World Cup 2018 Group E Preview and Predictions
Brazil are obviously the standout team here and the most successful nation in the history of the tournament. Much like their Group D rivals Argentina, they should cruise through the group stages, leaving Costa Rica, Serbia and Switzerland to fight it out for the other spot.
Costa Rica look the likely candidate to pick up the wooden spoon in this group, however Serbia will come in with a quiet confidence that they can edge out Switzerland into second place. If the Swiss get the upperhand then why not back them to go through in second place.
Lets take a closer look at these teams and their chances of making it through.
Brazil
Having qualified for every World Cup they also have the distinction of having won five titles, earning second-place, third-place and fourth-place finishes twice each. Alongside Argentina, Spain and Germany they have also won the World Cup outside of their continent. Most tournaments the South Americans come in as favourites with 2018 no different.
As host nation of the last World Cup, expectations were as high as ever, however their quest ended in embarrassment when they were thrashed 7-1 in the semifinals by Germany, a result that nobody saw coming!
In qualification they looked superb losing just the one game from 18 finding the back of the net an incredible 41 times. Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus showcased his immense talent with 7 goals while Neymar, Paulinho, Coutinho and Willian also scored with regularity.
The above mentioned names might steal the limelight, however in Augusto, Marcelo, and Thiago Silva they have a squad packed with world class talent.
Dani Alves is the only major casualty after being forced to withdraw due to injury.
Neymar is in a race against time to be fit and will come in a little undercooked, however he is world class and could be the man to provide the mosts assists in the tournament and is second favourite after Messi to finish the tournament as the top scorer.
This is a team that is not only expected to win but entertain the footballing world in the process. Can’t see any shocks happening here for the Samba Boys and the expectation is for them use the group stage to fine tune their play before the business end of the tournament begins.
Brazil World Cup Squad
Goalkeepers: Alisson (Roma), Ederson (Manchester City), Cassio (Corinthians).
Defenders: Miranda (Inter Milan), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain), Geromel (Gremio), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Fagner (Corinthians), Danilo (Manchester City), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid).
Midfielders: Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Paulinho (Barcelona), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona), Willian (Chelsea), Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk).
Forwards: Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Firmino (Liverpool), Taison (Shakhtar Donetsk), Douglas Costa (Juventus).
Switzerland
The Swiss qualified second behind Portugal in Group D with 9 wins and just the 1 loss, before going on to beat Northern Ireland in the play-offs. This will be their 11th World Cup and last time out in Brazil they did get through to the round of 16, before being beaten by Argentina 1-0.
Haris Seferović was their leading scorer in qualification with 4 goals, with an additional 13 players also finding the back of the net.
On paper they have plenty of quality in Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Haris Seferović, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Yann Sommer, all of whom play in the top leagues around Europe.
It is tough to believe that talent like Shaqiri, a former Champions League winner with Bayern Munich, plays for a club like Stoke. His form has been questioned at times this season, however on the international stage his performances have been at a much higher level.
Mentally they are a strong team and will come into the tournament believing they can qualify through to the next round. Be interesting to see how they get on in their opening game against the flair of Brazil.
Switzerland World Cup Squad
Goalkeepers: Roman Buerki (Borussia Dortmund), Yvon Mvogo (RB Leipzig) and Yann Sommer (VfL Borussia M’gladbach)
Defenders: Manuel Akanji (Borussia Dortmund), Johan Djourou (Antalyaspor AS), Nico Elvedi (Borussia M’gladbach), Michael Lang (FC Basel), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Jacques-Francois Moubandje (Toulouse), Ricardo Rodriguez (AC Milan) and Fabian Schaer (Deportivo La Coruna)
Midfielders: Valon Behrami (Udinese), Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City), Granit Xhaka (Arsenal), Blerim Dzemaili (Bologna), Gelson Fernandes (Eintracht Frankfurt), Remo Freuler (Atalanta), Denis Zakaria (Borussia M’gladbach) and Steven Zuber (Hoffenheim).
