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Match Preview: Mexico vs Sweden, Group F, June 27

Mexico and Sweden face off on June 27th at 10am Eastern time in Ekaterinburg, Russia in what is going to be the most important game for both of these countries so far. Mexico is already guaranteed a spot in the next round and can lock up first place with a win. Sweden is trying to secure a spot, which they can do with a win and a Germany tie or loss against South Korea. Coming into the World Cup, nobody predicted this scenario, but here we are. Sweden is favored to win by a slight margin, if our World Cup betting odds have anything to say about it, but who knows what can happen at this point. These two teams have nine games in their history, dating back to 1958. Sweden won the last match in 2009, 1-0. Overall, Sweden holds the better record vs Mexico at 4-3-2.

Mexico

After a 1-0 win against Germany in its first game, Mexico played statistically a very close game with South Korea, even though they looked in control for most of the match. While some of this may be due to hangover from what was maybe the greatest win in Mexico's history at the World Cup, what is certain is that this team came crashing back down to earth a little bit and now has to put it game face back on vs Sweden. The Mexicans have a very potent attack that will be difficult for the Swedes to handle. Lead by Javier Hernandez, a supporting group of Oribe Peralta, Hirving Lozano and Jesus Corona make up a group of attackers that are very dangerous if they catch defenses sleeping.

Sweden

Sweden, on the other hand, are a very unified, patient team that almost waited out their own victory against Germany just days after the Mexicans had their miracle. The Swedes did a good job of making sure the Germans were the ones feeling all the pressure, as they stuck to a game plan that almost got them a winning result against the top-ranked team in the world. So far the Swedes have been the forgotten team in this group. With all clamor around Mexico after they beat Germany, Sweden has quietly made its case as a team to watch out for. This is, after all, the same Sweden team that effectively eliminated Italy from World Cup Qualification in the second round, 2-game play-off, where they beat the Italians by an aggregate of 1-0. As impressive as that may be, it is even more impressive that they have done it without the assistance of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who retired from international play right before World Cup Qualifying.

Match Overview

Mexico has a lot of talent on defense and the right people up front to score goals, but in the middle is where they falter. Turnovers have cost them in several games leading up to the World Cup, and although Juan Carlos Osorio is a proven manager, this team still seems to lack an identity. Sweden, on the other hand is an organized and unified squad but has no real star power outside of Emil Forsberg. He is a capable playmaker, but without a finisher, there is not much bite in Sweden's attack. Sweden is only a slight favorite, and it is easy to imagine a Mexico win as long as they can keep their heads screwed on straight. El Tri is trying to break the string of losses in the fourth game, but they will certainly need to stay focused for this, their third game, if they want to advance in 2018.

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Group Phase