It is Six days to the start of the 21st edition of the FIFA World Cup, we begin our countdown to the biggest singular sporting competition in the world. Since the global fiesta started in 1930, we have seen only eight winners lift the gold trophy. The last edition hosted by Brazil in 2014 saw Germany lift the trophy at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Can Die Mannschaft become the second team after Brazil (1958 and 1962) to retain the World Cup?
In our build up to the Mundial, we shall preview some of the teams we believe can win the 32 carat gold trophy in Moscow come 15 July 2018.
GERMANY
The defending champions are one of the favorites to win the World Cup in Russia. Germany signaled their intention to retain the world title during the 2017 Confederation Cup which they won using a host of fringe players while resting several key players for this summer showdown.
The World Champions are ranked number one in the FIFA rankings as we head into the tournament and they are the team to beat. Germany won all 10 World Cup qualifiers to cruise into this summer’s tournament. They are the second most successful team in the world with their 4 World Cup trophies one behind Brazil.
Joachim Low is in charge and has an impressive record leading this German side. They average 2.49 goals per game under his time in charge and concede as little as 0.95 per game. With such figures, you are likely to progress far in the tournament. Germany remains one of the favorites, and rightfully so.
Goalkeeper and Captain Manuel Neuer is Germany’s best player and their most reliable. Unfortunately, the Bayern Munich player missed most of the season through injury but would still be expected to play at the World Cup. He’s one of the world’s best goalkeepers ever, but if he isn’t ready, Germany will be fine. Back up keeper, Marc-Andre ter Stegen is another top goalkeeper, he was in goal during the 2017 Confederations Cup. The current German team looks like it has some deficiency in attack. There isn’t any outstanding striker for the team as they head to Russia. Thomas Muller isn’t a striker even though he seem to enjoy playing at the World Cup with 10 goals to his name in the last two editions. Mario Gomez looks like he is past his prime and Timo Werner appears to be the name on whose shoulders the goal burden will rest on. He scored 21 goals in all competition for his club and had seven in ten matches for Germany last year.
Germany are a traditional tournament team. They are expected to make a run in competitions. Die Mannschaft have made it to the quarterfinals of every FIFA World Cup since 1982. The squad is as very talented and anything less than a semifinal would be a disappointment.
Germany have been drawn into Group F with Mexico, Sweden and Korea Republic.
They begin their World Cup campaign against Mexico on Sunday 17 June 2018 at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow. Their second game is against Sweden on Saturday 23 June 2018 at Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi. Their final game against Korea Republic is Wednesday 27 June 2018 at Kazan Arena, Kazan.
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