World Cup: Week one, what to expect

World Cup coverage begins on Sunday on with all 64 games shown live across RTÉ Television and the RTÉ Player.

With teams' form something of a mystery given the unfamiliar mid-season scheduling, we look ahead at what some of the key match-ups and past records can tell us about the opening round of games.

Group A

Qatar v Ecuador, Sunday 4pm and Senegal v Netherlands, Monday 4pm

Injury will rule out Senegal striker Sadio Mane a meeting with former Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk in their opener against the Netherlands. Senegal are Africa Cup of Nations champions, while the Dutch are unbeaten in their last 15 games since losing 2-0 to the Czech Republic last June.

Hosts Qatar will be playing their first World Cup game when they take on Ecuador with an entirely domestic-based squad and the third-lowest world ranking in the tournament at 50. They face the third-youngest squad at this year’s event.

Group B

England v Iran and United States v Wales, Monday 1pm and 7pm

England will face a team in encouraging form, with Iran unbeaten in three recent friendlies including a win over Uruguay and a draw with Senegal, in contrast to the Three Lions’ six-match winless run.

Wales are appearing in the tournament for the first time since 1958, while their opponents missed out in 2018 but were at the previous seven tournaments and made it through the group stage four times, including both 2010 and 2014.

Group C

Argentina v Saudi Arabia and Mexico v Poland, Tuesday 10am and 4pm

Argentina are among the bookmakers’ favourites to win the tournament and will be fancied to comfortably deal with a Saudi Arabia squad made up entirely of domestic-based players, with only three having any experience overseas.

Mexico against Poland appears more evenly matched,