THEY FINISHED 23rd: AUSTRALIA

You expect yellow. You expect green. You expect fighting spirit. You expect ball tamp… no, no, not with this size ball. But did the Aussies really deliver this time round? They lack a poacher, someone to slam it home other than the hirsute Jedinak (ex-Palace, bit of a legend) who scored 2 penalties that helped keep Australia in it until the last game, where they came apart against Peru, and left a tournament they didn’t really set on fire the way they have in the past.

World Cup 2018 GROUP C FINAL GAMES: France 0-0 Denmark; Australia 0-2 Peru

The Armchair is aware of how much of a yawnfest the first 0-0 of the tournament was. There had to be one, and it had to involve the team The Armchair has predicted to finish the highest scorers in the tournament. 0-0 was enough to take France and Denmark through, given that Australia lost to the already eliminated Peru, who will be left wondering, what if they hadn’t skied that penalty in the first game!

World Cup 2018 Denmark 1-1 Australia

Neither of these nations are going to win it. But one of them, Denmark is really threatening to sneak into the Round of 16 despite not playing very well. They weren’t great here, though their goal was  very well taken by Eriksen. And the Aussies got another penalty which Jedinak dispatched. Don’t fancy either of these sides to be getting their hands on that trophy.

The Armchair Predicted

Denmark 1-1 Australia

14 and 7

World Cup 2018: France 2-1 Australia

VAR takes a bow, but did Griezmann take a dive? Even with the tech it was difficult to tell.  But 21st Century tech finally meets the World Cup, with goal line technology even needing to be employed here too.

Whatever, this was a slightly annoying game, terrible in comparison with last night's 3-3 thriller.

And what an awful diver, play actor and injury faker Lucas Hernandez is. The cheat fully deserved to be booed every time he touched the ball, for consistently acting like he'd been shot, not shoved, disembowelled not dispossessed. The sort of player who gives footballers a bad name. And Aussies brought up on Aussie Rules and Rugby will have nothing but disdain for his sort.

A case could have been made for the Aussies taking a point from this, which they would have deserved. As it is, France just about did enough to get their World Cup campaign off to a stuttering but 3 point start.

The Armchair Predicted
France 3-1 Australia

5 right, 0 wrong

Who Will Win World Cup 2018 Group C

The World Cup 2018 Group C teams

AUSTRALIA

DENMARK

FRANCE

PERU

C rhymes with easy, sort of. And France with advance. In short, France should advance with ease from Group C's fixtures. That's poetry, that. Expectations will be high that les bleus serve up a hat-trick of victories in a group that’s theirs to lose. That isn't poetry, that.

Peru rhymes with woo-hoo and I’m thinking they could have something to celebrate. Why not them beating Australia and drawing against Denmark and going through on goal difference.

Denmark rhymes with When, Narked (yes, the idea is straining a little now), but the Danes will be feeling the pain of group stage exit I fear. Can't see them beating anyone in this group. A couple of draws and a loss to France.

Australia rhymes with nothing relevant, and I fear nothing is what the Aussies will leave Russia with. Always plucky and with no real opportunity to partake in ball tampering, it’s unlikely the green and golds will be winning any gold on the green fields of Russia.

My World Cup 2018 Group C prediction

1: FRANCE

2: PERU

3: Denmark

4: Australia