World Cup 2018: Group F Preview

As the domestic season comes to a close attention is quickly turning to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

In order to get you ready for the month-long festival of football Marking The Spot will provide you with in-depth previews of each group highlighting the players to watch in Russia this summer.

Lets take a look at Group F.

GERMANY

Germany will be defending, in Russia, not only their status as world champions but a magnificent all-time record at the World Cup. They have been champions four times since their first triumph in 1954.

Germany’s proud record in the World Cup goes back to a third-place finish in 1934 and their first victory in 1954, when coach Sepp Herberger’s team defeated favourites Hungary 3-2 in a final that became known as the Wunder von Bern (Miracle of Berne). Victory over made legends of stars such as brothers Fritz and Ottmar Walter and Helmut Rahn, who scored the winning goal.

From then on, the Germans only grew in stature. They were semi-finalists in 1958, quarter-finalists in 1962 and runners-up in 1966, when a team captained by Uwe Seeler and featuring a new talent in Franz Beckenbauer lost 4-2 to hosts England after extra time.

The mid-1970s belonged to the Germans both at national and club level. Beckenbauer’s Bayern Munich won a hat-trick of UEFA European Cups in 1974, 1975 and 1976 and provided the nucleus of the national side that won the World Cup in 1974 as well as the European Championships in 1972 and 1980.

Beckenbauer revolutionised the sweeper’s role into one of attack as well as defence while Gerd Muller scored 68 goals in 62 internationals. Later heroes included Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Lothar Matthaus, Rudi Voller, Jurgen Klinsmann, Thomas Hassler and Matthias Sammer.

In 1990, Germany enjoyed World Cup success, and following reunification they were able to capitalise on their new-found resources to win EURO 96. That was their last senior title until four years ago at the Maracana.

Coach Joachim “Jogi” Low will bring his squad to Russia encouraged by the ease of their qualification and their first-ever victory in the Confederations Cup in Russia last year, beating Chile in the final.

Low was missing a number of senior players, but the team defeated Australia and Cameroon and drew with Chile in the first round before defeating Mexico in the semi-finals and the the South American champions, 1-0 at the second attempt, in the final.  Borussia Monchengladbach’s Lars Stindl scored the winner.

Success in Russia came amid a commanding performance in the World Cup qualifiers. Germany won all of their ten matched in European Group C against Northern Ireland, Czech Republic, Norway, Azerbaijan and San Marino. They were the only European nation to complete the preliminary section with a 100% record, scoring 43 goals and conceding just four.

That demonstration of attacking penetration and defensive security saw Germany top the table with 30 points, 11 clear of Northern Ireland. Their most decisive victory was 8-0 away to San Marino with a hat-trick from midfielder Serge Gnabry and a double from wing-back Jonas Hector.

It was not until their fifth game, in Azerbaijan, that Germany conceded a goal, and that was in a 4-1 victory. A subsequent 3-1 victory over Northern Ireland in Belfast secured the holders’ flight back to the finals with one game to spare. Thomas Muller and Sandro Wagner were Germany’s leading scorers followed by Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Timo Werner and Julian Draxler with three each. Goretzka, Werner and Draxler were all members of the Confederations Cup squad when captain Draxler was voted player of the tournament.

The sheer strength and depth of this Germany squad is astounding. Their dominant qualifying form should serve as a warning to all the real contenders heading to Russia. The only concern for Die Mannschaft surrounds goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who has been out injured since September with a foot injury, Marc Andre Ter Stegen has been an able replacement. It remains to be seen if Neuer will feature in the finals. Germany should top this group with ease and it’s very hard to look past Germany retaining their title. A semi-final place is expected at the very least.

The Coach – Joachim “Jogi” Low

Joachim “Jogi” Low, 58, was Jurgen Klinsmann’s assistant when Germany finished third at the 2006 World Cup and succeeded him as coach afterwards. Previously he had managed Stuttgart, Fenerbahce, Karlsruhe, Adanaspor, Tirol Innsbruck and FK Austria. He used a blend of technique and physical power to take Germany to the EURO 2008 final, then introduced a string of talented new youngsters on the way to the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup, the semi-finals of EURO 2012, EURO 2016 and World Cup victory in Brazil in 2014. He is under contract until 2020 and is currently Europe’s longest-serving national coach.

