Group E

BRAZIL

Team: Brazil
Current FIFA Ranking: 2
Previous World Cup appearances: 20 - 1930, 1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
Best World Cup result: Champions - 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002
Group fixtures: June 17 vs Switzerland, June 22 vs Costa Rica, June 27 vs Serbia
Captain: Varies
Star Player: Neymar
Head coach: Tite

BRAZIL SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Alisson, Ederson, Cassio
Defenders: Danilo, Fagner, Marcelo, Filipe Luis, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Miranda, Pedro Geromel
Midfielders: Casemiro, Fernandinho, Paulinho, Fred, Renato Augusto, Philippe Coutinho
Forwards: Neymar, Taison, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, Willian, Douglas Costa

History’s most successful World Cup team, Brazil will hope to add a sixth trophy this summer. Tite’s talented attacking squad are among the favourites for the tournament, and they will be expected to advance from Group E at a canter.

A 7-1 defeat to Germany knocked them out of their home tournament in 2014, with Neymar missing that game due to injury. The world’s most expensive player should be fit for this summer’s follow-up, and will be determined that his national side do not suffer further embarrassment on the biggest stage of all.

Tite’s biggest problem could be deciding which players to start up in attack, with Roberto Firmino, Gabriel Jesus, Willian, Douglas Costa, and Taison all contenders alongside the Paris Saint-Germain superstar.

SWITZERLAND

Team: Switzerland
Current FIFA Ranking: 6
Previous World Cup appearances: 10 - 1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006, 2010, 2014
Best World Cup result: Quarter-finals - 1934, 1938, 1954
Group fixtures: June 17 vs Brazil, June 22 vs Serbia, June 27 vs Costa Rica
Captain: Stephan Lichtsteiner
Star Player: Granit Xhaka
Head coach: Vladimir Petkovic

SWITZERLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Roman Burki, Yvon Mvogo, Yann Sommer
Defenders: Manuel Akanji, Johan Djourou, Nico Elvedi, Michael Lang, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Jacques-Francois Moubandje, Ricardo Rodriguez, Fabian Schaer
Midfielders: Valon Behrami, Blerim Dzemaili, Gelson Fernandes, Remo Freuler, Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Steven Zuber, Denis Zakaria
Forwards: Josip Drmic, Breel Embolo, Mario Gavranovic, Haris Seferovic

Consistently one of the world’s top 10 teams in the FIFA Ranking, Switzerland are usually not considered contenders in major tournaments.

Their teams tend to be built on solid defensive foundations - in 2006, they did not concede a single goal before being eliminated on penalties - but often lack incisiveness up front.

This was the case in World Cup qualification, where they finished second to Portugal on goal difference, needing to beat Northern Ireland in the play-offs to progress.

Their strong midfield centres on warriors Granit Xhaka and Valon Behrami, with Xherdan Shaqiri often expected to be the creative force.

COSTA RICA

Team: Costa Rica
Current FIFA Ranking: 23
Previous World Cup appearances: 4 - 1990, 2002, 2006, 2014
Best World Cup result: 2014 - Quarter-finals
Group fixtures: June 17 vs Serbia, June 22 vs Brazil, June 27 vs Switzerland
Captain: Bryan Ruiz
Star Player: Keylor Navas
Head coach: Oscar Ramirez

COSTA RICA SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas, Patrick Pemberton, Leonel Moreira
Defenders: Johnny Acosta, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Ian Smith, Oscar Duarte, Bryan Oviedo, Francisco Calvo, Cristian Gamboa, Kendall Waston, Ronald Matarrita
Midfielders: Celso Borges, Christian Bolanos, Bryan Ruiz, Rodney Wallace, Randall Azofeifa, Yeltsin Tejeda, David Guzman
Forwards: Daniel Colindres, Johan Venegas, Joel Campbell, Marco Urena

Costa Rica are unlikely to win the World Cup any time soon, but the most successful Central American side are always capable of causing an upset at the tournament.

They reached the quarter-finals last time out, topping a group that included Italy, Uruguay and England, and came within a penalty shootout of defeating the Netherlands after a stellar performance from goalkeeper Keylor Navas, which earned him a move to Real Madrid.

Captain Bryan Ruiz is also a remnant from that squad, and his side’s chances depend on the Sporting forward having a strong tournament this summer.

LAFC striker Marco Urena netted both goals in the qualifying win over USA as well as the leveller against Mexico and is a player who tends to perform better for his country than at club level.

SERBIA

Team: Serbia
Current FIFA Ranking: 34
Previous World Cup appearances: 11 - 1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1982, 1990, 1998, 2006, 2010
Best World Cup result: Fourth place - 1930, 1962
Group fixtures: June 17 vs Costa Rica, June 22 vs Switzerland, June 27 vs Brazil
Captain: Aleksandar Kolarov
Star Player: Nemanja Matic
Head coach: Mladen Krstajic

SERBIA SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Vladimir Stojkovic, Predrag Rajkovic, Marko Dmitrovic
Defenders: Aleksandar Kolarov, Antonio Rukavina, Milan Rodic, Branislav Ivanovic, Uros Spajic, Milos Veljkovic, Dusko Tosic, Nikola Milenkovic
Midfielders: Nemanja Matic, Luka Milivojevic, Marko Grujic, Dusan Tadic, Andrija Zivkovic, Filip Kostic, Nemanja Radonjic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Adem Ljajic
Forwards: Aleksandar Mitrovic, Aleksandar Prijovic, Luka Jovic

This will be the second tournament where Serbia are represented, having appeared as Yugoslavia and then Serbia & Montenegro at previous competitions.

The Balkan side’s best success at the World Cup came over 50 years ago, so head coach Mladen Krstajic will be thankful the Group E draw has given them a feasible path to the knockout stages.

Serbia’s strength lies in the middle of the park with Manchester United’s Nemanja Matic and international newcomer Sergej Milinkovic-Savic likely to make things difficult for their opponents.

They narrowly edged out the Republic of Ireland in qualifying, so will be looking for more consistency in the final tournament.