Belgium to win, while Germany must win

Belgium - Tunisia

The Red Devils will be looking to continue their winning start with another win over the lesser fancied

Tunisia. A brace from Manchester United striker Romelo Lukaku gave the European giants a simple 3-0

win over Panama. Though for most parts, they didn’t play football at their fluent best with the Man City

playmaker Kevin de Bruyne and Chelsea winger Eden Hazard kept quiet for most parts. Tunisia are on

the back of a heartbreaking loss against England where they pushed the English to the brink but

conceded in extra time to lose 2-1. Tunisia will look at the talented midfielder Wahbi Khazri to pull the

strings in midfield. This will be the fourth meeting between Belgium and Tunisia, with both nations

winning one game and sharing one draw. Belgium is unbeaten in its last 10 World Cup group games,

winning the last five in a row (W5 D5 L0). Each of Belgium's last 11 World Cup goals have come after

halftime.

Korea - Mexico

Mexico will have momentum on their side with the biggest shock of the tournament where they

outplayed defending champions Germany to win 1-0. However Korea will know they have their work cut

out after a disappointing loss against the Swedish and will rely on Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min to make

the difference for them. The only previous World Cup meeting between South Korea and Mexico was in

1998, with the Central Americans running out 3-1 winners in the group stages. Mexico have won all

three of their World Cup games against Asian opposition (7 goals for, 2 against). Mexico have lost just

two of their last 18 World Cup group stage matches (W9 D7). South Korea are winless in their last seven

World Cup matches (D2 L5), losing their last three in a row.

Germany – Sweden

The Die Manschaft will look to get their world cup defense off the mark after a poor showing against the

Mexicans. The Swedes on the other hand will be looking to continue their positive start. They will be

pleased even if they can eke out a draw with Emil Forsberg being a player that can shine against the

Germans. The pressure will be on Coach Joachim Low to select the best possible combo as midfielders

Toni Kroos and Mesut Ozil were kept quiet. Added to that, the exclusion of Premier League PFA Young

Player of the Year Leroy Sane has made picking a winning combination for the coach all the more

important. Germany is unbeaten in their last 11 games against Sweden (W6 D5), with the Scandinavians’

last win coming 40 years ago in April 1978 (3-1). Sweden have faced the reigning World Cup champion at

the World Cup twice before and won both times – in 1950 against Italy and 1958 against Germany.


Germany have not lost back to back matches in the same World Cup finals since 1958, when they lost to

Sweden in the semi-final and France in the third-place match.