HE has barely kicked a ball in the last few months, such has been his erratic form with Manchester United, yet by sitting down opposite Piers Morgan and dropping a series of bombshells in an explosive interview about his falling-out with his club side, Cristiano Ronaldo has still managed to make the build-up to the World Cup finals all about him. He might feign otherwise, but you strongly suspect he would not have it any other way.

Like his long-time World Player of the Year rival, Lionel Messi, this will almost certainly be Ronaldo’s last World Cup given that he will be 41 by the time the next tournament is staged in North America. While he has enjoyed success at the Euros, things have been different on the World Cup stage, with Portugal having failed to make it past the round of 16 in each of their last three tournament appearances. With Ronaldo’s powers seemingly on the wane, they could struggle to improve on that this time around.

Ronaldo’s strained relationship with Bruno Fernandes could be pushed to the limit if things do not go well from the off, with head coach Fernando Santos heavily reliant on the superstars in his squad.

Bernardo Silva and Joao Felix are two other world-class performers, but the Portuguese side has been less than the sum of its parts for a while now and Santos has stuck with many of the ageing performers that have been found wanting in previous tournaments.

The likes of Pepe, William Carvalhos, Ruben Neves and Andre Silva have surely had their time, and Portugal have found themselves in a group where they will have little room for error. With Uruguay, South Korea and Ghana lining up against them, every point will matter.

Like Portugal, Uruguay are also reliant on an experienced core, with Diego Godin, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani still hugely important performers. Since taking charge last December, however, head coach Diego Alonso has made some subtle changes, handing more responsibility to Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez and Tottenham’s Rodrigo Betancour and making his side more of an attacking threat.

Uruguay have won seven of their nine matches under Alonso, putting a shaky start to their qualifying campaign behind them and emerging as a dark horse to make a major impact on the tournament. Portugal, who they meet in their second group game, cannot afford to take them lightly.

The same could be said of South Korea, whose World Cup pedigree should not be underestimated and whose record in Asian qualifying, losing only one game, highlights their current strength.

The sight of Son Heung-min training in a protective mask after suffering a fractured eye socket is an obvious concern, and South Korea’s chances would suffer a massive blow if the Tottenham forward was to be ruled out of any group games. If Son is available though, and with Freiburg’s Jeong Woo-yeong becoming a growing influence, South Korea are more than capable of making it out of an open group.

Ghana will also fancy their chances of progressing, even though they kick off in Qatar as the lowest-ranked team in the tournament. Their position at number 61 reflects a difficult few years in which they were eliminated at the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations and needed a play-off win over Nigeria to come through World Cup qualifying, but their new boss, Otto Addo, appears to have ironed out a number of flaws and presides over a squad with a decent smattering of quality.

Tariq Lamptey will start, after choosing Ghana ahead of England, and with fellow Premier League performers Daniel Amartey, Thomas Partey and Jordan Ayew also in the ranks, the Black Stars will be hoping to shine.