The road to Russia is a long one, and the European route opens on Sunday. Fifty-four nations start their quest to make it to the World Cup in 2018. Thirteen spots are for grabs, with the winners of nine qualifying groups qualifying directly to the finals.

The eight best runners-up play two legged-ties to determine the remaining four qualifiers. Gibraltar and Kosovo are the newest entrants to the World Cup qualification process and test the waters for the first time.

While Euro 2016 enhanced some reputations, others left the tournament with fans wondering if their teams would ever come good at the biggest stages. Belgium and England, two of the guilty parties had an underwhelming tournament and will look to qualify with minimum fuss.

On the other hand, Portugal, Wales and Iceland supporters are overjoyed with the summer exploits of their respective teams and will hope that their teams can continue the good work.

The world champions, Germany, kick off their campaign against Norway at midnight Monday IST and enter a new era, without their talisman of the last decade, Bastian Schweinsteiger. The big question is…

Can they do it again?

Not since Italy in 1938 has a European team retained the World Cup trophy but as Germany enter a second decade under Jogi Löw, they have an ever-burgeoning talent pool which looks set to dominate world football for some time to come.

Germany’s sixth straight semi-final appearance shows that they have the necessary pedigree to make it to the latter stages; they have struggled to replace Miroslav Klose and look an attacker short of being the complete team.

Norway vs Germany, 12.00 am IST - September 5

Dutch pride at stake

Netherlands failed to qualify for the European Championships for the first time since 1984. World Cup finalists in 2010, the Orange took the lead against Greece only to lose 2-1 in their last friendly.

The team is in turmoil and manager Danny Blind has to find a way through this transitional phase. Faced with one of the tougher groups along with Euro runners-up France and Sweden, they kick their campaign off against the latter. The Netherlands are currently ranked their lowest, 26th, since the start of the FIFA rankings.

Sweden vs Netherlands, 11.30 pm IST – September 6

England enter the Big Sam era

Roy Hodgson stepped down as England manager after crashing out of the Euros. Sam Allardyce, his successor, has a wealth of experience and average results at the Premier League level, but can he take them further than his predecessor?

The good news for the new manager is that the Three Lions had a perfect record in qualifying for the Euros. Group F should not prove too tough for England; their closest rivals are tonight’s opponents Slovakia and neighbours, Scotland.

Slovakia vs England, 9.30 pm IST – September 4

Midlife crisis for Belgium’s golden generation

The managerial pair of Roberto Martinez and Thierry Henry will be thankful that Belgium’s qualifying group is not too difficult to negotiate; on the face of it, they appear to have no real challengers for the top slot in the group. A 2-0 loss to Spain in their last friendly, however, was far from the ideal start for the duo.

Eden Hazard’s resurgence will come as a relief to the entire camp and they will look to build on two consecutive quarter-final finishes in major tournaments. A good achievement for a country which hadn’t qualified for a World Cup and an Euro between 2002 and 2014, but not good enough for a collection of stars from top European teams and a world ranking of No. 2.

Cyprus vs Belgium, 11.30 pm IST – September 6

The Vikings march on

Iceland’s journey to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 just adds to Viking folklore, but now the Strákarnir okkar (“Our boys” in Icelandic) must look forward to reaching a World Cup for the first time.

Loved by the neutral, the Nordic side dumped England out of the World Cup in a major upset. In a group with Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey, qualification will be anything but straight forward. The Croats are a familiar enemy, and defeated Iceland in the play-offs of the World Cup 2014 qualification, to make it to Brazil.

Ukraine vs Iceland, 11.30 pm IST – September 5