The following is a match centre with betting tips for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Group F fixture between Germany and Sweden. The game kicks off on the 24th of June at 4:00 AM AEST. It will be broadcast live by SBS, who now have the rights to all remaining group stage matches.
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Germany
- FIFA World Rank: 1
- Elo Rating: 2
- Qualifying: Won Group C with a 10-0-0 record in the UEFA Confederation qualification.
Squad:
- Coach: Joachim Löw
- Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Monchengladbach), Jonas Hector (FC Cologne), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea), Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich
- Midfielders: Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Paris Saint-Germain), Leon Goretzka (Schalke 04), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Sebastian Rudy (
- Forwards: Mario Gomez (VfB Stuttgart), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
Recent results:
- Germany 0 – 1 Mexico
17/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - Germany 2 – 1 Saudi Arabia
08/06/2018
Friendly, played in Germany - Austria 2 – 1 Germany
02/06/2018
Friendly, played in Austria - Germany 0 – 1 Brazil
27/03/2018
Friendly, played in Germany - Germany 1 – 1 Spain
23/03/2018
Friendly, played in Germany - Germany 2 – 2 France
14/11/2017
Friendly, played in Germany - England 0 – 0 Germany
10/11/2017
Friendly, played in England - Germany 5 – 1 Azerbaijan
08/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Germany - Northern Ireland 1 – 3 Germany
05/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Northern Ireland - Germany 6 – 0 Norway
04/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Germany - Czech Republic 1 – 2 Germany
01/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Czech Republic - Chile 0 – 1 Germany
02/07/2017
Confederations Cup, played in Russia
Statistics: (last four years):
- H2H Record: 35-10-11
- O/U record
- O/U 0.5 record: 53-3
- O/U 1.5 record: 43-13
- O/U 2.5 record: 30-26
- O/U 3.5 record: 20-36
- O/U 4.5 record: 13-43
- O/U 5.5 record: 7-49
- Wins
- Total wins: 35
- Won by 1 goal: 14
- Won by 2 goals: 8
- Won by 3 goals: 6
- Won by 4 goals: 2
- Won by 5 goals: 0
- Won by 5+ goals: 5
- Won to nil 20
- Losses
- Total losses: 11
- Lost by 1 goal: 6
- Lost by 2 goals: 5
- Lost by 3 goals: 0
- Lost by 4 goals: 0
- Lost by 5 goals: 0
- Lost by 5+ goals: 0
- Lost to nil 6
- Clean Sheets and BTTS
- Total Games: 56
- Clean Sheets: 23
- Held Scoreless: 9
- Both Teams Scored: 27
Sweden
- FIFA World Rank: 24
- Elo Rating: 20
- Qualifying: Runners up in Group A with a 6-1-3 record in the UEFA Confederation qualification. Defeated Italy 1-0 on aggregate in the UEFA Second Round playoffs.
Squad:
- Coach: Janne Andersson
- Goalkeepers: Robin Olsen (Copenhagen), Karl-Johan Johnsson (Guingamp), Kristoffer Nordfeldt (Swansea)
- Defenders: Mikael Lustig (Celtic), Victor Lindelof (Manchester United), Andreas Granqvist (Krasnador), Martin Olsson (Swansea), Ludwig Augustinsson (Werder Bremen), Filip Helander, Emil Krafth (both Bologna), Pontus Jansson (Leeds United)
- Midfielders: Sebastian Larsson (Hull), Albin Ekdal (Hamburg), Emil Forsberg (RB Leipzig), Gustav Svensson (Seattle Sounders), Oscar Hiljemark (Genoa), Viktor Claesson (Krasnador), Marcus Rohden (Crotone), Jimmy Durmaz (Toulouse)
- Forwards: Marcus Berg (Al Ain), John Guidetti (Alaves), Ola Toivonen (Toulouse), Isaac Kiese Thelin (Waasland-Beveren)
Recent results:
- Sweden 1 – 0 South Korea
18/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - Sweden 0 – 0 Peru
09/06/2018
Friendly, played in Sweden - Sweden 0 – 0 Denmark
02/06/2018
Friendly, played in Sweden - Romania 1 – 0 Sweden
27/03/2018
Friendly, played in Romania - Sweden 1 – 2 Chile
24/03/2018
Friendly, played in Sweden - Denmark 0 – 1 Sweden
11/01/2018
Friendly, played in the UAE - Estonia 1 – 1 Sweden
07/01/2018
Friendly, played in the UAE - Italy 0 – 0 Sweden
13/11/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Italy - Sweden 1 – 0 Italy
10/11/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Sweden - Netherlands 2 – 0 Sweden
10/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Netherlands - Sweden 8 – 0 Luxembourg
07/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Sweden - Belarus 0 – 4 Sweden
