The World Cup has arrived. Just like many other people, I have made my tournament predictions. Although I do not have time to talk about all of them, I will mention the more notable points of my predictions.

• I have Egypt finishing first in Group A. Although all the talk about this team revolves around Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah, do not forget that this is also a team coached by Héctor Cúper, who in 2000 and 2001 led an underdog Valencia team to consecutive Champions League finals. They will be a tough out.
• I chose Iceland to come out of Group D over Croatia and Nigeria. Other than their 1998 miracle run, Croatia always under perform at the World Cup, and this has also been true of the current generation. Nigeria are also notoriously flaky. On the other hand, through their impressive Euro 2016 run, this current Icelandic team have shown that they have what it takes to cause surprises and go deeper than many expect.
• I picked Switzerland to finish ahead of Brazil in Group E. To me, the Switzerland game has “trap game” written all over it for Brazil. This Swiss team is deeper and more competitive than many give them credit for, and I can see Brazil underestimating them and coming unstuck.
• I have South Korea edging out Sweden and Mexico to advance from Group F. This was a tough call, but South Korea have the best non-German player in the group in Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur, as well as other players who should be able to make solid contributions, such as Park Joo-ho, Koo Ja-cheol, Kim Shin-wook and Lee Seung-woo.
• My round of 16 matchups are as follows: Egypt-Portugal, France-Iceland, Switzerland-South Korea, Belgium-Colombia, Spain-Russia, Argentina-Peru, Germany-Brazil (!!!), Poland-England.
• I picked Peru to upset Argentina in the round of 16. Despite their notable amount of star power, Argentina are currently dysfunctional and discombobulated, and only qualified for the World Cup on the last day of qualifying. Furthermore, the controversy surrounding them with regard to a recently-cancelled game in Israel may also affect their mental preparations. On the other hand, Peru will be in a good state of mind, as they welcome back Paolo Guerrero, their captain and best player, from a doping suspension that was almost extended, but ultimately was not. Peru also match up well against Argentina, as they drew both matches against the Albiceleste in qualifying, including one in Argentina.
• The Germany-Brazil matchup was extremely tough to predict. I will admit to having gone with my gut on this one in picking Germany, though if this matchup does end up occurring, it would not surprise me at all to see the Seleção emerge victorious.
• My quarterfinal matchups are: Portugal-France, Switzerland-Belgium, Spain-Peru, and Germany-England, with France, Belgium, Spain, and Germany respectively advancing to the semifinals.
• I selected France over Belgium and Germany over Spain in the semifinals based on the fact that to me, France and Germany have more overall depth, star power, and cohesion than Belgium and Spain do, and those will ultimately net Les Bleus and Die Mannschaft the victories.
• Most importantly, I picked France to win the World Cup. The last team to successfully defend the Cup was Brazil in 1962, and that was in a 16-team tournament. No team has done so since the tournament expanded to 24 teams in 1982, let alone since the 1998 expansion to 32. Furthermore, France will be keen to avenge their loss in the final of Euro 2016. All things considered, I believe that the current French team is at, or close to, the level of the legendary French teams of the mid-1980s and the late 1990s to early 2000s.
• As an aside, I have Spain beating Belgium in the third-place match.

To conclude, I leave you with an overview of my World Cup predictions, as well as my picks to win the individual awards.

Champion: France
Runner-up: Germany
Third: Spain
Fourth: Belgium

Quarterfinals: Portugal, Switzerland, Peru, England

Round of 16: Egypt, Iceland, South Korea, Colombia, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Poland
Group stage: Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iran, Denmark, Australia, Croatia, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Serbia, Sweden, Mexico, Tunisia, Panama, Senegal, Japan

Golden Ball: Mats Hummels (Germany), Silver Ball: Antoine Griezmann [France], Bronze Ball: Kevin de Bruyne [Belgium])

Golden Boot: Eden Hazard (Belgium), Silver Boot: Thomas Müller [Germany], Bronze Boot: Cristiano Ronaldo [Portugal])

Golden Glove: David de Gea (Spain)

Best Young Player: Kylian Mbappé (France)