Group A- Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay
RUSSIA
Not considered a traditional powerhouse, it will be exciting to see what the hosts have in their locker as well as handling the pressure to improve on their tournament resume as they have never gotten past the group stage of any international tournament since 2008.
There are other concerns off the pitch too, with reports of disagreements between star members of the squad and the coach. Also, hooligan rampages at Euro 2016 tarnished Russia’s image, which almost saw the country expelled from the tournament in France.
Nevertheless, a decent show is expected of Russia (our Hosts)
Key Player: Aleksandr Golovin (CSKA Moskow)
Manager: Stanislav Cherchesov (Following the failures of foreign imports, Russia have chosen to stick with a former international who favours a defensive style).
World ranking: 70
SAUDI ARABIA
Despite qualifying for a fifth World Cup, there has been instability in management as two managers being fired in the space of two months.
Edgardo Bauza was sacked just 9 days before the draws, after only 5 friendlies in charge.
Juan Antonio Pizzi, who was only appointed recently as the new coach, will be tasked with improving on Saudi Arabia’s best ever performance at World Cup (second round exit in 1994)
Key player: Mohammed Al-Sahlawi (Al-Nassr)
Manager: Juan Antonio Pizzi
World ranking: 67
EGYPT
Egypt has waited a long time to be back at the World up. Despite recording unbelievable success as the record African champions they have failed to make any world cup tournament since 1990. The team hit new lows recently, failing to even qualify for the African Cup of Nations (a tournament they once dominated).
They are back now, reaching the final of the recent African Cup Nations tournament and following that up with a long awaited World Cup return.
Key Player: Mohammed Salah (Liverpool)
Manager: Hector Cuper (There have been complaints regarding his defensive style of football but there is no denying that he has managed to do what no other manager has done in six successive editions of the world cup).
World ranking: 45
URUGUAY
After an impressive showing in the qualifiers, being second to only Brazil, Uruguay have a lot to look forward to with this generation of players being in the twilight of their international careers. Defender Diego Godin (31), strikers Edinson Cavani (30) and Luiz Suarez (30) are still formidable and unpleasant to play against.
Youngsters like Federico Valverde (19) and Nahitan Nandez (21) have become frequent starters. Coach Oscar Tabarez, who led Uruguay’s recovery since 2006, believes a paced renovation will eventually pay off in the near future.
Key Player/s: Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain) and Luiz Suarez (Barcelona)
Manager: Oscar Tabarez (Will coach Uruguay for his fourth World Cup, the third in a row).
World ranking: 14
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