Even though Belgium is a tough team, with players such De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku and Courtois, Southgate's team has been quite lucky to avoid Brazil, Germany or Argentina in the first stage.
Moreover, Panama is a debutant in the World Cup, and Tunisia has not played in the tournament since 2006. Apparently, it will be a nice fight between England and Belgium to grab the top of the group.
But considering that in the second round they would face Poland, Colombia, Senegal or Japan, it doesn´t seem so important in which position they finish, as soon as they reach the qualification, as it looks unthinkable that the British team may go out after the first three matches.
Brazil or Germany in the quarter-finals
Theoretically, the path of England until the fifth match shouldn't be really difficult, but thereafter, it will get much harder for Southgate's team.
In fact, and If every top team went through the tournament, the worst scenario would appear in the quarter-finals.
There, Brazil or Germany would be the rivals of England, depending on the position of the 'three lions' in their group. Considering that these two teams are quite better than England, Southgate's players should do a remarkable match to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1990.
Then, France, Spain, Argentina or Portugal would be the last contender before the final. Certainly, the English supporters might be satisfied if their squad finished among the first four nations.
Indeed, there is quality in players such as Kane, Alli, Sterling, Rashford or Stones to generate optimism among the country, but they must perform really good to write their names in the English history.
Spain vs Portugal and Argentina faces the worst
According to the Fifa ranking, the best match of the first round it is the duel between the Iberian neighbours. Furthermore, Spain won against Portugal in 2010 and in 2012, and the team led by Cristiano Ronaldo will look revenge against a renovated squad that is integrated by Isco, Asensio, De Gea or Koke but still composed by Iniesta or Sergio Ramos.
Anyway, and as a European Champions, Portugal shouldn't be afraid of anybody, and they will try to repeat the feat of 2016 when they defeated France in the final.
On the other hand, Messi's team are probably in the toughest group of the competition. Clearly, Croatia, Iceland and Nigeria all look as competitive teams, although Argentina has more quality and should finish on top.
