The first round of games are done and dusted at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and there have been surprises left, right and centre with big names falling, small names rising and everything in between.

Note, the Russia versus Egypt game this morning is not included in these power rankings.

Let’s get onto it.

1. Belgium (Matchday 1: 2nd)
It comes as little surprise, but Belgium take over the top spot after their 3-0 mauling of Panama. The Red Devils are on fire and the chance of them not going to the Round of 16 appears non-existent.

Romelu Lukaku scoring two goals is also extremely concerning for their next opponent Tunisia, with Belgium now running up seven goals in their last two matches.

2. Spain (Matchday 1: 5th)
Spain were involved in a tough 3-all draw against Portugal, but in reality, they were definitely ahead of the match for the most part.

They had nearly 70 per cent possession in what will go down as the match of the Cup with 13 shots at goal. They were only denied the three points by the brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo, so there is no real shame in that.

For a team who have just sacked their coach, they played remarkably well.

3. France (Matchday 1: 3rd)
The French took on a gutsy Australian outfit during their opening match and while certainly not at their best, found a way to come away with the three points thanks to a late Paul Pogba goal.

A 3-2 loss with a second string XI to the under-19 Spartak Moscow almost convinced me to drop them further down the list, but there would be a major shock if one of the tournament favourites aren’t to top their group, despite matches against Peru and Denmark left to play.

4. Portugal (Matchday 1: 6th)
The Portuguese will be pretty happy with their start to the tournament. Cristiano inspired them to a three-all draw with Spain and after pretty impressive lead-up form, they will still hold a hope of getting their goal differential better than the Spanish, allowing them to finish top of the group.

Expect plenty of aggressive play in their final two games as they try to avoid a Round of 16 match against Uruguay.

5. Brazil (Matchday 1: 1st)
Brazil were stunned in their opening match, drawing with Switzerland. Coming into the tournament with barely a blip on the radar, they were expected to cruise through the group stack, but with the Swiss playing the game of ‘hack-a-Neymar,’ the South Americans could only register a single goal.

They will still qualify, but them finishing second and setting up a potential Round of 16 match with Germany (if they recover) could flip the tournament on its head.

6. Switzerland (Matchday 1: 9th)
As just mentioned, the Swiss stunned Brazil by hanging on for a draw. In truth, I had them closer to the top five in my first rankings before being convinced otherwise. No mistakes this time though – they have just got a point off the best team in the tournament and will qualify for the Round of 16.

How far they can go is anyone’s guess, but with the defence looking rock solid, they are going to be tough to score against.

7. England (Matchday 1: 10th)
England get a little bit of a rise through the rankings after their last-ditch win over Tunisia, with a Harry Kane goal in injury time sealing the deal for the youthful side.

They should pick up an important three points against Panama in their next match and qualify for the Round of 16, but they’d love to avoid a dark horse in Colombia at that stage, so a win or draw (pending goal difference) against Belgium in their final group match is also crucial.

8. Germany (Matchday 1: 4th)
If there was a bigger shock than the Brazil draw, it was Mexico getting over Germany. The scary part for Germany is that they more or less dominated the game and still couldn’t pull any points out of it.

While this will be their toughest group stage game, their form in the lead-up was worrying and now this compounds issues. They need to get to the top of their group or face a Round of 16 match with Brazil, so they are under the pump big time from here on out.

9. Mexico (Matchday 1: 14th)
The Central American nation are one of the big movers in the rankings after the first contest. While they have surged, they are now in pole position to advance out of the group, although it may well come down to their match against Sweden.

They will still need to improve, but with a defensive line looking unbreakable, they deserve their rise to ninth.

10. Croatia (Matchday 1: 12th)
A strong win against Nigeria in their opening match leaves Croatia in a strong spot. They are two goals up and with Argentina to come, so much as a draw would virtually ensure they finish at the top of the group.

The Croatians were strong up front and while they didn’t neccessarily control the game, they made the most of their opporutnities – something they will need to continue doing.

