After the host nation Russia got things started by battering an even more rubbish Saudi Arabia (have we talked ourselves into Golovin yet?), the World Cup really gets going on Friday with 3 whole matches to feast on.

Egypt vs. Uruguay

Time: 15:00 Moscow time, 13:00 UK time, 8:00 AM on the east coast of the USA, and 5:00 in the bloody morning over on the west.

How to watch: BBC One in the UK, Fox Sports 1 or Telemundo in the US. Everyone else, head on over to livesoccer.

How to watch online: You’ll need BBC iPlayer in the UK, and Telemundo’s stream in the USA.

Morocco vs. Iran

Time: 18:00 Moscow time, 16:00 UK time, 11:00 AM on the east coast of the USA, and 8:00 AM over on the west.

How to watch: ITV 1 in the UK, and Fox or Telemundo in the US. For everyone else, livesoccer.

How to watch online: You’ll need ITV’s online player in the UK, and Telemundo’s stream in the USA.

Portugal vs. Spain

Time: 21:00 Moscow time, 19:00 UK time, 2:00 PM on the east coast of the USA, and 11:00 AM over on the west.

How to watch: BBC One in the UK, and Fox or Telemundo in the US. For everyone else, livesoccer.

How to watch online: You’ll need BBC iPlayer in the UK, and Telemundo’s stream in the USA.

Manchester United points of interest

One of the biggest stars in world football, and a former United player, kicks off his World Cup campaign on Friday. We’re referring of course to Guillermo Varela. Other than our Guzza, there’s not much United-related in the first match. A former Liverpool star — who is still yet to apologize to Patrice Evra for racially abusing him — is facing off against a current Liverpool star.

In the second match of the day, I’m sure we’ll all be cheering for Iran’s Carlos Quieroz, Fergie’s former right-hand man, whose tactical input either helped make United Europeans champions, or helped make United much more boring, or both.

Lastly, the day’s final match, and arguably the highlight clash of the entire first round, sees our current best player face off against maybe the best player to ever play for us. David de Gea will have a hard time on his hands keeping Ronaldo off the score sheet, but good thing for him that the rest of that Spain team looks handy. As long as Jorge Mendes is around, United will be linked to every other good player to come out of Portugal, so the European champs may well field a future United player at some point.

This is our live thread for the day. Join us in the comments below!