Group E
A tight group, Brazil will nevertheless be clear favourites to advance. Their 23 is far superior to those of Costa Rica, Serbia and Switzerland, and it would be a shock of astronomic proportions if they went out in the first round.
The only question is who will accompany them to the knockout stages. Switzerland are dependably boring, but can’t be dismissed. There are some classy footballers in the Swiss lineup, including Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri, but they lack firepower in the final third.
Serbia have the personnel to put it up to any side in the world, but generally underperform in tournaments. In Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, they have one of the competition’s potential stars, and boast a raft of accomplished footballers, not least the captaincy duo of Aleks Kolarov and Nemanja Matic. And, if the lad Mitro fires up front, they can cause some major headaches.
Costa Rica will probably be an irrelevance except for the purpose of goal difference, and it wouldn’t be outlandish to suggest they won’t claim a single point, despite their heroics in Brazil in 2014.
Predicted finishing order
1. Brazil, 2. Serbia, 3. Switzerland, 4. Costa Rica
Group F
The Germans are massive favourites to win ‘F’. And with good reason – they are comfortably the best team in the group. Many will also consider them serious contenders for the tournament as a whole.
It’s hard to know who might follow them into the knockout rounds from the remaining three in the group. Mexico will be dangerous, and have some tricky attacking threats like Chicharito and Carlos Vela, but lack genuinely world-class players.
South Korea’s squad is largely drawn from the country’s domestic league, and is therefore an unknown quantity for many. But with Son Heung-min on form for Tottenham, they boast a real presence up front.
Sweden are no mugs, but lost to poor Dutch and Bulgarian sides in qualifying. Post-Zlatan, they look a more cohesive unit, but are hardly a team that will strike fear into opponents.
Predicted finishing order
1. Germany, 2. Sweden, 3. South Korea, 4. Mexico
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