Friday, May 18, 2018

FIFA World Cup 2018: Group F Preview and Match Schedule


Group F of the 2018 FIFA World Cup looks quite competitive as it consists of the reigning champions Germany who joins Mexico, Sweden and South Korea. Except Germany, the remaining three teams will fight for qualifying the second round as runners-up. The matches of this group will be played between 17 and 27 June 2018.

Germany:
Defending champion, Germany, will start their World Cup campaign with a hope of retaining the trophy. Adding one more title to their name will not only make them the second team after Brazil to win the trophy back-to-back but also will help equal Brazil’s record of winning the trophy five times- 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. The current squad of the Germany national football team is considered much stronger than the side that won the title in 2014.

Their recent form in international football has made them one of the probable countries to become champion this summer. Germany lost to host nation France in the semi-final at the Euro 2016. However, they made a strong come back in the recently concluded 2017 Confederations Cup where they emerged winners. They won all 10 of their matches and scored 43 goals while conceded only 4 in the World Cup qualifiers. They are likely to carry this form in the World Cup. To avoid a probable clash with Brazil in the Round of 16, the Germans would try to finish first in the group stage.

Joachim Low led Germany squad looks quite impressive and balanced. There are many young but promising players in the squad along with experienced players who were part of the winning team. Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich) and Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich) are few players who are expected to steal the show. In the qualification process, 21 different players scored for Germany. So, getting goals will not be that much difficult for them. Unlike most countries, they will not heavily depend on any one star player. It will be a very difficult task for the team manager to select the starting XI.

This will be Germany’s 18th World Cup appearance.

Mexico:
Most probably Mexico will grab the second spot in the group. However, it will not be an easy task as they will have to face Sweden and South Korea who are likely to make tough competition. They may beat Korea with an ease, but taking on Sweden will not be that much easy and their match against the Sweden will decide their fate in the group.

Mexico showed their impressive form in the World Cup qualifiers, winnings 6 matches out of 10 while drew three and lose only one. It is their 16th appearance in the tournament. Key players Carlos Vela and Javier Hernandez will make a strong attacking option.

Sweden:
Sweden is hard to predict. They will make their 12th World Cup appearance and first in 12 years. They last appeared at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. They are very much desperate to put on a show in Russia and go as far as possible. Their main challenge will be Mexico. A victory against them will help them move past the group stage.

Sweden’s goal machine Zlatan Ibrahimovic has already taken retirement from the sport. However, his vacant place will be replaced by Marcus Berg, who is expected to play the vital role for his team.

South Korea:
South Korea, who finished second in the Asian qualifiers, ensured their ninth consecutive World Cup presence. It is obviously a significant record for a team with a very few global stars.

In their 10 qualifier matches, they won 4 while drew three and lost the remaining three matches. In the qualification process, they scored 11 goals and conceded 10. This performance will surely put them as underdogs. Their best performance was at the 2002 World Cup when they finished fourth on home soil.

Their key player is Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son. He has just become the first Asian player to finish among the top ten goal scorers in the Premier League.

Date
Teams
Time
Venue
17 June 2018
Germany vs Mexico
18:00 MSK
Luzhniki StadiumMoscow
18 June 2018
Sweden vs South Korea
15:00 MSK
Nizhny Novgorod StadiumNizhny Novgorod
23 June 2018
South Korea vs Mexico
18:00 MSK
Rostov ArenaRostov-on-Don
23 June 2018
Germany vs Sweden
21:00 MSK
Fisht Olympic StadiumSochi
27 June 2018
South Korea vs Germany
17:00 MSK
Kazan ArenaKazan
27 June 2018
Mexico vs Sweden
19:00 YEKT
Central StadiumYekaterinburg

Source-
#Group_F #FIFA_World_Cup_2018 #Germany #Mexico #Sweden #South_Korea

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