11. Uruguay (Matchday 1: 8th)
Uruguay were one of the teams who struggled in the first set of games. Realistically, they should have put away a Mo Salah-less Egypt easily, but failed to do so.

They are in a ridiculously easy Group A though and if Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez can execute on the end of their opportunities, they won’t lose another game in the group stage. Either way, playing likely opponents of Portugal or Spain in the Round of 16 won’t be easy.

12. Denmark (Matchday 1: 13th)
The Danes will take great confidence in managing to get a win over Peru. It leaves them on three points, and, taking they can account for Australia tomorrow night, they will go through to the Round of 16.

Denmark, to be fair, didn’t have the better of the opportunities against Peru, but won’t complain one little bit about securing all three points. They may need to improve in the midfield to get the btter of Australia, but even a draw in that match leaves them in a strong spot with Peru unlikely to beat France.

13. Argentina (Matchday 1: 7th)
This was the other big shock in the first round and it accounts for Argentina having the largest drop in these power rankings out of any nation. It comes as little surprise really, given they drew with a team on World Cup debut who realistically shouldn’t have got close.

Iceland are a brave side though, as we saw during Euro 2016. Luis Suarez and co up front had a shocker for the South American outfit and while they should still recover and bounce out of the group, the pressure is now on for the 2014 runners-up.

14. Serbia (Matchday 1: 16th)
Serbia controlled their opening clash against Costa Rica to keep hopes of qualification to the Round of 16 alive. Granted, it’s a tough group and they will need a result against Brazil or Switzerland, but to go to the top of the group after one game is a strong effort.

The Serbs were reliant heavily on the chances created out of the midfield, with skipper Aleksandar Kolarov putting his name in lights with a wonder strike from a free kick.

15. Peru (Matchday 1: 12th)
Peru are now under the pump to move forward. They needed to get a win out of their opening game, and failing that, a draw, but their defence buckled and they lost 1-0, with the pressure now on to try and secure a result against France, who they play in Matchday 2.

If Peru are to come out of that match without a point, their efforts at qualifying for the Round of 16 will be gone.

16. Colombia (Matchday 1: 15th)
It’s tough to get a read on the Colombians. They lost to Japan, which is anything but impressive on paper, but playing without James Rodriguez and then copping a red card in the third minute, you can understand why.

Regardless, their path to qualification just got a whole lot tougher.

17. Poland (Matchday 1: 17th)
Poland will be incredibly frustrated with their 2-1 loss to Senegal. Their defenfe simply couldn’t repel the African nation and if it struggled with that, I fail to see how they are going to beat Colombia if Rodriguez is back. They now need to force results.

18. Australia (Matchday 1: 18th)
It would have been a monumental rise up the rankings if Australia had have pulled their game out of the fire against France, but after a solid 90-minute performance, they came up short and ended with zero points from the contest.

It leaves them tied to the bottom of the group and needing to probably beat both of Denmark and Peru to go through to the next stage.

19. Senegal (Matchday 1: 20th)
Senegal became the first African nation to win at this year’s World Cup in the final match of the first round of games and will be over the moon that they did.

Even without controlling possession, they were strong on the counter attack with Sadio Mane and the midfield leading the charge. They were then able to make the most of their opportunities in front of goal. They sit equal top of an unpredictable Group H and will be bullish about their chances of qualifying to the next stage.

20. Iceland (Matchday 1: 27th)
The European nation – who have instantly become everyone’s second-favourite side at the World Cup – drew with Argentina to start the tournament. It sees them propel up the power rankings by seven spots, with a very real chance of getting into the knockout stages now existing for the nation.

While they will need to beat either Nigeria or Croatia and draw with the other, they managed a draw off just 22 per cent possession against the 2014 runners-up. Anything is possible.

21. Sweden (Matchday 1: 23rd)
It took a penalty, but Sweden thoroughly deserved their victory over South Korea to get the tournament underway. They dominated possession with almost 60 per cent, had 15 shots on goal and countless opportunities from set pieces.

