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2018 FIFA World Cup - Group A Preview


Some days to 2018 FIFA World Cup, let review each county according to their respective players and historical in past world cup. Uruguay has been the successful country among this countries. 

The host country Russia have 11 appearance in all world cup and secure fourth position in 1966 FIFA World Cup. Egypt make their third appearance in world Cup since 1990. 

Saudi Arabia is here for there 5th appearance in FIFA world cup. 

Uruguay Favourites in Group A


Team🇺🇬: Uruguay

Current FIFA Ranking: 17
Previous World Cup appearances:12 – 1930, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1986, 1990, 2002, 2010, 2014

 Best World Cup Result Winners - 1930, 1950

Group fixtures:
June 15 vs Egypt, 
June 20 vs Saudi Arabia
June 25 vs Russia

Captain: Diego Godin
Star Player: Luis Suarez
Head coach: Oscar Tabarez
Preferred Formation: 4-1-4-1

Qualifying Route:

Brazil breezed to first place in CONMEBOL qualifying but Uruguay were a comfortable 2nd. Chile missed out and Argentina relied on Lionel Messi's genius to qualify. Edinson Cavani was the key to their success, hitting 10 goals – three more than any other player in qualifying.

Past Performances:

Although Uruguay has a population of little under four million, it packs a historical punch in the World Cup like few others. It has won two FIFA World Cups, including the 1st ever World Cup in 1930 as hosts, beating Argentina 4–2 in the final. The team has qualified for 12 World Cups, reaching the second round in all but three, the semifinals five times and the finals twice. Even before the creation of the world Cup, Uruguay has won the Gold Medals in football at the Summer Olympics twice, in 1924 and 1928. Uruguay refused to enter the World Cup until 1950, but they stunned home team Brazil in the final by winning 2-1 at the Maracana, the same year. Uruguay is one of the most successful teams in the world, having won 19 official titles: 2 FIFA World Cup, 2 Olympic Games and 15 Copa America.

Their exploits have finished since those heady days in the past, but they have shown in each of the last two editions that they are still a force to be reckoned with.

The Squad

Goal keepers: Fernando Muslera, Martín Campaña, Martín Silva.

Defenders: José María Giménez, Diego Godín, Guillermo Varela, Nahitan Nández, Gastón Silva, Maximiliano Pereira, Sebastián Coates, Martín Cáceres.

Midfielders: Carlos Sánchez, Rodrigo Bentancur, Cristian Rodríguez, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Lucas Torreira, Matías Vecino, Diego Laxalt, Jonathan Urretaviscaya.

Forwads: Luis Suárez, Cristhian Stuani, Maximiliano Gómez, Edinson Cavani.

Russia Looks Forward to World Cup

Team: Russia
Current FIFA Ranking: 66
Previous World Cup appearances: 11 - 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990 (all as USSR), 1994, 2002, 2014

Best World Cup result: Fourth - 1966

Group fixtures: 
June 14 vs Saudi Arabia
June 19 vs Egypt
June 25 vs Uruguay

Captain: Igor Akinfeev
Star Player: Denis Cheryshev
Head coach: Stanislav Cercesov
Preferred formation: 3-4-2-1

Qualification Route:

As hosts, there was no need for Russia to go through any qualification process and as such they are a side that are coming into the competition largely untested. It is scheduled to take place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights on 2 December 2010.

Past Performances:

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia played its first international match against Mexico on 16 August 1992 winning 2–0 with a team of former Soviet Union players, including some born in other former Soviet Republics. Russia were in Group 5 for the qualification campaign for the 1994 FIFA World Cup held in the United States which consisted of Greece, Iceland, Hungary and Luxembourg. The suspension of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia reduced the group to five teams. Russia eventually qualified alongside Greece with six wins and two draws. Russia went to the USA to start a new era of Russian football as an independent country. They appeared for the World Cup in 2002 and 2014 as well.

This will be the first World Cup held in Europe since the 2006 tournament in Germany, the first ever to be held in Eastern Europe and the eleventh time that it has been held in Europe. All of the stadium venues are in European Russia to keep travel time manageable.

They are, however, eager to give a strong account of themselves to the watching world, having failed to progress past the group stage of the competition since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Even on home soil, though, their path will not be straightforward. Uruguay have an array of attacking talent at their disposal while Egypt are expected to to be carried by Mohamed Salah. It is essential they get their tournament off to a flying start against Saudi Arabia.

