked away the rebound from the Netherlands number 10's shot.

Speaking afterwards, Depay said: "I feel good, I feel good, I feel fit. Obviously a player like me always wants to start from the kick-off, but this was the plan and now we focus on the next game.

"I'm sure that I'll feel better, and I'll work hard to find more rhythm. I'm happy that I could do a little bit of a part in 30 minutes today."

On Gakpo, who benefited from Depay's absence and was preferred to Klaassen, he said: "I'm very happy for him. He's a hard worker, he's very dedicated in his career. He's a young baller.

"I'm very happy. He's a great guy, a young guy, lots to learn, so I'm sure you'll see more moments like this."

Despite missing out on the XI, the stoppage-time clincher was also a big moment for Klaassen.

"It's a dream, of course," he said. "It's my first World Cup game, so to score your first World Cup goal and to win... you can't ask much more."

Klaassen was also asked about the OneLove captain's armband, which Virgil van Dijk had been due to wear until FIFA threatened sanctions.

The campaign promotes "inclusion and sends a message against discrimination of any kind", but those planning to wear the armband feared they would immediately be shown a yellow card.

"We're still behind the statement," Klaassen added. "FIFA forced us to not wear it, but the statement is still there."

Van Dijk himself did not appear impressed by discussion of the topic, saying: "You know exactly what the outcome was.

"Two hours before the England game, the news came out, and I was sleeping at the time. I had no influence on anything.

"I'm not dealing with the armband because I don't want to get a yellow card."

Jack Grealish dedicated his goal celebration in England's rampant 6-2 thrashing of Iran in their World Cup opener to a young fan.

Grealish came off the bench to score the Three Lions' sixth in the 90th minute as Gareth Southgate's side got off to a great start in Qatar.

The Manchester City man's dance after scoring caught the attention of fans and he explained after the match it was for 11-year-old City supporter Finlay, who has cerebral palsy, the same condition as Grealish's sister.

In a letter to Grealish earlier this year, Finlay said it would be a "dream" to meet him, and when the two did meet, the 27-year-old promised to dedicate his next goal to Finlay.

Grealish told BBC after his strike and celebration against Iran: "I met young Finlay before, about a month ago, and got on really well with him obviously having cerebral palsy like my little sister.

"He asked me to do a celebration for him and luckily for him, it came at the World Cup. That's what it's all about.

"For me, it's just doing a celebration but for him, that'll mean the world to him I'm sure, especially at the World Cup. Finlay, that one is for you."

Southgate praised Grealish after the game, telling reporters: "He's a lovely human being. He obviously has a situation with his own sister and that would mean that he's very aware of the power he can have.

"He's a kind person, so we're very fortunate. We work with a group of players who have a hunger to play, they're a pleasure to work with."

Cody Gakpo says the Netherlands "can do much better" after his late goal helped them to a 2-0 win against Senegal in their World Cup opener.

The Oranje needed a late intervention from the PSV man to get them over the line against the Lions of Teranga, before Davy Klaassen added a second in injury time.

It marks a winning return to the World Cup for Louis van Gaal's side, who missed out on the last tournament in Russia.

But despite a victorious start in Group A, Gakpo feels there is room for improvement after an otherwise scrappy performance.

"We weren't careful enough with the ball," he told broadcaster NOS. "I think we can do much better. We were good in our possession. We have to analyse this properly and take the good points to the next game.

On his goal though – a rare headed finish – Gakpo was more effusive, adding: "This gives you a good feeling. We were really looking for it as a team, so it's great that it still works!"

With a dearth of clear-cut chances throughout, it was a relatively painless debut performance for Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert between the posts.

The shot stopper was happy to get his first game under his belt, and believed the Oranje showed their mettle in taking victory despite a rough all-around game.

"It is special to make my debut," Noppert said. "You dream of this. I never thought it was possible. As a little boy, this is a dream – you don't assume it [will happen].

"Our game as a team was not good, but then it is great if you can still find a way to win. We want to go very far and become world champions. Otherwise, we shouldn't come."

France were many people's tip heading into Qatar 2022, having been so impressive when they lifted the World Cup four years ago.

On paper, they have the sort of team that would have most players of the FIFA 23 video game drooling, or at least, they did before injuries started to pile up.

Midfield pair Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante, both so crucial to their 2018 success, had already been ruled out, and in the days since head coach Didier Deschamps announced his squad, two more high-profile names have been forced to withdraw.

The loss of Christopher Nkunku was a blow despite the RB Leipzig forward being unlikely to start, his 48 goal involvements (37 goals and 11 assists) in 2022 only second to France team-mate Kylian Mbappe (57 - 43 goals and 14 assists) among players from Europe's top five leagues.

Then there was Karim Benzema's withdrawal, a significant one considering the 2022 Ballon d'Or winner scored a spectacular 44 goals in 46 games for Real Madrid in 2021-22, helping the Spanish giants win LaLiga and the Champions League.