It’s hard to push them too far up the rankings given their failure to convert on more opportunities in front of goal, but Sweden will be happy with the three points as they turn their attention to Mexico and Germany. Given the result between those two sides, Sweden could well qualify off a pair of draws in their final group games.

22. Tunisia (Matchday 1: 19th)
The African nation put in a gallant effort against England in their tournament opener, but the loss consigns them to zero points and very little chance of qualification, given they will still have to play (and somehow catch) Belgium.

They will win against Panama, but it’s not going to be enough.

23. Russia (Matchday 1: 28th)
Russia put in a powerhouse perforamnce in the first round, having the opening game of the tournament won early in the second half before running on another three goals to win it 5-0.

The two goals in injury time were icing on the cake for the sell-out crowd in Moscow, but Russia dominated against Saudi Arabia. Doing the same against Egypt and Uruguay may prove tough, but the hosts are in a weak group and getting off to a such a good start, might find a way to scrape through.

24. Egypt (Matchday 1: 24th)
By the time you’re reading this, the match between Russia and Egypt – which could go a long way to deciding the final make-up of Group A, will have been played.

Egypt, without one of the best players in the world in Mo Salah during the first game, almost came away with a shock result against Uruguay. They actually had the better of the contest during the first half, but coming away with a draw still leaves them in a tough spot, qualification-wise.

25. Japan (Matchday 1: 26th)
It’s been a round of upsets to get the World Cup underway and Japan capped it off overnight with a stunning 2-1 victory over Colombia.

While they were aided by a red card and an early penalty, they held their own in defence and surprised plenty, keeping their chance of qualification alive.

26. Iran (Matchday 1: 31st)
Iran are one of the big movers out of the first matchday, becoming the surprise leaders of Group B after a win over Morocco. With Portugal and Spain still to come, the chance they move into the Round of 16 is miniscule, but they have done everything possible for their chances by securing all three points first up.

27. Nigeria (Matchday 1: 21st)
Nigeria’s opening loss was a shocker, going down 2-0 to Croatia. In a game which most felt genuinely could have gone either way before kick-off, the Super Eagles were outclassed with their accuracy in front of goal reading a tale of woe by the time the fulltime whistle sounded.

A draw between Argentina and Icelamnd keeps them in the race, but they will need much improved performances.

28. Costa Rica (Matchday 1: 22nd)
Costa Rica were, quite frankly, dreadful in their first match. Only Joel Campbell off the bench provided them any spark as they fell 1-0 to Serbia in a game which was always going to decide which team’s campaign ended before it began. The chance of the Central American side beating either Brazil or Switzerland is next to zero.

29. Morocco (Matchday 1: 25th)
Morocco’s loss to Iran was maybe expected, but it still stung for a nation who only days prior had lost the vote to host the 2026 World Cup to North America.

The most frustrating part was that they were solid the whole game with 70 per cent possession and 13 shots, but with Iran’s goalkeeper having a wow of a game and Morocco unable to score, thet let in an own goal at the end, ruining their chances of qualification to the second round – not that they ever really existed with Spain and Portugal also in Group B.

30. South Korea (Matchday 1: 29th)
In one of the more disappointing performances to come out of the first set of matches, the Asian nation put in a lacklustre showing in front of goal, going down to Sweden 1-0.

Really, they struggled to control the game out of the midfield and it showed in the final stats, as they lost possession and failed to create opportunities. The road won’t get any easier with Mexico and Germany to come, so it’d be a shock if they got a goal on the board.

31. Panama (Matchday 1: 31st)
Panama’s tournament has ended before it began. While they loaded up the defence and tried hard against Belgium, the 3-0 result was hardly a surprise. It was always going to be a bridge too far for the Central American nation.

32. Saudi Arabia (Matchday 1: 32nd)
Saudi Arabia, frankly, will be lucky to score a goal. The easiest selection of the rankings, they were beaten 5-0 by Russia and could face a similar scoreline against a Uruguay team who will be out to prove a thing or two about their form line.

Roarers, what did you make of the first matchday? Drop a comment and let us know.