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Group Stage

Group Stage
Pictured above are the 32 countries that made it through qualifications and have the privilege to participate in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Now the way the tournament format works is that within each group every team will play each other once, also called round robin. So for example in group A: Russia will play Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Uruguay. You get 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw or tie, and 0 points for a loss. In the event of a tie after the group stage you look at head to head result and goal differential throughout group play. The fact that these countries qualified, provides a huge advantage in terms of business. They get to play and are televised on a world stage, jersey sales and other team apparel, youth appeal, brand recognition, and many others. On the other hand counties like the United States that didn't make the World Cup might experience a disinterest in soccer which affects many of those same business aspects negatively.

Sources
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/dd73bf4dec94826de2a22b4e600dc4a1

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Predictions

Group A: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay Winner: Uruguay  Runner Up: Egypt  Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran Winner: Spain Runner Up: Portugal Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark Winner: France Runner Up: Denmark Group D: Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria Winner: Argetina Runner Up: Croatia Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia  Winner: Brazil Runner Up: Serbia Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Korea Rep.  Winner: Germany Runner Up Sweden Group G: Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England Winner: Belgium Runner Up: England Group H: Poland, Senegal, Colombia. Japan Winner: Colombia Runner Up: Poland Post your winners and runner ups in the comments so we can see which blog team has the best percentage.  Here are the odds and favorites for the world cup: https://www.oddschecker.com/football/world-cup/winner