Jose Mourinho is world-renowned for his managerial prowess, but before the World Cup started, he had a go at predicting which teams would make it out of the group stages.
Truth be told, he threw up a number of surprises. But can we expect anything less than that from the Special One? First, let’s revisit his predictions in this video.
GROUP A: Uruguay (1st), Russia (2nd)
Through two weeks of scintillating soccer we’ve weeded out the pretenders (seeya, Germany) and kept the contenders (hello, Croatia). Now is when it gets really fun — when every match is do or die, win or go home. So it’s time to go over some more prognostications. These are our World Cup Round of 16 predictions.
How time flies when you're having fun. Thursday is the last day of the group stage, which means Groups H and G are in action! Group G is already wrapped up. England and Belgium have already advanced but will need to duke it out for the honor of winning the group (let's be honest, you don't want to win the group with the way the bracket is looking). Group H on the other hand sees Japan, Colombia and Senegal vying for the last two spots.
Aside from Costa Rica, every team in action Wednesday has some rout to the knockout stages. Our World Cup predictions start in Group F and finish with Group E.
Mexico will take on a Sweden team that will have to go against its style and push forward for goals. Germany will look to ride the momentum of Toni Kroos' absurd game-winning goal at the death while South Korea will hope for a miracle.
England vs Belgium kicks off Thursday, June 28, at 2:00 p.m. ET on FOX and Telemundo, with the winner taking top spot in Group G. With both nations sitting on six points and with a goal difference of +6, it’s possible a draw could see FIFA fair-play points determine who wins the group. (England currently has one less yellow card than Belgium.)
The final match day for Groups C and D kick off tomorrow. In the morning, Australia will face an already eliminated Peru team. The Socceroos must beat Peru and hope France beats Denmark in addition to making up goal difference. Then Lionel Messi and Argentina will somehow try to find their way into the knockout stage when they take on a Nigeria team who also has a good chance to advance.
Mexico take on Sweden Wednesday, June 27 at Ekaterinburg Arena on the final matchday of Group F action at the 2018 World Cup. The match begins at 10:00 a.m. ET on FOX and Telemundo with Sweden needing a big win to advance following that remarkable 2-1 defeat to Germany. For El Tri, a victory or draw secures top spot in the group.
We came up with a list of teams likely to win the World Cup based off of their performance in the first match, but with round two now officially in the books, we take a look at which sides kept up their momentum and who slipped off the radar.
RUSSIA
The final matchdays for group play kick off tomorrow! Uruguay will need to beat Russia if they want to win Group A, while Saudi Arabia and Egypt will look to finally get points at this World Cup. Iran, Portugal and Spain will have the opportunity to win Group B. Portugal and Spain will both advance with a win or a draw.