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#4. Germany–Sweden (Group F, 23 June)
Defending champions Germany, also the current 1st ranked team, come into the World Cup as favourites after being the only team to win all 10 matches in their qualifying campaign. Joachim Löw's men play as menacing as ever. Sweden finished second in their group, below leaders France, and above Netherlands. They then went on to eliminate Italy in the play-off round, proving their resilience and strength.
The last time these two teams met, in 2013 during the qualifiers for the Brazil World Cup, André Schürrle scored a hat-trick helping Germany vanquish Sweden 5-3. In 2006, Germany knocked Sweden out in the Round of 16, when they won 2-0 in front of home fans. Another classic encounter was all the way back in UEFA Euro 1992, when Germany beat Sweden 3-2 to reach the final.
This will be a fine opportunity to judge Germany's prospects of a title defence, in their attempt to join Italy and Brazil in being the only teams to ever successfully defend the World Cup.
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