FIFA World Cup 2018™: 'Group A' Tactical Preview

Egypt qualified from CFS 5 group final qualification stage topping their group and only losing at home to Uganda they were Africa's first-ever qualifies for a World Cup back in 1934 but they didn't qualify for the competition again until 1990 both times hosted in Italy Muhammad Salla the Premier League's Golden Boot winner and the FWS Player of the Year and the PFA players Player of the Year topped the scoring for Egypt in qualification with five goals Egypt with had to compare in the dugout are a solid 4-2-3-1 team who deployed two defensive midfielders Mohammed Al Nellie and taro Kamath ahead of a tough pair of centre backs including West Brom Zac Mehta Ghazi and then he has license to get forwards and support the number-10 usually at that I Sayed well the full-backs push up Egypt pressed quite hard where possible before falling back into a 442 with Syed pushing up alongside the striker in the mid block the aim is unsurprisingly to get the ball to Salah but this team is far from a one-man band braggers Ahmed Hassan cooker is arranging forward who can bring his teammates into the game with flick ins and layoffs while Stokes Ramadan Sophie poses a threat cutting in from the left wing but Salah is quite clearly Egypt's 10 German and his pace trickery and movement will all pose a threat to any side in the competition watch out - for goalkeeper and captain SML Kothari who could become the World Cups oldest ever player Egypt's blend of steel and guile should see them through the group as long as sallow stays fit Russia qualified automatically as hosts but they haven't got past the group stage of a major tournament since the 2008 European Championship then they reached the semi-finals before their team featuring keeper Igor Akinfeev as well as Andrei Arshavin Yuri Zhirkov and Roman Pavlyuchenko fell to eventual champions Spain the squad is lacking the quality of that side stanislav jet joseph can still call anakin fair than goal but much of the defense has retired while midfield schema alan dzagoyev is injury prone and only strikers fear their small of an attempt Oba have scored more than 10 international goals Russia play with three at the back the wing backs pushed high and one screening midfielder dropping off to provide cover as the center-back split to cover the wide spaces creativity comes from dzagoyev who plays off the striker but in reality pops up everywhere linking attacking play carrying the ball through the center or wide and arriving in the box to provide a second goal scoring threat he supported by runners from midfield if Jaco F cannot make things happen Russia resort to going long down the wide spaces in the hope that small of can chase down and secure the ball Russia can look disjointed in possession and defending if Jago EV is nullified much will be expected from highly rated prospect Alexander Golovin they do have talent in midfield but a disjointed defense an error-prone goalkeeper and a lack of real firepower could see them struggle to emerge from a gritty group Saudi Arabia qualified for russia 2018 by finishing as runners-up in Group B of AFC's third round a home-and-away round-robin format that saw juan antonio pizzas Green Eagles secure automatic qualification ahead of Australia on goal difference mohamed el Chilhowie scored 16 goals overall and was the joint top scorer in World Cup qualification Saudi Arabia are captained by the vastly experienced Osama hasari while to say Alta simples the strings from a deep role in midfield pushing up into the hole of Saudi Arabia have sustained a period of possession the site generally lines up in a sort of 433 but 1 midfielder drops to screen while alg Asim drops to collect the ball from the defense Saudi Arabia looked to absorb pressure then hit long passes up the line towards the wide forwards the left hand side with fullback CL Shahani or Mansoor al hobby and left winger Salim Eldar sorry poses Saudi Arabia's greatest threat going forwards and al jusen will try to facilitate this sort of quick breaking counter punching with his long passing Yahya al Shehri can cut him from the right and both winners are capable of switching to pose issues Saudi Arabia are likely to sit back and look to counter but they are far from one-dimensional and they're not pushovers as shown in a recent to nil friendly win over greece al del sorry is the one to watch while muhammad al salam has plenty of international experience and goals in the number 9 role getting out of this group is likely to be a bridge too far though CONMEBOL qualifying as always a tough ask Uruguay did well to finish in second place behind Brazil but made things tougher than they needed to be Edinson Cavani scored ten goals the most in condor ball qualifying while luis suarez back five under coach óscar tabárez who is in his second stint as Uruguay coach and has also managed the Under 20's Uruguay played a 442 the spine is extremely solid with Fernando Muslera in goal atletico madrid centre backs Diego godín and Jose Jimenez and two holding midfielders who can also pass well in Inter's Matthias Makino and one other Rodrigo Ben Tucker plays wide right but pushes high in attack while the left midfielder tucks in and Luis Suarez or Edinson Cavani Pele to the left to give the team a lopsided 433 in attack you require play a direct style using long range passing from the back or from central midfield to find the full backs on the overlap hit bent incur almost as a wide target man or exploit Kivar knees and Suarez's ability breaking behind the defensive line they look to win the ball aggressively in midfield and counter quickly or shift it back to create space for a long pass the front pair are obviously Uruguay stain German but keep an eye out for central midfielder Lucas Ferreira he's had an outstanding season in a young dynamic Sampha Doria midfield and can create chances for the strikers with a snood passing while more than holding his own in Uruguay stuff tackling setter Uruguay is combination of explosive firepower and gnarled toughness should see them comfortably into the knockout stages you you