Morocco vs. Croatia (Wednesday, 10.00am)
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Morocco and Croatia get their 2022 World Cup campaigns underway when they meet in a Group F fixture on Wednesday.
The meeting at the Al Bayt Stadium starts the daily schedule with group rivals Belgium and Canada squaring off nine hours later.
We say: Morocco 1-3 Croatia
Despite the quality in their squad, Morocco are somewhat of an unknown quantity, and Croatia cannot afford any complacency. Nevertheless, in what we expect to be an entertaining encounter, we are backing the European nation to have too much quality at both ends of the pitch.
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> How Croatia could line up against Morocco
> How Morocco could line up against Croatia
Germany vs. Japan (Wednesday, 1.00pm)
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Seeking to consign dismal memories of Russia 2018 to history, Germany kick off their World Cup 2022 Group E campaign against Japan at the Khalifa International Stadium on Wednesday.
Die Mannschaft were eliminated from the group stage four years ago, while their Asian counterparts were on the verge of stunning Belgium in the last 16 before being eliminated.
We say: Germany 3-1 Japan
Germany did not exactly cover themselves in glory in the UEFA Nations League and are still haunted by the memories of the 2018 World Cup, so do not be surprised to see Japan's plethora of attacking options cause a few problems here.
However, Die Mannschaft traditionally perform well on the opening matchday and are working with a fully-fit squad, so we can only picture Flick's side getting off to the perfect start.
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> How Japan could line up against Germany
> How Germany could line up against Japan
Spain vs. Costa Rica (Wednesday, 4.00pm)
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Spain will be bidding to get their World Cup campaign off to the best possible start when they take on Costa Rica in their Group E opener on Wednesday afternoon.
La Roja have found it difficult to impress in their two World Cups since lifting the trophy in 2010, but Costa Rica reached the quarter-final stage of the 2014 competition, which is their best performance in the finals.
We say: Spain 1-0 Costa Rica
This has the potential to be a very uncomfortable match for Spain, and it would certainly not be a shock if the points were shared in this contest. La Roja have been strongly defensively of late, though, and they have enough quality in the final third to score at least once, so we are backing a narrow victory for Enrique's side.
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> How Costa Rica could line up against Spain
> How Spain could line up against Costa Rica
Belgium vs. Canada (Wednesday, 7.00pm)
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Canada will play their first World Cup fixture in 36 years when they face Belgium at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Wednesday.
For Belgium, this represents the final chance for a lot of their 'Golden Generation' to win a major tournament.
We say: Belgium 2-1 Canada
Despite a tricky build up, Belgium should have enough class in the side to beat an inexperienced Canadian outfit.
Davies will be a big miss for Canada should he not feature, but there are goals in this Canada team and they have built brilliant defensive foundations in recent years, which could frustrate Belgium at times.
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> How Canada could line up against Belgium
> How Belgium could line up against Canada
Ben Knapton