However, if any nation can handle a double blow like that, it is surely France.

When it comes to the team selection in their opening clash with Australia, Deschamps will likely turn to the same trio he used at Russia 2018, with Mbappe alongside one or both of Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann.

Giroud has extra motivation, sitting just two behind Thierry Henry (51) as Les Bleus' all-time record goalscorer.

"Obviously I've got this target, this kind of bonus in my head to beat [Henry], but the main target as a team is to go as far as we can in the competition," the Milan striker said at a press conference on Friday.

France will need to improve on recent form though, having only won one of their six games in the UEFA Nations League in June and September (D2, L3).

Their first hurdle is an Australia team that only made it to Qatar by the skin of their teeth, needing a dramatic penalty shoot-out win against Peru in a play-off to advance.

Dancing substitute goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne was the hero that day, but head coach Graham Arnold will need inspiration from elsewhere if the Socceroos are to improve on their World Cup record.

They have been eliminated from the group stage in four of their five previous appearances, progressing only in 2006, when Arnold was assistant to Guus Hiddink.

Australia have won just 13 per cent of their matches at the World Cup (two of 16); only Bulgaria (12 per cent - three of 26) have a lower win rate among nations to play 10 or more games at the finals.

They have also suffered an injury blow of their own, with Martin Boyle pulling out after failing to recover from a knee problem. Melbourne City winger Marco Tilio has replaced him, and Arnold is backing the 21-year-old to step up.

"Marco has done everything that has been asked of him to be ready for this tournament," Arnold said. "He was an important member of our Tokyo 2020 Olympic team, he has started the A-League men's season well and he is familiar with the national team set-up and we are looking forward to what he can bring to our squad for the tournament."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

France - Kylian Mbappe

Losing players like Nkunku and Benzema is never a good thing, but the blow is softened when you can still turn to arguably the most electric attacker in world football.

Mbappe played a key role in France's World Cup success of 2018, scoring four goals in seven games in Russia. During the tournament, the young French star not only became his country's youngest ever goalscorer at a World Cup (19y 183d), but also, only the second teenager ever to score in a World Cup final after Brazilian icon Pele did so v Sweden in 1958.

He has also been near unstoppable for Paris Saint-Germain this season, with 19 goals in 20 games for the Ligue 1 giants.

Australia - Mat Ryan

Not just because Australia are likely to face a lot of shots against the world champions, but Ryan also brings experience that this side sorely need.

The former Valencia and Arsenal goalkeeper has not featured much for Copenhagen this season, with Kamil Grabara preferred, but he played all 11 of Australia's third and fourth-round matches in AFC qualifying for the World Cup.

Ryan is also set to appear in a third World Cup for Australia, the most of any goalkeeper for the nation. Should he feature in all three group games, he will move level with Mark Bresciano and Tim Cahill on nine World Cup appearances, the most for the Socceroos.

PREDICTION

Unsurprisingly, France are relatively overwhelming favourites to start with a win.

According to Stats Perform's AI model, Les Bleus have a 73.4 per cent chance of taking all three points, with Australia given just a 10.6 per cent chance.

The draw comes in at 16 per cent, which cannot be discounted given France's injuries and questionable form heading into Qatar.

Yunus Musah became the first teenager to be named in the United States' starting lineup for a World Cup match ahead of their Group B opener against Wales on Monday.

Having missed out on qualification for the tournament in Russia four years ago, Gregg Berhalter's side marked their return to the finals at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, against a Wales side featuring at just their second World Cup.

Musah, who also made his senior international debut against Wales in 2020, is now the youngest player to start a World Cup match for the USA, aged 19 years and 358 days.

The Valencia midfielder also becomes the first LaLiga-based player to represent the Stars and Stripes at the finals, while 10 of the starting XI play their club football in Europe - the team's highest total in a World Cup lineup.

Musah was selected to partner Tyler Adams in midfield, with the Leeds United man – aged 23 years and 279 days – becoming the USA's youngest World Cup captain since Harry Keough in 1950.

Berhalter, who becomes the first person to represent the Stars and Stripes at the World Cup as a player and coach, began with Matt Turner in goal behind a back four of Sergino Dest, Walker Zimmerman, Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson.

Adams and Musah were selected to anchor the midfield behind Timothy Weah, Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic, with Josh Sargent starting as a lone striker.

Meanwhile, Gareth Bale – at least temporarily – drew level with Chris Gunter's record of 109 Wales caps, with the full-back being named on the bench by Rob Page.

Wayne Hennessey was preferred to Danny Ward in goal behind a back three of Chris Mepham, Joe Rodon and Ben Davies.

Connor Roberts, Ethan Ampadu, Aaron Ramsey, Harry Wilson and Neco Williams comprised a five-man midfield, with Dan James providing support to Bale in attack.