World Cup 2022: How we expect the tournament in Qatar to pan out

Thirty-two nations will begin their quest for sporting immortality over the next four days as the 2022 World Cup gets underway in Qatar.

A total of 64 games will take place over the course of 29 days as the most controversial World Cup in history sees the great and good of world football battle for glory.

The established elite are once again among the favourites to lift the trophy in the first-ever winter edition of the tournament, with Brazil leading the way as front-runners before a ball has been kicked.

Here, the Sports Mole team have mapped out how they expect the tournament to unfold over the next four weeks.

GROUP STAGE

GROUP A 1st. Netherlands 2nd. Senegal 3rd. Ecuador 4th. Qatar

GROUP B 1st. England 2nd. USA 3rd. Wales 4th. Iran

GROUP C 1st. Argentina 2nd. Poland 3rd. Mexico 4th. Saudi Arabia

GROUP D 1st. France 2nd. Denmark 3rd. Tunisia 4th. Australia

GROUP E 1st. Germany 2nd. Spain 3rd. Japan 4th. Costa Rica

GROUP F 1st. Belgium 2nd. Croatia 3rd. Morocco 4th. Canada

GROUP G 1st. Brazil 2nd. Serbia 3rd. Switzerland 4th. Cameroon

GROUP H 1st. Portugal 2nd. Uruguay 3rd. Ghana 4th. South Korea

LAST 16

Netherlands to beat USA Argentina to beat Denmark Germany to beat Croatia Brazil to beat Uruguay England to beat Senegal France to beat Poland Spain to beat Belgium Portugal to beat Serbia

QUARTER-FINALS

Argentina to beat Netherlands Brazil to beat Germany France to beat England Spain to beat Portugal

SEMI-FINALS

Brazil to beat Argentina France to beat Spain

THIRD-PLACE PLAYOFF

Argentina to beat Spain

FINAL

Brazil to beat France