Forwards: Josip Drmic (Borussia M’gladbach), Breel Embolo (Schalke, Mario Gavranovic(Dinamo Zagreb), Haris Seferovic (Benfica)
Costa Rica
Nobody expected Costa Rica to qualify from their group in the 2014 tournament which consisted of England, Italy and Uruguay, let alone go on to make the quarterfinals, before losing to the Netherlands.
Keylor Navas is their most famous export, the keeper playing at the back for Real Madrid. Navas has been in exceptional form this season and remains first choice for Zinedine Zidane’s team.
Joel Campbell’s form will be key to their aspirations although the Betis star, currently onloan at Arsenal, hasn’t had the impact he might have wanted and has also been riddled with injury.
Everybody loves an underdog and they do begin their campaign against Serbia, a clash they will feel they can win, however I simply can’t see them repeating their heroics of the Brazil tournament.
Costa Rica World Cup Squad
Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas (Real Madrid), Patrick Pemberton (LDA), Leonel Moreira (Herediano).
Defenders: Cristian Gamboa (Celtic), Ian Smith (Norrkoping), Ronald Matarrita (NYCFC), Bryan Oviedo (Sunderland), Oscar Duarte (Espanyol), Giancarlo Gonzalez (Bologna), Francisco Calvo (Minnesota United), Kendall Waston (Vancouver Whitecaps), Johnny Acosta (Aguilas Dorados).
Midfielders: David Guzman (Portland Timbers), Yeltsin Tejeda (Lausanne), Celso Borges (Deportivo La Coruna), Randall Azofeifa (Herediano), Rodney Wallace (NYCFC), Bryan Ruiz (Sporting Lisbon), Daniel Colindres (Saprissa), Christian Bolanos (Saprissa).
Forwards: Johan Venegas (Saprissa), Joel Campbell (Real Betis), Marco Urena (LAFC).
Serbia
Serbia never qualified in 2014 and failed to make it through from the group stages in 2010 and 2006. They do however look a decent side qualifying top of Group D ahead of Wales, Austria and the Republic of Ireland.
In Nemanja Matic, Aleksandar Kolarov, Branislav Ivanovic they look a solid defensive team with all three having had exceptional seasons for their respective clubs.
They should have the better of Costa Rica and one expects coach Malden Krstajić has targeted their game against Switzerland as the key in qualification.
Serbia World Cup Squad
Goalkeepers: Vladimir Stojkovic (Partizan Belgrade), Predrag Rajkovic (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Marko Dmitrovic (Eibar)
Defenders: Aleksandar Kolarov (AS Roma), Branislav Ivanovic (Zenit St. Petersburg), Dusko Tosic (Guangzhou R&F), Antonio Rukavina (Villarreal), Milos Veljkovic (Werder Bremen), Milan Rodic (Red Star Belgrade), Uros Spajic (Krasnodar), Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina)
Midfielders: Nemanja Matic (Manchester United), Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio), Marko Grujic (Liverpool), Adem Ljajic (Torino), Dusan Tadic (Southampton), Filip Kostic (Hamburg SV), Andrija Zivkovic (Benfica), Nemanja Radonjic (Red Star Belgrade)
Forwards: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle), Aleksandar Prijovic (PAOK), Luka Jovic (Benfica)
SPORTSvox World Cup Group E Predictions
Brazil should breeze through here while I don’t expect lightning to strike twice for Costa Rica. Which one of Switzerland and Serbia will go through is the question? The Swiss have plenty of pace out wide which could be a little too much for the aging Serbian defence to deal with so have to go with Switzerland here.
World Cup 2018 Fixtures, Group E
SUNDAY 17TH JUNE
Costa Rica v Serbia
Samara Arena, Samara
SUNDAY 17TH JUNE
Brazil v Switzerland
Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don
FRIDAY 22ND JUNE
Brazil v Costa Rica
Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg
FRIDAY 22ND JUNE
Serbia v Switzerland
Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad
WEDNESDAY 27TH JUNE
Serbia v Brazil
Otkrytie Arena, Moscow
WEDNESDAY 27TH JUNE
Switzerland v Costa Rica
Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod
