2022 Men’s World Cup: December 1 daily game thread — Croatia - Belgium; Canada - Morocco; Japan - Spain

The FIFA 2022 Men’s World Cup is upon us. Follow along the day-by-day action in each day’s game thread. Stay tuned for our separate Germany gamethread later in the day.

Dec 1

• Group E: Costa Rica vs Germany | 2PM EST
• Group E: Japan vs Spain | 2PM EST
• Group F: Croatia vs Belgium | 10AM EST
• Group F: Canada vs Morocco | 10AM EST

Canada are out, so this is the curtain call for Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies. Other than that, everything is still in play. Belgium might just get out of this group after all, but look for Croatia to give absolutely everything. Their aging golden generation, headlined by Real Madrid’s Luka Modrić, have looked in far better shape than Belgium’s so far. Will Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne manage to get a word in?

Germany — knock on wood — are in a favorable position. But we all know what happened last time around in 2018. Meanwhile, some neutrals will be hoping that both Germany and Luis Enrique’s Spain team somehow finish bottom in this group. That would deprive the tournament of its two best managers, however, as well as a boatload of the game’s exciting young stars — Jamal Musiala and FC Barcelona’s Pedri and Gavi among them.

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Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Who should YOU root for?

Well, the age old question NOW has an answer. SB Nation has developed a very scientific system to help YOU figure out who should get your rooting allegiances during the World Cup. Test the system here...if YOU dare.

If you’d like to check back on our pre-tournament predictions and have a laugh about how badly we got it wrong, we’ve got you covered:

Groups A & B | Groups C & D | Groups E & F | Groups G & H

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Interested in more World Cup talk? Hop over to our weekend warm-up podcast! This week we ponder Bayern prospect Paul Wanner’s Austria courtship, next steps for Benji Pavard, and what to expect from Germany at the tournament.

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