5 teams that can be 'dark horses' in the FIFA World Cup - 2018

#5 Peru

Peru lost only two games in their last ten qualifier matches.

Peru ended their 36-year FIFA World Cup finals drought by finishing fifth in South American qualifying, and subsequently defeated New Zealand 2-0 on aggregate in the intercontinental play-off.

They lost their first two World Cup qualifiers to Colombia and Chile two years ago, and after six games they'd won just one match and lost four. The turnaround came almost by accident when a 2-0 defeat away to Bolivia in round seven was overturned after the home side fielded an ineligible player - Peru was thus awarded a 3-0 victory.

In their last 10 qualifier games, Peru won five, drew three and lost two to put themselves fifth in the group and book a place in the play-off. Those results have seen them climb up the FIFA World Ranking to a record high of 11th.

The two-time quarter-finalists (1970 and 1978) will be looking to improve their statistics in the tournament. They are in Group C alongside France, Australia and Denmark. They will potentially meet the mighty Argentina in the RO16. Peru havedrawn both their home and away legs against Argentina in the qualifiers, which tells us what they are capable of.

Peru might not be the most popular team in the World Cup, but they will certainly be the most hard-working. Anyone who writes them off will have to do so at their own peril.