Wednesday brings the final day of the first set of matches from group play. At long last, England can get its World Cup started. The Three Lions debut against Croatia in a tantalizing game while Portugal starts its World Cup against an African nation that hasn’t been here in more than 50 years.Here’s a look at Wednesday’s four matches plus picks from our betting staff.Portugal vs. DR Congo (Group K)Time: 1 p.m. ETTV: Fox (English), Telemundo (Spanish)Venue: NRG Stadium, HoustonThis is a lopsided match on paper, but let’s set expectations for where this ranks in a World Cup full of games like this. Portugal entered the tournament ranked fifth in the world while DR Congo was ranked 46th. There are only 12 teams in this tournament that are lower in the rankings.DR Congo got through traditional African powers Cameroon and Nigeria in the playoff to get here. Four players on the squad appeared in the English Premier League this past season, including Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has played for Crystal Palace and Manchester City and is currently at West Ham. Nearly all of the Skyblue play their club ball in Europe. So don’t get caught up in the fact that DR Congo hasn’t been in a World Cup since 1974 (as Zaire).That said, Portugal is loaded. Plenty of teams have players who play in Europe, but Portugal has players who play at the very best clubs in Europe. The midfield of Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain) and João Neves (also PSG) could be the best in the world. Much of the attention on Portugal centers around 41-year-old legend Cristiano Ronaldo, but he’s far from one of the best players on the team at this point.If Germany-Curaçao was the most lopsided match and Spain-Cape Verde was less lopsided than that on paper, this is closer than those two, but Portugal is still the clear favorite.England vs. Croatia (Group L)Time: 4 p.m. ETTV: Fox (English), Telemundo (Spanish)Venue: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TexasFor years, England was all hype and not a lot of results. The results have been stacking up in recent tournaments, but not yet a trophy. The Three Lions have been runners-up at the last two European Championships and made it to the semifinals at the 2018 World Cup.The pedigrees of the players are, of course, very strong. How will Thomas Tuchel’s squad look against an always difficult opponent in Croatia?