Record at previous tournaments:

• 1930 Did not enter
• 1934 3rd place
• 1938 1st round
• 1950 Did not enter
• 1954 Champions
• 1958 4th place
• 1962 Quarter-finals
• 1966 Runners-up
• 1970 3rd place
• 1974 Champions
• 1978 2nd round
• 1982 Runners-up
• 1986 Runners-up
• 1990 Champions
• 1994 Quarter-finals
• 1998 Quarter-finals
• 2002 Runners-up
• 2006 3rd place
• 2010 3rd place
• 2014 Champions

MEXICO 

Mexico return to Russia determined to build on the experience and positive impression created by El Tri when coach Juan Carlos Osorio led them to the semi-finals of last year’s Confederations Cup.

Only four nations (Brazil, Germany, Italy and Argentina) have appeared in the finals more often than Mexico, who have brought their technically accomplished style to the big stage on 16 occasions. One of the original finalists, Mexico have missed out since then only five times.

Their proudest performances were in 1970 and 1986 when, as hosts each time, they reached the quarter-finals. Last time out, in Brazil, they came close to emulating those achievements. In the last 16 in Fortaleza, El Tri led the Netherlands 1-0 with two minutes of normal time remaining, only to lose 2-1 in stoppage time.

Mexico have maintained their momentum ever since. They won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2015 for the seventh time, reached the quarter-finals of the Copa América Centenario in 2016 and then the semi-finals last year of both the Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup again.

Key players along the way have been penalty-saving goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, veteran skipper Rafael Márquez, defenders Miguel Layún and Héctor Moreno, midfielders Andrés Guardado and Carlos Vela, and forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, Oribe Peralta and Giovani dos Santos. Peralta was the two-goal hero of Mexico’s Olympic triumph in 2012 while Hernández is El Tri’s all-time record marksman with 49 goals to his name.

Mexico joined the CONCACAF qualifying section for 2018 at the fourth-round stage. They had no problems topping Group A ahead of Honduras, Canada and El Salvador, winning five of their six games and drawing the other to finish eight points clear of Honduras.

The fifth round was the traditional, finals six-team group. Mexico began it in perfect style with a 2-1 win away to the United States in Columbus, Ohio. Layún opened the scoring and Márquez struck the winner two minutes from the end. A goalless draw in Panama followed before Mexico embarked on a run of three victories followed by a goalless home draw against the US, which put them in command of the section.

Ultimately, a 1-0 win over Panama on 1st September 2017 saw Mexico become only the fourth nation to clinch qualification for the finals (after Brazil, Iran and Japan) and with three matches remaining. Hirving Lozano, a winger for PSV Eindhoven, struck the decisive goal at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

With five goals, Lozano was the team’s leading marksman in the campaign. He began his career with Pachuca, one of the cradles of football in Mexico. Tin miners from Cornwall introduced the game to the state of Hidalgo at the start of the last century.

Star players down the years since then have introduced goalkeeper Antonio Carvajal, Claudio Suárez, Jorge Campos and Hugo Sanchez. Carvajal was one of only two players to appear at five World Cups, in his case between 1950 in Brazil and 1966 in England. Suárez, nicknamed “El Emperador”, remains Mexico’s record international after 177 caps between 1992 and 2006. Campos was a star goalkeeper who could also play in attack, while free-scoring Hugo Sanchez was a star at both Atlético and Real Madrid.

Mexico are one of the powerhouses of North American football, as displayed by their qualifying form. Their squad might not contain many household names but as a unit they perform extremely well. If they perform at their best second place in this group should be theirs but it’s hard to see them progressing beyond the last 16.

The Coach – Juan Carlos Osorio

Juan Carlos Osorio, 56, a Colombian, took up his first national team role when he was appointed by Mexico in 2015 in succession to Miguel Herrera and Ricardo Ferretti. As a midfielder, Osorio had played for Deportivo Pereira and Chicago Fire before going into coaching as an assistant for five years with Manchester City. Later came spells in charge at Millonarios of Bogotá, then Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls before he returned home with Once Caldas and Atlético Nacional. With the latter, he won six Colombian domestic titles in four years.

