Brazil are keen to impress in Russia following their 7-1 humilation at the hands of defending champions Germany in the last World Cup, and star player Neymar will be eager to make his mark after winning the race to regain fitness.
Their opponents in the group are Serbia, Costa Rica and Switzerland, which will make for plenty of competitive games.
Goal looks at the rundown of the Group E fixtures, as well as what to expect from each team and more.
World Cup 2018 - Group E Fixtures
| Date | Fixture | Time | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 17 | Costa Rica 0-1 Serbia | 1pm UK / 8am US ET | Samara Arena, Samara |
| June 17 | Brazil 1-1 Switzerland | 7pm UK / 2pm US ET | Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don |
| June 22 | Brazil 2-0 Costa Rica | 1pm UK / 8am US ET | Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg |
| June 22 | Serbia 1-2 Switzerland | 7pm UK / 2pm US ET | Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad |
| June 27 | Serbia 0-2 Brazil | 7pm UK / 2pm US ET | Otkrytie Arena, Moscow |
| June 27 | Switzerland 2-2 Costa Rica | 7pm UK / 2pm US ET | Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod |
A free kick from Serbia veteran Aleksandar Kolarov was the only goal as the European side defeated the World Cup 2014 quarter-finalists 1-0 in Samara.
Brazil were held to a 1-1 draw by a stubborn Swiss side, who man-marked Neymar, giving him rough treatment and denying him space to shine. There was some controversy over the Swiss goal, in which Steven Zuber scored after pushing Miranda in the back, following Philippe Coutinho's excellent first-half opener.
Brazil eventually got off the mark through a 2-0 win against Costa Rica, with Coutinho striking late in the game to spare the Selecao's blushes after Neymar was denied a penalty by VAR for diving. The PSG forward tapped in the second after seven minutes of added time.
Switzerland came from behind to beat Serbia 2-1 in Kaliningrad. Aleksandar Mitrovic headed Serbia into a fifth minute lead, but Granit Xhaka's stunning strike levelled it up early in the second half before Xherdan Shaqiri sprinted from inside his own half before slotting home the winner in the final minute.
Brazil ensured qualification, and also top spot, with a 2-0 win over Serbia thanks to goals from Paulinho and Thiago Silva. Switzerland, meanwhile, were twice pegged back in a 2-2 draw against Costa Rica, but it was not enough to prevent them from joining Brazil in the last 16.
World Cup 2018 - Group E Table Standings
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GD | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Serbia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 3 |
| 4 | Costa Rica | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 1 |
World Cup 2018 - Group E Squads
Brazil's 23-man squad : Alisson, Ederson, Cassio; Danilo, Fagner, Marcelo, Filipe Luis, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Miranda, Pedro Geromel; Casemiro, Fernandinho, Paulinho, Fred, Renato Augusto, Philippe Coutinho, Willian, Douglas Costa; Neymar, Taison, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino
Switzerland's 23-man squad : Roman Burki, Yvon Mvogo, Yann Sommer; Manuel Akanji, Johan Djourou, Nico Elvedi, Michael Lang, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Jacques-Francois Moubandje, Ricardo Rodriguez, Fabian Schaer; Valon Behrami, Blerim Dzemaili, Gelson Fernandes, Remo Freuler, Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Steven Zuber, Denis Zakaria; Josip Drmic, Breel Embolo, Mario Gavranovic, Haris Seferovic
Costa Rica's 23-man squad : Keylor Navas, Patrick Pemberton, Leonel Moreira, Cristian Gamboa, Ian Smith, Ronald Matarrita, Bryan Oviedo, Oscar Duarte, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Francisco Calvo, Kendall Waston, Johnny Acosta, David Guzman, Yeltsin Tejeda, Celso Borges, Randall Azofeifa, Rodney Wallace, Bryan Ruiz, Daniel Colindres, Christian Bolanos, Johan Venegas, Joel Campbell, Marco Urena
Serbia's 23-man squad : Vladimir Stojkovic, Predrag Rajkovic, Marko Dmitrovic, Aleksandar Kolarov, Antonio Rukavina, Milan Rodic, Branislav Ivanovic, Uros Spajic, Milos Veljkovic, Dusko Tosic, Nikola Milenkovic; Nemanja Matic, Luka Milivojevic, Marko Grujic, Dusan Tadic, Andrija Zivkovic, Filip Kostic, Nemanja Radonjic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Adem Ljajic; Aleksandar Mitrovic, Aleksandar Prijovic, Luka Jovic
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