If you need help with your 2018 FIFA World Cup tips, you’ve come to the right place. The Roar will have expert tips, predictions and previews of every game of Russia 2018, starting with the opening game between the hosts and Saudi Arabia on June 15 (AEST) and finishing with the final on July 16.

2018 World Cup tips

Finals: France vs Croatia, England vs Belgium
Belgium and France look likely to enter the World Cup’s deciding matches as strong favourites according to our tipping panel.

Four out of five tipsters are picking the Belgians to take third place over England, and the same goes for France over Croatia in the final itself.

Because we’re all about getting fans involved, we want you to add your tips too. Have your say in the form below.

Quarter-finals: Uruguay vs France, Belgium vs Brazil, Sweden vs England, Russia vs Croatia
The four quarter-finals will get underway with Uruguay and France. They face off with the South American nation going in as underdogs. The other quarter on what has been termed the hard side of the draw sees Belgium play Brazil.

Sweden take on England and Russia play Croatia on the other side of the draw, with none of those four teams widely tipped to win the tournament before it got underway.

Round of 16: France vs Argentina, Uruguay vs Portugal, Spain vs Russia, Croatia vs Denmark, Brazil vs Mexico, Belgium vs Japan, Sweden vs Switzerland, Colombia vs England

The Round of 16 gets underway with an out of sorts Argentina trying to dethrone France, before Uruguay and Portugal face off in what has the potential to be one of the best games of the tournament.

The other two games on that half of the draw will see Brazil face Mexico and Belgium face Japan, with a clear winner expected in each of those games.

The bottom half – and weaker half – of the draw has Spain taking on Russia, while Croatia will take on Denmark. Sweden and Switzerland, as well as Colombia and England have also all made the round of 16.

Day 15: Japan vs Poland, Senegal vs Colombia, Panama vs Tunisia, England vs Belgium

The final day of group action at the World Cup will see four more games, with plenty on the line.

Group H is where the real action lies. Japan are on four points and will go through with a win over Poland. A draw may also send them through if Colombia can’t beat Senegal. If Japan lose and there is a draw in the other game, it’ll come down to goal difference, while Poland are already eliminated.

In Group G, England and Belgium are already through to the round of 16, but the loser will enter the easy side of the draw for the knockout stages. The other game is a dead rubber between Panama and Tunisia.

Day 14: Mexico vs Sweden, Korea Republic vs Germany, Switzerland vs Costa Rica, Brazil vs Serbia

The first stage of the tournament wraps up for Groups E and F tonight. The first match is under heavy dispute, with Tim Palmer picking Mexico, Paul Nicholls tipping Sweden, and the other three experts calling a draw.

There’s no such indecision with the other three matches of the day. Germany, Switzerland and Brazil are consensus picks to do away with Korea, Costa Rica and Serbia, respectively.

Day 13: France vs Denmark, Australia vs Peru, Croatia vs Iceland, Argentina vs Nigeria

Australia need France to take care of Denmark if they’re to progress to the Round of 16, and the experts have given the French a unanimous tick of approval. Similarly, all but Stuart – who picked a draw – have backed the Socceroos to get their first win of the tournament against the similarly winless Peru.

Croatia should have no trouble dispatching Iceland and topping Group D, according to the panel. Four of the five says Argentina should join them in second with a win over Nigeria, although Tim Palmer has gone the other way and given the nod to the African side.

Day 12: Uruguay vs Russia, Saudi Arabia vs Egypt, Iran vs Portugal, Spain vs Morrocco

Groups A and B wrap up on Day 12, and while the first looks hard to tip, the second doesn’t so much.

We’ve got a very even split in Uruguay vs Russia, with two tipping Uruguay, two a draw, and only one backing in the World Cup’s home nation. Either way, both sides will go through to the Round of 16.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt would both like to recover some pride in their last match of the tournament – Egypt look more likely.

When it comes to Iran vs Portugal and Spain vs Morocco, we’re expecting both Portugal and Spain to go through to the knockout stage in style. Both nations have been unanimously tipped for the win.

Day 11: England vs Panama, Japan vs Senegal, Poland vs Colombia

England looks like it will be a slam dunk if our tipping panel is anything to go by, with the English unanimously tipped to win.

The latter two matches of the day are a bit less certain – but Senegal look likely winners over Japan with a 4-1 divide.

