Day: March 23, 2018

Sweden would be appearing at this year’s FIFA World Cup at the expense of Italy who did not show so much desire to beat them in the qualification playoffs.

The Swedes finished second behind France and above the Netherlands in their World Cup qualifying group to set up that playoff clash with Italy which they won 1-0 on aggregate.

Chile would not be at the next World Cup later this year thanks to a drop in form towards the end of their World Cup qualifying campaign. The South American champions are now looking to get ready for the 2022 edition in Qatar.

These sides have met once before in a pre-world Cup game back in 2006 and it ended 1-1 after David Suazo cancelled Henrik Larson’s first half opener for Sweden. Alexis Sanchez was a thorn in the Swedish flesh in that game and could still prove the game changer here again.

Sweden have won 3, lost just 1 and drawn 2 of their last six games ahead of this match, while Chile have four losses and two wins from their last 6 games as well.

This year’s world Cup in Russia would be Mexico’s 8^th consecutive participation in the global showpiece, while their opponents in this game, Iceland would be competing for only the first time as they continue to show that they can thrive as underdogs.

Mexico have been drawn in a tough group at the World Cup, but you can expect them to qualify for the next round just as they have done since the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. They are one of the hardest working sides, always willing to make a tackle and filled with flair when on the attack.

Iceland have also been drawn in a tough group featuring Nigeria, Argentina and Croatia whom they edged at the qualifying group stage. They showed at the last Euros that team work, hard work and good tactics can take you far and they are well placed to shock the world again at this tournament.

These sides have met thrice previously with each of those showing that close to nothing separates them in terms of defensive organization. The first two games in 2003 and 2010 ended in goalless draws, while the last one in 2017 ended in a 1-0 win for Mexico, Gylfi Sigurdson missed that game for the Europeans and that could prove to be a problem here again.

Iceland have four wins, 1 draw and 1 loss from their last 6 games, while Mexico have three wins, two draws and one loss from the same amount of games.