Record at previous tournaments:

• 1930 1st round
• 1934 Did not qualify
• 1938 Withdrew
• 1950 1st round
• 1954 1st round
• 1958 1st round
• 1962 1st round
• 1966 1st round
• 1970 Quarter-finals
• 1974 Did not qualify
• 1978 1st round
• 1982 Did not qualify
• 1986 Quarter-finals
• 1990 Disqualified
• 1994 Group stages
• 1998 Group stages
• 2002 Group stages
• 2006 Group satges
• 2010 Group stages
• 2014 Last 16

SWEDEN

Sweden have a proud World Cup record after finishing third on two occasions. Though they missed out on the last two tournaments, they have proved their worth by beating Italy in the European play-offs.

This represented a victory for team spirit, organisation, commitment and the shrewd management of national coach Jan Olof “Janne” Andersson. He has been in command for only two years but has had to rebuild his team in a new image since the international retirement of Zlatan Ibrahimovic after EURO 2016.

The immediate challenge was a testing qualifying group that included France and the Netherlands, who had been quarter – and semi-finalists respectively at the finals in Brazil in 2014. France were decisive winners of the group while Sweden and the Netherlands ended up level on points, Andersson’s men edging second place and a play-off slot on goal difference.

The two decisive matches in the group were the first and last games against the Dutch. The opening clash ended in a 1-1 draw in Solna, with a first half goal from Sweden’s Marcus Berg being cancelled out by a second half equaliser from Wesley Sneijder. The return was played in Amsterdam on the last matchday. The Dutch had to win by seven goals to pull level on points and turn around the goals tallies, but in the end they won “only” 2-0. Berg finished the campaign as their eight-goal leading scorer.

The play-off draw matched Sweden with Italy. Another difficult task, but yet again it was mission accomplished. Andersson’s men won 1-0 at home thanks to a goal from AEK Athens midfielder Jakob Johansson, and then held out heroically at the San Siro for probably the most famous goalless draw in Swedish football history. Goalkeeper Robin Olsson and skipper Andreas Granqvist, at the heart of defence, played the games of their lives.

Thus Sweden headed for the finals by underlining their status, down the years, as Scandinavia’s top national side. The Swedish Football Association was founded in 1904 and joined FIFA the same year. The national side made their debut in 1908 and entered the first four Olympic tournaments with mixed success. This era produced the country’s first great striker in Sven Rydell, who scored 49 goals in 43 games.

Their World Cup progress was relentless, however. They were quarter-finalists in 1934, fourth in 1938, third in 1950 and runners-up as hosts to Pelé’s Brazil in 1958. In between, Sweden were also Olympic champions in 1948, when they produced more great forwards in Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm – the legendary “Gre-No-Li” trio – and the flying wingers Kurt Hamrin and Karl Lennart “Nacka” Skoglund.

A decline followed in the 1960s, but Sweden qualified for all three World Cup tournaments in the 1970s, with central defender Bjorn Nordqvist clocking up a then record 115 appearances between 1963 and 1978. By now Sweden’s clubs were making an impact in international competition as well. Malmo reached the UEFA European Champions Cup final in 1979 while IFK Goteborg won the UEFA Cup twice, in 1982 and 1987.

Sweden’s first appearance in the European Championship finals came in 1992, by virtue if being hosts, but they were beaten in the semi-finals by Germany. They followed up by finishing third at the 1994 World Cup in the USA, with a fine team starring goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli, Jonas Thern and Tomas Brolin.

Sweden’s impressive qualifying form means they will not be underestimated in Russia this summer. They face a tough battle for second place in this group and will need to replicate their defensive displays against Italy if they are to make it to the last 16 where they would most likely exit the tournament.

The Coach – Jan Olof “Janne” Andersson

Jan Olof “Janne” Andersson, 55, took over as national manager in 2016 from Erik Hamrén after Sweden were eliminated in the first round of EURO 2016. Previously, Andersson had coached Halmstad, Orgryte and Norrkoping. He was voted Coach of the Year in 2004 after leading Halmstad to second place in the Swedish championship. He celebrated his first league title win Norrkoping in 2015. Andersson had spent almost all his playing career Alets IK, for whom he became their all-time leading scorer.