03/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Belarus
Statistics: (last four years):
- H2H Record: 21-15-13
- O/U record
- O/U 0.5 record: 44-5
- O/U 1.5 record: 34-15
- O/U 2.5 record: 18-31
- O/U 3.5 record: 9-40
- O/U 4.5 record: 4-45
- O/U 5.5 record: 1-48
- Wins
- Total wins: 21
- Won by 1 goal: 7
- Won by 2 goals: 8
- Won by 3 goals: 3
- Won by 4 goals: 2
- Won by 5 goals: 0
- Won by 5+ goals: 1
- Won to nil 16
- Losses
- Total losses: 13
- Lost by 1 goal: 11
- Lost by 2 goals: 1
- Lost by 3 goals: 1
- Lost by 4 goals: 0
- Lost by 5 goals: 0
- Lost by 5+ goals: 0
- Lost to nil 7
- Clean Sheets and BTTS
- Total Games: 49
- Clean Sheets: 21
- Held Scoreless: 12
- Both Teams Scored: 21
Commentary
Germany started their campaign with a shock 1-0 loss to Mexico. It was Germany’s first defeat in a competitive match since losing to France in Euro 2016. Both sides fielded attacking formations but it was Mexico who took advantage of the space behind the German midfield as they exposed Germany’s defence. After going behind, Germany mounted a stronger challenge in the second half but couldn’t find the breakthrough, despite making 26 shots including 14 on target. It was the first time a German side had lost their opening game of the tournament since 1982, when West Germany lost to Algeria. Germany had dominated their qualifying group with a 10-0-0 record and a +39 goal difference, but their warm-up campaign had looked shaky, with a 2-1 defeat to Austria and an uninspiring 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia. If Mexico pick up a point against Korea then Germany would know that a defeat here would see them eliminated from the World Cup in the group stage for the first time since 1938. In team news, coach Joachim Low is expected to make changes to the side, with rumours that forward Marco Reus will be brought into the starting line-up. Germany will be desperate to get Thomas Muller more involved. He has scored 10 goals from 14 shots in World Cups, but failed to register any shots against Mexico.
Sweden started their campaign positively by defeating South Korea 1-0. The win was their first in an opening match at a World Cup since 1958. It was more of a gritty than spectacular performance, with Sweden’s only goal coming from the penalty spot, but they had the better of the chances and denied South Korea even a single shot on goal. Sweden will need to improve offensively if they are to progress to the Round of 16, however. They’ve only scored once in their last four games and haven’t scored from open play in five. The goal drought will only fuel the speculation back home of whether Zlatan Ibrahimovic should have been brought out of international retirement for the tournament. In team news, Victor Lindelof is expected to start after being a late withdrawal from the South Korea fixture due to illness.
Betting
bet365 odds (subject to change):
Compare the latest bookmaker odds for Germany vs. Sweden
Germany are in a tough spot because they need all three points while the defensively strong Sweden will be content with a draw. While Sweden have struggled for goals, they have been defensively tight as well, with just one of their last nine opponents managing more than one goal, while six were held scoreless. Germany, meanwhile, have only kept one clean sheet in their last nine fixtures. So far this tournament a number of the big teams who have underwhelmed in their first fixture have continued to underwhelm in their second fixture, so I’m going to back Sweden to keep this tight. Of Sweden’s 13 defeats in 49 fixtures over the last four years, only 2 were by more than a goal.
Betting tip: back Sweden +1.5 in the Asian handicap at 1.57 (Mad Bookie)
Notes
- FIFA World rankings are from the 7th of June and sourced from https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/index.html
- The World Football Elo Ratings are from the 11th of June and are based on the Elo rating system, developed by Dr. Arpad Elo. This system is used by the international chess federation to rate chess players and is considered by many to be a superior rating tool to the one used by FIFA. The ratings have been sourced from https://www.eloratings.net/.
- Squad lists sourced from http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12098/11374464/every-world-cup-squad-listed-argentina-brazil-russia-and-more