2018 FIFA World Cup: 5 highly anticipated group matches

#4. Sweden vs Mexico

Could we see a comeback from Ibrahimovic?

Group F consists of Germany, Sweden, Mexico and South Korea. Germany are the clear favourites to win the group. This means Mexico and Sweden will most likely battle it out for second spot and the Sweden-Mexico match will take place at Yekaterinburg which will also be the final game of Group F.

Sweden might be playing their first World Cup in twelve years but they are a team with some pedigree who may surprise some people whereas Mexico frequently enter the World Cup as dark horses and make it to the round of 16.

Sweden took everyone by surprise by first reaching the play-offs ahead of the Netherlands and then beating four-time World Cup Winners Italy in the play-offs. What’s more amazing is that they did it without the might of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Sweden were the fifth highest goal-scoring team during the UEFA qualifiers with 26 goals. The Swedes may not have Zlatan Ibrahimovic but they have some very experienced and talented players in their squad, these include Andreas Granqvist, Mikael Lustig, Emil Forsberg and strikers Marcus Berg and Ola Toivonen.

Mexico were brilliant throughout the qualifiers and were brilliant in both offence and defence. The Mexican side have some sensational players in their defence and midfield like Rafael Marquez, Hector Moreno, skipper Andres Guardado, Hector Moreno and Giovanni Dos Santos. They have two reliable goalkeepers in Guillermo Ochoa and Jesus Corona, also in Javier Hernandez and Oribe Peralta, Mexico have two excellent, lethal forwards.

How crucial will Hernandez be to Mexico's chances?They have played each other nine times previously with Sweden wining thrice and Mexico winning twice. Their most recent encounter came in 2009 in California with Sweden winning 1-0. Both teams are pretty evenly matched so their match will be extremely close. The timing of their match is such that it could determine the fate of Group F.