Record at previous tournaments:

• 1930 Did not enter
• 1934 Quarter-finals
• 1938 4th place
• 1950 3rd place
• 1954 Did not qualify
• 1958 Runners-up
• 1962 Did not qualify
• 1966 Did not qualify
• 1970 1st round
• 1974 2nd round
• 1978 1st round
• 1982 Did not qualify
• 1986 Did not qualify
• 1990 Group stages
• 1994 3rd place
• 1998 Did not qualify
• 2002 Last 16
• 2006 Last 16
• 2010 Did not qualify
• 2014 Did not qualify

SOUTH KOREA

South Korea made Asian football history by reaching the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup, which the nation co-hosted with Japan. Matching that achievement remains the inspiration for the coaching staff and players.

Korean players from the south of the peninsula had first made their mark on the international stage by reaching the finals in Switzerland in 1954, six years after the country gained independence from Japan. Continuing to play a leading role in the development of Asian international football in the east, they won the initial two Asian Championships in 1956 and 1960.

For two decades, the domestic game marked time until the creation of a professional league was rewarded with regular appearances at the finals of successive World Cups from 1986 onwards. Key players in the late 1990s were Hong Myung-bo, a powerful central defender, and the German-based Cha Bum-kun, whose son Cha Du-ri would emulate him as a World Cup footballer.

A further decisive step forward came in 1996 when the country was awarded co-hosting rights with Japan to stage the 2002 finals. Dutch coach Guus Hiddink was appointed national manager at the start of 2001 and worked a minor footballing miracle. Roared on by their passionate supporters, the Koreans defeated Poland 2-0, played out a 1-1 draw with the United States and then beat Portugal 1-0 to progress beyond the group stage.

Victories over Italy and Spain earned them a place in history as the only Asian nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals, and duly finished a proud fourth.

Following up on that feat has proved challenging. The furthest the Koreans have progressed since 2002 has been the last 16 in South Africa in 2010, when they were eliminated 2-1 by Uruguay. In other competitions, the Koreans have prospered: they can point to four successes in the Asian Games – most recently in 2014; a hat-trick in the EAFF East Asian Cup in 2003, 2008 and 2015; and a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.

The eight-group qualifying competition for the 2018 World Cup doubled up with that of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Progressing from the second round was not a problem. South Korea won all seven games, home and away, with 27 goals to their credit and none conceded by goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu and deputies Kwoun Sun-tae and Kim Jin-hyeon. Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son scored a hat-trick in an 8-0 defeat of Laos.

They should have played Kuwait in their last game, but this never took place. Kuwait forfeited the match having been suspended from FIFA membership, and the tie was awarded 3-0 to Korea. They began their third-round campaign with victories over China and Qatar and a goalless draw with Syria on neutral territory.

Defeats by Iran in October 2016, then China and Qatar in the Spring of 2017, saw them sitting second in the group, seven points behind Iran, who had already qualified, and one ahead of Uzbekistan.

Under Shin Tae-yong, Korea achieved goalless draws at home to Iran and away to Uzbekistan, which secured the runners-up spot and their place in Russia. Heung-Min Son was the Reds’ leading scorer in qualifying with seven goals, followed by Ki Sung-yueng and Koo Ja-cheol (four each). Hence the Reds are into the finals for the ninth successive time.

Korea’s qualification might have been impressive but the standard of the opposition was far below that of what they will face in Russia. They are certainly contenders to take second place in this group but this can only be achieved by performing like that side in 2002. Should they somehow manage to make it out of this group they will go no further than the last 16.

The Coach – Shin Tae-Yong

Shin Tae-Yong, 49, took over the South Korea national team in June last year from former German international Uli Stielike. Previously he had guided Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma to victory in the 2010 AFC Champions League. In 2014, he was appointed caretaker manager of the national team and was later handed charge of the U-23 and the U-20 teams. As a player, Shin was a tough tackling attacking midfielder with Ilhwa Chunma and Queensland Roar. He scored three goals in 23 appearances for the senior national team between 1992 and 1997. He turned Korea’s fortunes around after Stielike was fired following defeat to Qatar in the qualifying campaign.

Record at previous tournaments:

• 1930 Did not exist
• 1934 Did not exist
• 1938 Did not exist
• 1950 Did not enter
• 1954 1st round
• 1958 Entry refused
• 1962 Did not qualify
• 1966 Did not enter
• 1970 Did not qualify
• 1974 Did not qualify
• 1978 Did not qualify
• 1982 Did not qualify
• 1986 1st round
• 1990 Group stages
• 1994 Group stages
• 1998 Group stages
• 2002 4th place
• 2006 Group stages
• 2010 Last 16
• 2014 Group stages