Sweden Coach: Janne Andersson Star player: Andreas Granqvist World Cup best: Runners-up 1958 HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Dworld champions Germany stand before one major goal: becoming the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil did it in 1962. They are out to become a legendary side and to consolidate their position as the best contemporary football team. Statistically at least, they could irrefutably earn such a title in Russia. Germany have undoubted assets on which to base such lofty ambitions. They qualified for Russia 2018 as the only team to win all their games with the best goal difference, an astounding +39. Manager Joachim Low has put together a squad that puts the needs of the team first instead of any individual player. There are no major stars, but rather a fantastic group of footballers with a very clear idea of how they need to play. It is true that Germany have lost pillars like Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Miroslav Klose, who have all retired from the national team. Others, like Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Sami Khedira, are not quite as reliable as they once were. However, the team retains an unwavering belief that good results will come, with quality play as their trademark. At age 28, Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos is a remarkably mature player, and his qualities are also a good summary of Germany’s current assets: reliability, technique, mental strength, consistency and knowledge of football. Last year’s Confederations Cup a warning to all the other teams in Russia – won the tournament despite fielding a “reserve team,” without their usual starters. Low is a good judge of talent and trusts his players. Germany are also experiencing the emergence of a new generation of brilliant footballers, with obvious examples like Leon Goretzka, Timo Werner, Joshua Kimmich and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, who is already undisputed as Barcelona’s first-choice keeper. Low knows he has the tools he needs to extend Germany’s winning cycle and to turn them into a legendary team. They want their second World Cup title in succession and they have earned the right to be one of the top favourites at the tournament based on their statistics, their mentality and their football. Low has led Germany’s national team since 2006. The national federation asked him to lead a mediumterm project, and Low planned it with surgical precision. There was great patience and trust on both sides and eventually, results did come. Low managed to get the national team to work like a club on every possible level.