Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia will compete in Group E of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Here’s what to expect from each side.
Group E is all about Brazil. The five-time World Cup winners are the overwhelming favorite to finish first, but the bigger story is how they’ll rebound from one of the most humiliating exits in their history in 2014.
Brazil famously lost 7-1 to the eventual champions Germany in the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup. Two managers and a handful of roster changes later, they’re once again favorites to win the tournament. Tite was announced as manager in 2016, and has overseen the team’s qualification, losing only once since the appointment. Even during Neymar’s absence in qualifying, Brazil hardly missed a step. That can only be good news heading into Russia.
The rest of the group is extremely close in terms of talent and will be difficult to predict. Switzerland are the favorites to make it out, but Costa Rica have shown the ability to surprise in past tournaments and Serbia have an experienced and rugged defense that could just do enough to move on.
Here’s what to expect from each country in the upcoming tournament.
Brazil
This is Brazil’s group to win. They’ll always carry the weight of expectations, but that’s for good reason. The last time they failed to make the quarterfinals was in 1990, and that, without a doubt, would be considered a failure in 2018.
To say that Brazil are loaded with attacking talent is akin to saying Bill Gates has a lot of money. Neymar, Willian, Philippe Coutinho, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino and Douglas Costa would be automatic starters on about 30 other World Cup squads. Between the six of them, they scored 121 goals and assisted 67 in all competitions last season. All six can play in multiple positions and formations across the front and can pull off moments of brilliance to win a match. That’s enough to keep the most experienced opposition managers awake at night.
Brazil have more than just great attackers, however. They have an experienced back-line, headlined by the likes of Marcelo and Thiago Silva, a rock-solid central midfield and can line up in a multitude of different formations.
Tite experimented with a few of those formations during qualifying, and had success with whatever he tried. In the second match against Uruguay, who finished second in qualifying, they played a 4-3-3 with Firmino leading the line with Neymar and Coutinho providing the width. However, it was Paulinho, playing on the right of the midfield three, who had a hat-trick on the day. That’s terrifying.
Key player: Casemiro
Brazil’s best player is probably Neymar, but they still breezed through qualifying without him. Casemiro’s presence in front of the back four can, and should, ease some of the pressure from their attack-minded full-backs and help avoid a disaster similar to Germany in 2014.
Biggest question: Can the defense become a cohesive unit?
Dani Alves picked up an injury that will keep him out of the World Cup, a big blow to their back line. Brazil will need to incorporate his replacement, be it Danilo or Fagner, as quickly as possible.
Switzerland
Switzerland are expected to finish second in Group E, and their roster shows exactly why. The Swiss are brimming with exciting players and seasoned veterans. Their manager has been with the team since 2014, and led them to second place in their qualification group, behind Portugal only on goal differential.
The key to this current roster is their positional flexibility. Switzerland have two outstanding full-backs in Stephan Lichtsteiner and Ricardo Rodriguez who can both play as traditional left/right-backs or as wing-backs in a back three.
There was no better example of this flexibility than in their two-legged qualification battle with Northern Ireland to secure a place in the World Cup. In the first leg, the Swiss played a 4-2-3-1 with Lichtsteiner and Rodriguez as traditional full-backs. The Swiss switched their focus in the second leg with the two full-backs providing more width and attacking support while the midfield duo of Granit Xhaka and Denis Zakaria often dropped deep to help their center-backs.
While the focus will likely be on the quick, flashy winger Xherdan Shaqiri, the bulk of Switzerland’s goals came from their full-backs. They don’t rely on one goalscorer. Vladimir Petkovic’s side are a cohesive unit that play best when they focus on the game plan.
Key player: Granit Xhaka
Switzerland’s formational flexibility also owes much to central midfielder Xhaka. The Arsenal man played in 11 of 12 qualifiers and controls their pace of play with his exceptional passing ability.
Biggest question: Can the Swiss find a consistent attacking threat?
Switzerland managed 24 goals in the last 12 qualifying matches, but that was in a weak UEFA Group B, and six of them came from their full-backs. Without a reliable forward, they may struggle in Russia.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica would love to fly under the radar again this World Cup and sneak into second place in the group. However, they won’t be off anyone’s radar after their dramatic run in Brazil four years ago.
Los Ticos were a penalty shootout away from a spot in the semifinals at the last World Cup. They took the world by surprise finishing top of Group D, one of the more difficult groups in the tournament. Costa Rica beat Uruguay 3-1, Italy 1-0 and drew 0-0 with England to finish top.
The reason they won’t be able to surprise anyone this time is that they have most, if not all, of their key players from 2014 back. Keylor Navas remains in goal, and is one of the best keepers in the tournament. Defenders Johnny Acosta, Christian Gamboa and Oscar Duarte are all back and will play major roles for the 2018 side.
Where Costa Rica shine is in their cohesiveness, especially in midfield and attack. Joel Campbell, Bryan Ruiz, Marco Urena, Johan Venegas and Christian Bolanos have all been playing together for multiple cycles, and are more than comfortable playing beside one another.
Los Ticos don’t have any major weaknesses, but they’re also not particularly great at one area either. They struggle to create chances against focused, tactically aware defenses and can be picked apart by the better attacking teams.
Key player: Keylor Navas
It’s obvious, but also absolutely true. Navas was the key to their quarterfinals run in 2014 and will have to repeat that performance again if Costa Rica are to make another run.
Biggest question: Does the old guard have enough left?
Costa Rica aren’t relying on youth in this tournament. The only key player on the roster 25 or under is Joel Campbell, who certainly seems older given his improbable six loan spells in the past six seasons.
Serbia
Serbia are the long shot in this group, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a chance. Their defensive unit is one of the most experienced in the tournament, which can reap rewards in the group stage if they can hold it together.
Serbia finished top of their group to qualify for the World Cup outright. Their 20 goals was the most in Group D and they were tied for second in fewest goals allowed. So it came as a shock when they announced the firing of manager Slavoljub Mulin in October 2017, just weeks after qualifying for Russia.
Mulin was criticized for his defensive nature, his tactics and player selection, even though Serbia’s 20 goals led the group by a fair margin. Nevertheless, this meant that interim manager Mladen Krstajic took control of the side for the tune-ups before the big stage.
In his first warm-up against Morocco, Krstajic used a more attacking 4-3-3 lineup that produced a 2-1 loss. Nemanja Matic, whose presence in defensive midfield will be the key to Serbia’s success, played behind Adem Ljajic and Andrija Zivkovic. The formation was tweaked in the subsequent match to feature Luka Milivojevic in a double pivot with Matic, which seemed to balance the side better in a 2-0 win over Nigeria.
Dusan Tadic and Aleksandar Mitrovic will play key roles in attack just as they did all of qualifying. Both are capable of producing moments of magic, which they’ll need to get through this group.
Next: One reason every team at the World Cup can win
Key player: Nemanja Matic
Matic is Serbia’s best player. His presence helps shield the back four and jump-start their counter-attacks, which Serbia will need a lot of to advance.
Biggest question: How will they cope with managerial change?
It’s almost unprecedented, and definitely bold, to fire a manager months before the start of a World Cup, especially one who topped the group in qualifying. Can Krstajic get the squad together in time?