Germany face tough Sweden challenge in FIFA WC

Defending champions Germany will look to shake off their disappointing start to the FIFA World Cup, when they take on 24th ranked Sweden in Group F in their second match of the tournament here at the Fisht Stadium on Saturday.

Germany are coming off in the clash on the back of their dismal 0-1 defeat at the hands of Mexico in their opening match of the showpiece event at the Luzhniki Stadium.

Mexico's Hirving Lozano notched up the only goal of the game as the German players kept scratching their heads and gazing at one-another with confused looks.

Sweden, on the other hand, strolled past South Korea 1-0 in the FIFA World Cup opener to earn full three points.

Now, Germany will be desperate to pick up three full points against Sweden team if they want to keep their chances of progressing in Group F, which also features Mexico and South Korea.

Meanwhile, Sweden - along with Mexico - are currently standing atop of Group F after winning their opening match and could prove to be a difficult side for Germany to break down.

In other matches of the day, third-ranked Belgium will lock horns with 21st ranked Tunisia in Group G at the Spartak Stadium, while 74th ranked South Korea will cross swords 15th ranked Mexico in their second match of the World Cup.

Having started off their World Cup campaign with a crushing 3-0 win over tournament debutants Panama, Belgium will hope to book their place in the last-16 when they take on Tunisia in Moscow later today.

Tunisia, on the other hand, slumped to a last-minute defeat at the hands of England in the other Group G opener and a loss against the Belgians could well extinguish their chances of staying alive in the competition.

While Mexico will look to add to their impressive start to the campaign, a defeat for South Korea in the second match could see them eliminate from the showpiece event.

On a related note, the Germany and Sweden squads are as follows:

Germany

Goalkeepers--Neuer, Trapp, Marc-Andre ter Stegen

Defenders--Plattenhardt, Hector, Ginter, Hummels, Sule, Rudiger, Boateng, Kimmich

Midfielders--Khedira, Draxler, Kroos, Ozil, Goretzka, Rudy, Brandt, Gundogan

Forwards--Werner, Reus, Muller, Gomez

Sweden

Goalkeepers--Olsen, Johnsson, Nordfeldt

Defenders--Lustig, Lindelof, Granqvist, Olsson, Augustinsson, Helander, Jansson, Krafth

Midfielders--Forsberg, Ekdal, Claesson, Svensson, Larsson, Durmaz, Hiljemark, Rohden

Forwards--Berg, Toivonen, Guidetti, Kiese-Thelin.