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev, Andrey Lunyov, Vladimir Gabulov

Defenders: Mário Fernandes, Ilya Kutepov, Sergei Ignashevich, Andrei Semyonov, Fedor Kudryashov, Vladimir Granat, Yuri Zhirkov, Igor Smolnikov

Midfielders: Denis Cheryshev, Daler Kuzyaev, Yuri Gazinskiy, Alan Dzagoev, Roman Zobnin, Anton Miranchuk, Aleksandr Golovin, Aleksandr Samedov, Aleksandr Erokhin

Forwards: Fedor Smolov, Aleksei Miranchuk, Artem Dzyuba

Saudi Arabia Seek Solid Showing on World Stage


Team🇸🇦: Saudi Arabia 

Current FIFA Ranking: 67

Previous World Cup appearances: 4 - 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006

Best World Cup result: Round of 16 1994

Group fixtures:
June 14 vs Russia,
June 20 vs Uruguay
June 25 vs Egypt

  Captain: Osama Hawsawi
  Star Player: Fahad Al-Muwallad
  Head coach: Juan Antonio Pizzi
  Preferred formation: 4-2-3-1

Qualifying Route

They qualified for the World Cup by finishing second top of AFC qualifying Group B, edging out Australia on account of their marginally better goal difference. It made for a nerve-shredding final round of matches, with Saudi Arabia recording a 1-0 win over Japan in their final match to finally book their place in Russia.

Past Performances

Saudi Arabia qualified for their first FIFA World Cup in 1994. Under the leadership of Jorge Solari and with talents like Saeed Al-Owairan and Sami Al- Jaber, reinforced by national veteran Majed Abdullah, as team captain, Saudi Arabia beat both Belgium and Morocco in the group stage before falling to Sweden in the Round of 16. Saudi Arabia qualified for the next three World Cups, but did not win a group stage match in any of them. They failed to qualify for the 2010 and 2014 tournaments but secured qualification for the 2018 tournament, ahead of Australia.

Saudi Arabia are the three-time AFC Asian Cup champions and are generally considered one of the stronger sides in Asia. Yet they have only made the FIFA World Cup four times and have only made the knockouts once.

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Abdullah al-Mayouf, Yasser al Mosailem, Mohammed al-Owais

Midfielders: Salman al-Faraj, Yahya al-Shehri, Hattan Bahebri, Abdulmalek al-Khaibri, Mohamed Kanno, Abdullah Otayf, Abdullah al-Khaibari, Houssain al-Mogahwi, Taisir al-Jassim, Salem al-Dawsari

Defenders: Mansoor al-Harbi, Osama Hawsawi, Ali al-Bulaihi, Omar Hawsaw, Mohammed al-Breik, Yasser al-Shahrani, Motaz Hawsawi

Forwards: Mohammad al-Sahlawi, Fahad al-Muwallad, Muhannad Assiri

Egypt Is Back to Surprise the World Cup Opponents

Team🇪🇬: Egypt
Current FIFA Ranking: 46
Previous World Cup appearances: 2 - 1934, 1990
Best World Cup result: First round/Group Stage
Group fixtures
June 15 vs Uruguay 
June 19 vs Russia
June 25 vs Saudi Arabia

Captain: Essam El Hadary
Star Player: Mohamed Salah
Head coach: Hector Cuper
Preferred formation: 4-2-3-1


Qualifying Route

Egypt qualified over Uganda, Ghana and Congo in the third round of CAF. On October 8, 2017, Egypt sealed their qualification with a 2–1 win over Congo. The two goals were scored by Mohamed Salah with the second one in a dramatic last minute penalty. Salah has scored the most goals in the third round of the CAF 2018 World Cup Qualification campaign with five goals.

Past performances

Egypt was the first African team to play in the World Cup finals in 1934. Egypt has qualified to the world cup on three occasions, in 1934 , 1990 and 2018 FIFA World Cup. When they qualified in 1990, they became the team with the longest-ever gap between two FIFA World Cup matches: 56 years and 16 days had passed(1934-1990). After beating MandatoryPalestine, Egypt qualified for their first World Cup. . It is notable that this World Cup will be the first in which Egypt plays against a non-European team.

After another near-three-decade absence, they have returned as they seek to progress for the first time. Despite more positive news around Mohamed Salah's injury, Egypt coach Hector Cuper has admitted that he is planning for life without him just in case his star man isn't fit to start in Russia.

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Essam El-Hadary, Sherif Ekramy, Ahmed El-Shenawy.

Defenders: Ali Gabr, Ahmed Elmohamady, Ahmed Hegazi, Ahmed Fathi, Ayman Ashraf ,Mohamed Abdel-Shafy, Mahmoud Hamdy (El-Winsh), Saad Samir.

Midfielders: Omar Gabr, Sam Morsy, Tarek Hamed, Mohamed Elneny, Mahmoud Abdel Razek (Shikabala), Abdallah El-Said, Amr Warda.

Forwards: Marwan Mohsen, Mohamed Salah, Mahmoud Abdel-Moneim (Kahraba), Ramadan Sobhi, Mahmoud Hassan (Trezeguet)

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