Poland vs Colombia is divided – three in favour of Poland, one tipping Colombia, and one picking a draw. It’s anyone’s guess really!

Day 10: Beligum vs Tunisia, South Korea vs Mexico, Germany vs Sweden

It looks like a pretty straight forward day on the tipping front, with our panel almost unanimous across all three games.

We’ve got five out of five in favour of wins for Belgium over Tunisia and Germany over Sweden, but South Korea vs Mexico is the odd one out.

Four are tipping a Mexican victory, one tipping a draw.

Day 9: Brazil vs Costa Rica, Nigeria vs Iceland, Serbia vs Switzerland

Today our tipping panel have voted unanimously in favour of one side in two of our three matches, but the other has drawn a variety of opinions.

Brazil over Costa Rica and Iceland over Nigera are slam dunks in the view of our tipsters – all five have picked them to get the win.

However opinion is about as evenly split as it possibly could be when it comes to the final match of the day, Serbia vs Switzerland.

We have two tips in favour of a Serbian win, two for Switzerland, and one taking the middle ground of a draw.

Day 8: Australia vs Denmark, France vs Peru, Argentina vs Croatia

Our tipping panel seems fairly confident on the results of the first two games on Day 8, with near-unanimous votes.

Four out of five are tipping the Socceroos to get their first win of the tournament over Denmark, and the same number believe France will go two-from-two versus Peru.

In both cases the remaining tipster is predicting a draw.

Argentina vs Croatia is a bit murkier – we’ve got two tips for Argentina, one for Croatia, and two for a draw. Anything could happen!

Day 7: Portugal vs Morocco, Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia, Iran vs Spain
It’s a consensus day of World Cup tipping today, with Portugal, Uruguay and Spain all favoured to get the job done against much weaker opposition.

Portugal start the night’s action off with a match against Morocco in a match all our experts think Cristiano Ronaldo and co will be too strong in.

The same goes for Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia, the latter’s lacklustre showing in their opening fixture indicating they’ll be no match for the South American giants.

Spain have also been backed by every one of our World Cup tipsters, with no-one expecting Iran to be able to keep one of the pre-tournament favourites at bay.

Day 6: Colombia vs Japan, Poland vs Senegal, Russia vs Egypt
Day 6 brings with it the start of the second matchday, with hosts Russia back in action against Egypt to close out the day in a game which is too close to call. Mo Salah is due back to the Pharaohs, which should improve them.

The other games will be closing out the first matchday, with Colombia expected to trounce the Samurai Blue and Senegal favourites to beat Poland, although both games could end up going either way.

Day 5: Sweden vs South Korea, Belgium vs Panama, Tunisia vs England
Not that anything has been straightforward at the World Cup, but Day 5 isn’t going to get any easier for tippers.

It starts with Sweden vs South Korea, in a game which is unpredictable at best. Sweden will go in as favourites, but can’t underestimate the Asian nation.

The only game which looks somewhat easy is Belgium and Panama, with the Red Devils expected to cruise to victory.

The day finishes with a crucial game between England and Tunisia. If the Three Lions don’t win, they run the risk of being eliminated from the group stage.

Day 4: Costa Rica vs Serbia, Germany vs Mexico, Brazil vs Switzerland
On the surface it looks like a pretty straightforward day, with all three matches having a clear favourite. However, the World Cup so far has shown us that there is always room for surprises!

Germany and Brazil are both considered contenders for the ultimate prize itself, and odds are they will be able to do away comfortably with the likes of Mexico and Switzerland – our panel have tipped unanimously in favour of that happening.

However there is a little disagreement when it comes to Costa Rica and Serbia. While Serbia are the favourites heading into the match, one panel member has tipped in favour of the Costa Ricans instead.

Day 3: France vs Australia, Argentina vs Iceland, Peru vs Denmark, Croatia vs Nigeria
There are two matche on Day 3 that look like they could be absolute slam dunks for the favourites – with France and Argentina, two of the strongest sides in the world, looking very hard for Australia or Iceland to get up over.

However, call our panel optimists if you will, but there’s a few thinking that the Socceroos might just produce a stunner and pinch a point from the French. They’re not so optimisitc about the Icelanders, with Argentina unanimously tipped for a win.

Peru vs Denmark looks like a close affair and most are tipping the two nations to split the points, meanwhile Croatia are the tipping favourites to get a win over Nigeria in the final match of the day.

