Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 2 | Senegal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Ecuador | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Qatar(H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 |
Qatar surprised no-one in being one of the poorest ever host nations and finished bottom, Netherlands were far from spectacular but managed to grind through the group games. The second place was a shoot out between Senegal and Ecuador – Senegal even without the talents of Sadio Mane managed to progress
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | England | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 7 |
| 2 | United States | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Iran | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | -3 | 3 |
| 4 | Wales | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 1 |
England had on paper an easy group, after disposing of Iran who were unbelievably negative they then struggled against the USA and beat a very poor Wales easily as well. USA looked compact and good but the main issue was the lack of goals and a real goalscorer, they qualified in second place but the lack of atop goalscorer will probably always impact there chances to go deep in a tournament. Iran beat Wales which more highlighted the welsh weaknesses, what are those weaknesses – Wales top players seem to be coming to the end of there international careers and were poor.
Some of the Welsh team selections and substitutions relying on these players was bizarre.
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Argentina | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | Poland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Mexico | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 |
Argentina suffered a shock defeat in the first game against Saudi Arabia who somehow managed to win 2-1 with only 3 shots on goal. They then managed to beat a dissapointing Mexico 2-0 and an ultra boring Polish team 2-0. Poland although putting in one of the most boring performances managed to qualify by 1 goal in front of Mexico in a low scoring group.
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | Australia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 6 |
| 3 | Tunisia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Denmark | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 1 |
France manged to qualify after the first 2 games, easily beating Australia 4-1 then defeating Denmark 2-1. A much changed side lost to Tunisia 1-0 in the final game but it was not enough for Tunisia who only scored 1 goal and conceded 1 in the 3 games highlighting the problems they have. Australia after that setback managed to secure wins against Tunisia and a great result versus Denmark. For Denmark who were a few peoples dark horses this was a terrible tournament, finishing bottom of a group they should have qualified from.
Group E
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Japan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | Spain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Germany | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | -1 | 4 |
| 4 | Costa Rica | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 11 | −8 | 3 |
This was the group where everyone thought Spain and Germany would qualify. Japan had 2 amazing 2-1 results against Spain and Germany but lost to Costa Rica who looked a poor team in other games. Spain after an initial 7-0 thrashing of Costa Rica seemed to regress in the next 2 games but still qualified on goal difference from Germany, thanks to that Costa Rica result. Germany had a very forgettable world cup ultimately that shock 2-1 defeat to Japan was costly but defensively they looked poor and going forward seemed lightweight.
Group F
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Morocco | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | Croatia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 3 | Belgium | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 4 |
| 4 | Canada | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 |
On paper Belgium and Croatia were favourites to be competing to win the group. Belgium now appear to be a team in decline with aging players and also there appeared to be infighting in the squad.
Belgium only scored 1 goal although the injuries to Lukaku proved costly, they never seemed to look dangerous in games. Morocco were the surprise package playing solid defensive football and securing 2 solid wins, Croatia beat Canada easily and had 2 boring 0-0 draws. Canada had a couple of good players but lacked a goal scoring threat and were poor at the back – some work needed before the next world cup
Group G
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Brazil | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Cameroon | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Serbia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 1 |
Brazil were the favourites, they played good football at times and won the first 2 games and comfortably qualified but you just wanted a bit more from them in the group games. The injury to Neymar didn’t help.
After that it looked like a toss up between the other 3 teams in what was arguably the best group. Serbia with an abundance of talented players managed to blow a 3-1 lead to Cameroon to finish 3-1 in one of the best games in the tournament. Against Switzerland they were 2-1 up and lost 3-2. A talented team who once again fell short. Switzerland one the win all game against Serbia and pipped Cameroon to second place.
Group H
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Portugal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | South Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Uruguay | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Ghana | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −3 | 3 |
Portugal won the group after 2 initial wins against Uruguay and Ghana.
South Korea left it to the 91st minute against Portugal to score, win 2-1 and pip Uruguay to second place. Uruguay were disappointing, a talented squad who never seemed to kick on other than against Ghana. Ghana showed what they could do against South Korea but didn’t have enough
