Group C is headed by France, one of the favourites to win it all. Peru was the draw from Pot 2 and Denmark and Australia complemented the group.

France is the strongest squad of the bunch and placing your bets in 2 or even 3 french players should provide plenty of points. That decision should be made right from day one, since they face Australia first. The opening round also has an intriguing Peru-Denmark that could help settle the group result, with an eventual loss from either part carrying its weight when they face France further down the road.

Les Bleus, 7th on the FIFA ranking, are the clear-cut favourites to snatch 1st place and any other outcome would be a shocking surprise. Peru and Denmark should fight it out for the remaining place in knockout rounds, with their FIFA rankings, 11th and 12th respectively, and indicator on how they are levelled going on to the already mentioned inaugural game of capital importance. Australia, despite being the lowered ranked team of Group C (40th) will try to not leave Russia empty-handed and spoil someone else’s party.

France

The french qualified 1st from their group, with 23 out of 30 possible points, being matched against teams like Sweden and the Netherlands. They showed great defensive consistency, conceding only 6 goals, and despite netting only 18, they have a tremendous display of offensive firepower. Griezmann and Giroud were their top-scorers during qualifying with 4 goals each. In their latest friendly against Italy, that firepower has showcased with a 3–1 victory. The only thing France may be lacking is a true leader, with many of their youngsters still unproven at international tournaments.

Didier Deschamps’ team greatest reference is Antoine Griezmann (10.0M). The Atlético Madrid’s striker arrives after a huge season with his club and is expected to lead France again, after the 7 goals in the Euro2016. Mbappé (8.0M) has been stealing some of the spotlight after barely playing during the qualifiers, and is one of the early-voting candidates for the youth player of the tournament award. With Koscielny out due to injury, the pair of centre-backs will be made of Varane (6.5M) and Umtiti (6.5M), one of the best duos of this World Cup. Against Italy, Dembélé (7.5M) also had a strong outing and could battle for a spot in the starting lineup, for a more dynamic approach, replacing Giroud and shifting some pieces around.

One of the squads expected to go far in the World Cup, mainly due to individual talent in every sector, France has left the last major tournaments with the feeling they should’ve done better and in 2018 anything less than a trip to the semi-finals will be a disappointment.