Day 2: Egypt vs Uruguay, Morocco vs Iran, Portugal vs Spain
The first full day of Russia 2018 sees Uruguay kick off their campaign against Egypt in a match our panel expects the South Americans to win – for the most part.

There’s better news on the predictions front for the African sides on the predictions front later in the day, Morocco looking the goods for at least a point win in their opener against Iran.

It’s the final game of the day which is the highest profile match, Iberian neighbours Spain and Portugal meeting in an early clash between two sides who could well be there at the business end of the tournament. Despite the sensational pre-tournament sacking of coach Julen Lopetegui, three of our five experts are tipping Spain to start Russia 2018 with a win, although there are two votes for Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.

Day 1: Russia vs Saudi Arabia
Our experts are split on the first match of Russia 2018, with two tipping the hosts to get the better of the Saudis, two predicting a draw, and one giving the unfancied Saudis the nod.

We’ve also got tips for the tournament’s champions and runners-up, and if the pre-tournament predictions are anything to go by, we’re set for a Brazil versus Germany final – although who the winner will be is naturally far from certain.

Then there are predictions for the Golden Ball and Golden Boot winners, with there being anything but a consensus for both awards.

Finally, we’ve also canvassed everyone’s opinion on how the Socceroos will do, and there’s plenty of optimism among the group; everyone thinks Australia is at least bound for the Round of 16!

Pre-tournament favourites
1. Germany
2. Brazil
3. Spain
4. France
5. Argentina
6. Belgium
7. England
8. Portugal
9. Uruguay
10. Croatia

Pre-tournament Golden Boot favourites
1. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2. Neymar (Brazil)
3. Antoine Griezmann (France)
4. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
5. Harry Kane (England)

Pre-tournament Golden Ball favourites
1. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2. Neymar (Brazil)
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
4. Isco (Spain)
5. Antoine Griezmann (France)

Defending champions Germany are considered the favourites heading into the tournament in Russie. Die Mannschaft will boast a formidable line-up featuring the likes of Toni Kroos, Mats Hummels, Manuel Neuer, Tomas Muller and Marco Reus.

Forecasters at Swiss bank UBS are giving the Germans a 24 per cent chance of lifting the trophy for a second tournament in a row, with Brazil (19.8%) and Spain (16.1%) the next most likely winners according to the bank’s statistical modelling.

Spain, who won their first ever World Cup in 2010, are sure to be a threat thanks to a dynamic midfield, where manager Julen Lopetegui will have to choose between retiring legend Andres Iniesta, Isco, Sergio Busquets, David Silva, Thiago Alcantara and more. La Roja also boast plenty of security at the back, with arguably the world’s best goalkeeper, David de Gea, sure to start between the sticks.

(AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

Brazil, the first team outside of the host nation to qualify for 2018, boast a wealth of attacking riches. Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar will make his comeback from injury at the World Cup, but with Phillipe Coutinho, Willian, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino and Douglas Costa just some of the other attacking options included in Tite’s squad, the Selecao are sure to carry a potent goal threat regardless of whether Neymar’s a little rusty or not coming back from his broken foot and sprained ankle.

Other major contenders to be crowned world champions on July 16 include France, who have a well-rounded and deep squad featuring Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Hugo Lloris, Belgium, who will call on the attacking gifts of Eden Hazard, Kevin Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, reigning European champions Portugal, whose attack will be headlined by superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, and Argentina, who’ll be led by arguably the best player in the world, Lionel Messi.

In addition to those top-tier teams, there will be plenty of other sides in with a chance of making a splash in Russia. England have a youthful side, but captain Harry Kane is sure to be a Golden Boot contender if the Three Lions can go deep in the tournament.

Egypt are hardly the first team which comes to mind when you think of World Cup contenders, but a relatively weak group and superstar winger Mohamed Salah are sure to help the side perform well. Group A rivals Uruguay, armed with the potent attacking duo of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, are also a chance of progressing into the tournament’s latter stages.

We’ll keep this page updated throughout the 2018 World Cup with tips and predictions for every game, so keep it locked on The Roar for the duration of the tournament. And if you want to join a great (and free!) World Cup tipping competition, just head over to our tipping page, go to ‘Join comps & options’ and select ‘2018 World Cup’.

(Photo by Baptiste Fernandez/Icon Sport via Getty Images)