Day 6 was a rough one for our experts as Japan and Russia spoiled many of ours experts' picks. In the end, Julien Laurens came out on top with 30 points, edging out Gab Marcotti and Stewart Robson for top spot. The second round of games continues Wednesday, but to whom will the plaudits go?
Portugal and Morocco get the ball rolling when they meet in Group B. Will Cristiano Ronaldo be among the goals once again? Or can Morocco bounce back from their crushing injury-time defeat to Iran? Everyone goes for the Portugal victory, apart from Colin Udoh who backs his fellow Africans to get a 2-2 draw.
UPDATE: Ten points all round, as no one predicted a win so slender as 1-0. Apart from Colin, of course!
We flip back to Group A next, as Uruguay meet Saudi Arabia. It won't come as any surprise to learn that every one of our pundits goes for the Uruguay win. Mauricio Pedroza is the only person to go for the slender 1-0 victory, while Mark Ogden expects a 4-0 rout.
UPDATE: All 10 of our experts pick up the win in game two as Uruguay defeat Saudi Arabia by a score of 1-0. While La Celeste picked up the three points necessary to clinch their progression, the scoreline was not as one-sided as expected. All but one of our experts had a multiple-goal win for Uruguay, with ESPN Deportes' Mauricio Pedroza the only accurately calling a 1-0 win.
So it is 30 points for Mauricio Pedroza and 10 points apiece for our other nine pundits in this round. The overall daily standings are nicely poised as we enter our third and final game with Pedroza sitting on 40 points and the rest of our experts on 20. Who will come out on top?
Then it's back to Group B for Spain's match against Iran. It's not a case of who will win this, more by how many. Herc Gomez reckons Spain will win 6-0, Caro Guillen goes for 5-0 and Mauricio has 4-0. ESPN Brasil's Leonardo Bertozzi is the only pundit to go for a single-goal Spanish victory.
UPDATE: Our experts cap off a banner day with another clean sweep, as Spain's 1-0 win over Iran means all 10 of our experts pick up at least 10 points. While some of our experts had Spain winning five or six-nil, Brazil's Leonardo Bertozzi was right on the money with his 1-0 projection.
Leonardo's scoreline prediction earns him 30 points in the nightcap, meaning we have a tie for first on the day between Leonardo and ESPN Deportes' Mauricio Pedroza. Unfortunately, those two will have to cut the massive trophy in half...
In terms of predicting results on the day our experts went 29-30. Again, there is a reason we call these people "experts" ladies and gentlemen!
Tomorrow is a new day though, and three tough games await with Denmark vs. Australia, France vs. Peru and Argentina vs. Croatia on the docket.
Check out how our pundits got on with their predictions for Tuesday's games and remember to join the pundits' league in Match Predictor.
We've got our top talent on hand from England, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Australia and Africa -- many of whom will be based out in Russia for the tournament -- to analyse each and every one of the 64 matches.
We'll score our experts just as we do in the Match Predictor -- 10 points for correct result, with a bonus 20 points for getting the scoreline right too. Who will come out on top on Thursday?
ESPN Experts panel:
ESPN FC: Mark Ogden, Craig Burley, Stewart Robson
ESPN Deportes: Caro Guillen, Mauricio Pedroza, Herc Gomez
ESPN Brasil: Leonardo Bertozzi
ESPN Mexico: Poncho Vera, Marcelino Hernandez
Kwese, Africa: Colin Udoh