World Cup 2018 – Bluff your way to becoming a World Cup expert

The 2018 World Cup has finally got underway and we couldn’t be more excited. Who is going to scoop the big prize? Will the German national team recover from their loss to Mexico and triumph again? Will Spain overcome their managerial chaos and that draw with Portugal? There are so many stories and possible outcomes that it’s enough to make your head spin.

The World Cup can be a bit of a nightmare if you are not totally consumed by football. It’s easy to say the wrong thing and put your foot in it. With that in mind we’ve prepared a graphic for each team so you can look like a football oracle in front of your friends, family and colleagues. Each graphic has the name of the coach, key player and their chances of winning as well as a guide of the sort of thing you should say to look knowledgeable, and more importantly what you should avoid saying!

Just check out the galleries below, which we’ve separated into each World Cup group and you’ll soon be putting all the TV pundits to shame. However, if you pulled Saudi Arabia out of the hat for the works sweepstake, there isn’t much we can do to help you.

You can watch all the World Cup games live and on-demand on BBC & ITV.

World Cup 2018 Group A