Our World Cup 2018 Predictions: Will

I’m up first to throw myself under the bus so don't take it too seriously given that we’re usually relatively wide of the mark, but, as ever, you never know.

My predictions are as follows:

How far will England get?

Round of sixteen. Surprised by my own optimism but it’d be fairly embarrassing if we didn’t make it out of that group, even if its often the case. The false hope won’t be prolongued though I wouldn’t have thought as we’ll probably bow out just as things start getting interesting.

My England Starting XI:

(3,4,2,1) Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Kieran Trippier, Jordan Henderson(C), Dele Alli, Danny Rose, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane

Would like to see Ruben Loftus Cheek potentially get a chance too but difficult to otherwise include both Alli and Rashford.

England’s Top Scorer:

Harry Kane

Competition Winners:

Germany, with or without Sané.

Runners Up:

Portugal, unless Ronaldo gets injured at some point, in which case, Brazil.

Final Four:

Germany, Brazil, Spain and Portugal. Argentina to just miss out.

Surprise team:

Croatia, Modric & co. to reach the quarters at least.

Flop team:

France and/or Belgium, massive cop-out, but you just know it'll happen.

Golden Ball Winner:

Paulo Dybala, excellent.

Best Young Player:

Gabriel Jesus, screams quality.

Golden Boot Winner:

Cristiano Ronaldo, straight forward.

Golden Glove Winner:

Manuel Neuer, typical of him to come back having hardly played and either have the tournament of his life or not have to lift a finger and go on to win the whole thing.

Surprise Player:

Joshua Kimmich and/or Kieran Trippier, both quietly brilliant.

Flop Player:

Edinson Cavani is a given, bless, so I’ll say Neymar. De Gea too, would be quite hilarious.

Own Bonus Prediction:

Ex-Wanderer Gary Cahill to pop up and level the game late on in the final group match with a bullet header before Raheem Sterling slams one home in the 6th minute of added time, shushes everyone and sends us through.

Come on, England!

Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images