Sunday night Australian time sees the commencement of action in Groups E and F with three interesting matches on the cards.
Dark horse Serbia take on Costa Rica at the Samara Arena in the opening Group E match before one of the tournament favourites Germany, face Mexico in the early hours of the morning.
Speaking of tournament favourites, Brazil meet Switzerland in the late game and the world will be watching to see just what the greatest team in Cup history has in store for its opposition in Russia.
The voice of the Crowd has made a solid start to the tipping and shared the lead heading into the day three action.
Remember to insert your tips into the sheet below to have a say as the voice of the crowd. Here are the thoughts of the panel as we near the halfway point of the first round of matches.
Serbia, Germany, Brazil
The fact that I drew Serbia in a sweep isn’t the only reason I feel they will snatch a vital three points in Group E.
The Serbs are an impressive unit and will test Costa Rica defensively. Germany will put the cleaners through Mexico who, quite frankly, aren’t in the same class.
It will be interesting to see just how slick and coordinated the Germans are early in the tournament.
They are my pick for the title based on an excellent balance between defence and attack that many teams fail to match.
However, one squad that does is the powerful Brazilian team. They look to be a final four contender without experiencing too many glitches along the way.
There is far too much talent in this team to see them eliminated before the semi-finals and once there, their raw skill and talent might enable them win it all.
This doesn’t bode well for the Swiss in this match and the Brazilians will win comfortably.
Serbia, Germany, Brazil
Another tough match to predict, if only because Costa Rica stunned the world with their thrilling run to the quarter-finals last time around. Do Serbia have the quality to challenge? I’m tipping they’ll win here in a tight one.
The big guns make their bow in Moscow, and there are some serious questions around some key German positions. Is Manuel Neuer fit? Will Timo Werner start? It may not matter. Germany should have too much quality regardless.
Another game that is not as cut-and-dried as it might first appear. Brazil deserve to go in as favourites, but Switzerland are no mugs. Qualifying with ease, however, is not the same as tournament football. So I suspect Brazil will take all three points.
(AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Serbia, Germany, Brazil
Serbia are looming as one of the nations that could make a significant splash in Russia. They’re hardly the first name that comes to mind when you think of top-tier footballing talent, but there’s talent aplenty in their squad.
Aleksandar Kolarov, Matija Nastasic and Branislav Ivanovic, with Nemanja Matic roaming in front of them, provide defensive surety while midfielders Dusan Tadic, Adem Ljajic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and forward Aleksandar Mitrovic have the attacking flair to threaten any side.
Costa Rica, fresh off a 4-1 hammering at the hands of (an admittedly very good) Belgium, will be no match in this one.
Germany are rightly one of the tournament favourites, and they should have few problems against Mexico. Plenty rests on the goal scoring boots of Timo Werner.
If he fires in his first World Cup, Die Mannschaft will be nigh-on unstoppable. If not, a lack of goals could prevent them from defending their crown, but either way, Germany will start their campaign with a win.
From one favourite to another, Brazil similarly should kick off their Russia 2018 tilt with a win. The Selecao are my tip to take out the final – their defence looks far better than the leaky unit which so infamously shipped seven goals in 2014, their central midfielders are reliable, known quantities, and their attacking riches are numerous. Have fun, Switzerland.
Serbia, Germany, Brazil
Costa Rica don’t seem to have evolved much from the heroics of 2014, which suggests to me they may struggle to replicate the same feat here.
Serbia, meanwhile, have inconsistent but also talented attackers and a few question marks defensively – but surely enough quality to edge a narrow win here.
Germany have enormous quality in their squad and will surely go deep into the knockout stages. This should be a fairly routine win over a decent but inferior Mexico side.
I expect Marco Reus to justify his inclusion over Leroy Sane with a dynamic showing on the left.
Like Germany, Brazil have a ludicrously good squad and are rightly favourites to win a sixth World Cup. Switzerland have ability and will challenge the other teams in the group but it feels like Brazil will be in a determined mood to start their World Cup on the right note.
(Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)
Costa Rica, Germany, Brazil
Costa Rica come to Russia with mixed recent form, winning against Northern Ireland but losing to England and shipping four goals to Belgium.
Serbia boast a strong midfield including Manchester United’s Nemanja Matic and Crystal Palace’s Luka Milivojevic.
A hard match to pick but Costa Rica’s more recent World Cup experience may tell and I expect them to win by the odd goal.
It would take a brave soul to back against a Joachim Loew led Germany in an opening group game.
There is just too much strength across the park and they should get the job done against a courageous Mexican team reliant on West Hams’ Chicharito to provide a spark.
Although Switzerland’s recent form has been good, with a 2-0 win against Japan and a draw with Spain, I expect Brazil’s superstar forward line of Neymar, Coutinho and Gabriel Jesus to tear them apart.
With bitter memories of their 1-7 semi-final loss to Germany in the last World Cup, Brazil won’t be giving the Swiss a look in. Brazil to win 4-0.
| Day 3 | Stuart | Mike | Daniel | Tim | Paul | The Crowd | CRC vs SRB | SRB | SRB | SRB | SRB | CRC | ? |
| GER vs MEX | GER | GER | GER | GER | GER | ? |
| BRA vs SUI | BRA | BRA | BRA | BRA | BRA | ? |
| Total | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
All three matches today have relatively comfortably favourites, with Germany ($1.48) and Brazil ($1.38) both expected to comfortably take our lesser-ranked opponents Mexico ($6.75) and Switzerland ($8.50) comfortably.
In the first match of the day Serbia are also priced as clear favourites at $1.90, but it’s potentially the closest-fought game of the day as Costa Rica are the shortest-price of any of today’s outsiders, at $4.60.
| CRC vs SRB | ||
| Costa Rica | Draw | Serbia |
| $4.60 | $3.20 | $1.90 |
| GER vs MEX | ||
| Germany | Draw | Mexico |
| $1.48 | $4.33 | $6.75 |
| BRA vs SUI | ||
| Brazil | Draw | Switzerland |
| $1.38 | $4.50 | $8.50 |
Odds via Pointsbet are correct as of 11:50pm (AEST) Saturday, June 16.
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