5 countries who could pull off a surprise in World Cup 2018

#4 Denmark

Denmark's team is set to be centred around Eriksen

In the last World Cup, Denmark failed to qualify for the group stages. In the 2010 World Cup, the Danish were eliminated after the group stage.

This year, Denmark has made it for the Russia World Cup and the squad is likely the strongest after many years.

Denmark has been into a relatively easy group as they will face Peru, Australia and France. The European countries are favourites to progress to the next round and Denmark would be hoping to face a weaker opponent.

The country that is ranked 12th in the world by FIFA and has several well-known players such as Kasper Schmeichel, Christian Eriksen and Simon Kjaer.

There is little doubt that the creative mastermind in the midfield will be Eriksen, who has become a vital player for his club and country.

Schmeichel has been following the footsteps of his father, Peter Schmeichel, to become Denmark's first choice goalkeeper. The Schmeichel together with Eriksen had played crucial roles in ensuring that Denmark advances to the World Cup, denying the Republic of Ireland a spot in the competition.

Besides that, the Leicester City shot-stopper is calm in the box and has an average claim success of 91%.

Since taking charge in 2016, Åge Hareide has a win percentage of around 52% as of March 2018.

Hareide's managerial style has been likened to that of Jose Mourinho. The Norwegian national prefers his team to get the ball moving quickly into the opponent's half rather than sit back and soak up the pressure.

Hareide has also experimented with utilising long balls to transit from defence to attack in a short span of time and that has worked pretty well for the Danish.

Now, with a more talented and resilient squad, the team could advance far in the World Cup.