2018 World Cup Team Profiles: Group E

In the fifth edition of our World Cup Team Profiles, Group E goes under the microscope. Can Neymar spearhead Brazil's search for glory? And who gets to join them if they qualify? Switzerland, Costa Rica or Serbia? We go through it all here.

Want to hear more about these groups? Check out our Betting on the World Cup Podcast! You can listen to Stats Insider staff go in deep on each group. Here's their Group E & F Preview.

Average Group Outcome (According to Stats Insider Models):
Brazil
Switzerland
Serbia
Costa Rica

BRAZIL

Average Finishing Place In Group: 1st
Odds to Qualify from Group (Percentage Chance): $1.10 (89.2%)
Odds to Win Group (Percentage Chance): $1.50 (68.8%)
Odds to Finish Bottom of Group (Percentage Chance): $33.60 (3.0%)
Odds to Win World Cup: $4.70 (21.2%)

Keen to avenge their humiliating 7-1 defeat against Germany in 2014, Brazil returns to the World Cup in 2018 as one of the tournament’s true contenders. South American qualifying was as brutal as ever, but Brazil thrived amongst the chaos. They banged in 41 goals in 18 games, lost only one game and finished 10 points clear of second-placed Uruguay.

They were the first side outside of Russia to qualify for the tournament, and their manager Tite has done an outstanding job building a system to get the best out of his players. Ederson and Allison provide brilliant depth at goalkeeper with the latter holding the number one jersey, with Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos (or Miranda) and Marcelo forming a strong back four in their 4-1-4-1 setup.

Casemiro anchors the midfield ahead of them, though Fernandinho provides an excellent alternative in that role. Paulinho, Philippe Coutinho, Fred and Renato Augusto battle for the rest of the midfield spots, whilst Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino and Douglas Costa form a devastating attack. Make no mistake, Brazil believe they can win it all and have the squad to do it.

Keep your eye on: Neymar playing for his country is a beautiful sight to see. He is the key to everything Brazil does and is a devastating player at his best. Heading into a World Cup at age 26 is his peak opportunity to show world football just how good he truly is. Brazil have the potential to go far, and Neymar can be the engine that drives them there.

SWITZERLAND

Average Finishing Place In Group: 2nd
Odds to Qualify from Group (Percentage Chance): $1.80 (55.1%)
Odds to Win Group (Percentage Chance): $6.20 (16.1%)
Odds to Finish Bottom of Group (Percentage Chance): $6.00 (16.6%)
Odds to Win World Cup: $93.60 (1.1%)

Vladimir Petkovic’s squad stumbled into the World Cup, only getting past Northern Ireland in the Playoffs via a controversial penalty. Nevertheless, they are in the tournament, and expectations for them in the homeland is that they make it out of their group and take it from there.

Fabian Schär and the youthful Manuel Akanji anchor the defence, ably assisted on the flanks by Stephan Lichtsteiner and Ricardo Rodriguez. It provides the bedrock for Granit Xhaka ahead of them to dictate things from the middle of the park. Xhaka is the undoubted heartbeat of this Swiss side, and he’ll need to be at his best (and not getting in disciplinary trouble) for the Swiss to do well.

This is an experienced team who will not be dwarfed by the big occasion, but there are questions up front with a lack of a class striker. However, Xherdan Shaqiri, Valon Behrami and Steven Zuber can provide excitement in attack.

Keep your eye on: Shaqiri and Xhaka. These two players are without a doubt the most crucial parts of this Swiss side, but there forever remains questions about their discipline and consistency. For them to outperform expectations, those questions must be silenced.

COSTA RICA

Average Finishing Place In Group: 4th
Odds to Qualify from Group (Percentage Chance): $5.00 (19.8%)
Odds to Win Group (Percentage Chance): $22.10 (4.52%)
Odds to Finish Bottom of Group (Percentage Chance): $2.00 (49.6%)
Odds to Win World Cup: $1500 (0.1%)

Los Ticos were the sensation that swept through Brazil 2014, reaching the World Cup Quarter Finals. Jorge Luis Pinto is now gone, replaced by Óscar Ramírez. They are certainly up against it but were terrific in qualifying showing themselves as perhaps the best nation coming out of CONCACAF or at least on par with Mexico.

Costa Rica qualified with two games to spare, and they certainly have the talent and resilience to emerge from Group E. They have a similar squad from Brazil 2014 and have retained the 5-4-1 system that served them so well four years ago, and it’s a system built to absorb pressure and frustrate opponents.

Keylor Navas anchors the team and system as the star of the team, and he’ll need to be at his best for them to make some serious noise. They’ll look to sit deep and hit hard on the counter-attack through Bryan Ruiz, Marco Ureña who both add pace & creativity.

Keep your eye on: Navas was a giant unknown coming into Brazil 2014, but what a four years he has had since then. Real Madrid’s number one, numerous Champions League titles and other medals, and he is one of (if not the biggest) star in the entirety of CONCACAF. If he can keep opposition attacks at bay, who knows what Los Ticos can do?

SERBIA

Average Finishing Place In Group: 3rd
Odds to Qualify from Group (Percentage Chance): $2.80 (35.8%)
Odds to Win Group (Percentage Chance): $9.50 (10.6%)
Odds to Finish Bottom of Group (Percentage Chance): $3.20 (30.9%)
Odds to Win World Cup: $270 (0.4%)

Serbia were supremely impressive as they qualified for their first major tournament in seven years, defeated only once in their 10 qualifiers to top Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Austria in their group. Conflict surrounded the side off the pitch though, as Slavoljub Muslin lost his job after conflict with the Serbian Football Association.

Mladen Krstajić will lead a talented Serbian side into the World Cup, with Sergej Milinković-Savić and Nemanja Matić at the epicentre of everything the team does. Aleksandar Mitrovic, Andrija Zivkovic, Marko Grujic, Nemanja Maksimovic and Milos Veljkovic add into an experienced group of players capable of progressing past the group stage.

Former Chelsea man Branislav Ivanovic is the key man down back, with Milinković-Savić and Matić controlling things through the middle. Mitrovic leads the attack, and bagged six of Serbia’s twenty goals in their ten qualifiers.

Keep your eye on: Sergej Milinković-Savić has a huge tournament ahead of him. A breakout season at Lazio has just been completed, with his dribbling, long shooting abilities, aerial process and chance creation big reasons why the likes of Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain are chasing his signature so hard this summer.

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