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The World Cup is just around the corner, so for the next four weeks, we will be taking a closer look at each Group. Today we will start with Group A, which consists of hosts Russia, a team that has captured the title twice, Uruguay, the amazing Mo Salah and the Egyptians, and the minnows of the Group, Saudi Arabia.
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R<b>USSIA (+175)</b>
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Russia is hosting a World Cup for the first time, and they, of course, got a ticket to the Group Stage without having to participate in the qualifiers. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the national team of Russia was born in 1992 and are currently sitting at the 63rd spot of the FIFA rankings. They are participating in the World Cup for the 11th time in their history, and the best place they have captured was the 4th spot in the 1966 edition in England, when they were still the Soviet Union. Moreover, they have reached the quarter-finals on three occasions, as the Soviet Union again, in Sweden (1958), Chile (1962) and in Mexico (1970). In their last two friendlies, they met equal losses to Brazil (3-0) and France (3-1), showing problems on both ends of the pitch. They have a lot of experienced players on their roster, led by their captain and goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow). Moreover, defender Roman Neustader (Fenerbahce) and midfielders Alan Djagoev (CSKA Moscow) and Denis Cherysev (Villarreal) will be the focal points.
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<b>URUGUAY (-110) </b>
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Uruguay is without a doubt the favorites to top this group, and they came here as 2nd in the CONCACAF Group. They have participated in World Cups on 13 different occasions, and have captured the title twice, back in 1930 at home, and in 1950 in Brazil. Moreover, they have obtained the 4th spot on three occasions (Switzerland 1954, Mexico 1970, South Africa 2010), and are currently residing at the 22nd spot of the FIFA rankings. In their most recent friendlies, they recorded narrow wins against the Czech Republic (0-2) and Wales (1-0). Coach Oscar Tabares will probably use a classic 4-4-2 formation, spear-headed by two world-class players like Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint Germain) and Luis Suarez (Barcelona). They will also have Atletico Madrid's tenacious defender and captain Diego Godin lock down the defense, as the Celeste will look to do much better than what they did in the previous World Cup.
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<b>EGYPT (+450) </b>
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Be on the look-out for this team, for it will cause a lot of upsets. They are one of the two underdogs in this group, but having the fantastic Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) in their ranks is undoubtedly a massive boost. The man has done it all in the Premier League this season, and he is surely going to be troubling the opposing defenses throughout Egypt's run in the tournament. Besides Salah there are a couple of other players who have made a name for themselves in the Premier League, like midfielder Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal) and defender Ahmed Hegazy (West Brom). One more critical piece in this Egypt national team is coach Hector Raul Cooper, with a lot of experience in coaching both national teams and clubs. Egypt is currently sitting at the 44th place of the FIFA rankings, and their best spot in a World Cup has been the 13th place in 1934.
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<b>SAUDI ARABIA (+4000) </b>
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Which brings us to the big underdogs in this group, a Saudi Arabia side who qualified as 2nd behind Japan in the 2nd Qualifying round of the Asian group. This will be their 5th time in a World Cup, with their best finish being the 12th spot in the 1994 World Cup which was held in the USA. They are currently sitting at the 69th spot of the FIFA rankings, and don't have a name that stands out. They have a couple of players who are playing in Spain, and their most valuable asset is coach Juan Antonio Pizzi.
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