World Cup Pot 3 - Costa Rica, Denmark, Egypt, Iceland, Iran, Senegal, Sweden, Tunisia

Record ID: 938976

  • Title: World Cup Pot 3 - Costa Rica, Denmark, Egypt, Iceland, Iran, Senegal, Sweden, Tunisia
  • Date: 23rd November 2017
  • Summary: NICE, FRANCE (JUNE 26, 2016) (REUTERS) ICELAND COACH, HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON, WATCHING ICELAND MIDFIELDER AND CAPTAIN, ARON GUNNARSSON (BEARDED, IN MIDDLE), WARMING UP KIEV, UKRAINE (SEPTEMBER 4, 2016) (REUTERS) ICELAND TEAM TRAINING IN THE OLYMPIC STADIUM IN KIEV (3 SHOTS) ICELAND NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM CAPTAIN, ARON GUNNARSSON, WALKING ICELAND TEAM TRAINING ICELAND MIDFIELDER
  • Embargoed: 7th December 2017 00:01
  • Keywords: Costa Rica Senegal Sweden Tunisia Iceland Iran World Cup Pot 3 Denmark Egypt
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Soccer,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA00778KQC73
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: COSTA RICA: Costa Rica were one of the major surprises of the 2014 World Cup and will head to Russia with largely the same squad of players having easily qualified from the CONCACAF region.
    Little was expected in Brazil after they were drawn in a group with Uruguay, Italy and England, but the team coached by Jorge Luis Pinto topped the standings and went on to beat Greece in the round of 16 on penalties before losing on penalties to the Netherlands in their first ever quarter-final.
    Colombian coach Jorge Luis Pinto was succeeded by Oscar Ramirez, who has continued the good work.
    Costa Rica beat the United States 4-0 in qualifying, costing U.S. coach Juergen Klinsmann his job, and then beat them 2-0 to finish second in the group behind Mexico.
    Marco Urena led the line well in the absence of Real Betis forward Joel Campbell, who missed the latter stage of qualifying due to injury.
    The core of the team which beat Italy and Uruguay in Brazil is still in place with Real Madrid's Keylor Navas in goal, Celtic's Cristian Gamboa, Sunderland's Bryan Oviedo and Bologna's Giancarlo Gonzalez at the back.
    Christian Bolanos, 33, remains influential in midfield where Deportivo La Coruna's Celso Borges has held off competition from younger players.
    Captain Bryan Ruiz, of Sporting Lisbon, continues to be the creative force in attack while Ramirez will hope that the speedy Campbell will be back to full fitness in Russia.
    DENMARK: Denmark's playmaker Christian Eriksen, having scored the goals that got his country to Russia including a hat-trick in a 5-1 playoff demolition of Ireland, will bear the weight of the nation's expectations.
    The 25-year-old Tottenham Hotspur midfielder scored eight as the Danes clinched second spot in Group E before knocking out Ireland.
    Attack minded Denmark last competed at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 but did not make it past the group stage.
    Under Norwegian coach Age Hareide they have become more pragmatic, adopting a direct, physical style that saw them finish behind Group E winners Poland.
    Since making their World Cup debut in 1986, Denmark have a proud record at the finals, making it out of their group on three of the four occasions they have taken part and beating former winners such as West Germany, France and Uruguay.
    The current squad may lack the flair and firepower of old, but Hareide's tactical nous and attention to detail, coupled with the steely defending of the likes of Simon Kjaer, will make them a tough nut to crack at the tournament.
    If young guns like Ajax Amsterdam forward Kasper Dolberg and Mainz 05 winger Viktor Fischer can step up in the coming months, Hareide will have more attacking options at his disposal but it is Eriksen who will be the fulcrum of the Danish side.
    EGYPT: Egypt have finally found their Holy Grail, overcoming the disappointment of decades of heartbreaking failure to reach the finals for the first time since 1990.
    Repeated disappointments in the World Cup came in stark contrast to their record-breaking achievements in the African Nations Cup, where they repeatedly won the continental championship.
    Egypt reached the African playoffs for the last World Cup but a 6-1 hammering in Ghana proved yet another huge setback and when they were paired with the Ghanaians again in qualifying for the 2018 finals, more disappointment was anticipated.
    But Ghana started the campaign poorly, including being beaten 2-0 in Alexandria, and Egypt were able to keep their noses in front in the group, even after losing in Uganda and producing unconvincing displays in their last two home matches.
    Qualification was secured with one game to play when Mohamed Salah scored a late penalty to beat Congo 2-1 and avoid having to go to Ghana in their last match to try and secure a World Cup place.
    Liverpool's Salah ended as the leading scorer in the African preliminaries with five goals. He is among a growing contingent of English-based players, including Ahmed Elmohamady of Aston Villa, Mohamed Elneny of Arsenal, Ahmed Hegazy from West Bromwich Albion and Ramadan Sobhi of Stoke City.
    Argentine-born coach Hector Cuper has managed a smooth transition from the aging generation he inherited into a much younger outfit but still relies on the veteran Essam El Hadary in goal.
    El Hadary turns 45 in January and if he plays in Russia will set a new record for the tournament's oldest participant.
    ICELAND: Iceland will become the smallest country ever to take part in the World Cup finals when they travel to Russia next year as the saga of outsized soccer success continues for the nation of just over 300,000 people.
    Having knocked out England in the last 16 of Euro 2016 before losing to hosts France in the quarter-finals, the islanders will be aiming for a similar performance at the World Cup.
    Led by coach Heimir Hallgrimson, who took over from Swede Lars Lagerback after last year's Euro adventure, Iceland topped their group, two points ahead of Croatia, five ahead of Ukraine and seven ahead of Turkey.
    Hallgrimson, a part-time dentist, has stuck rigidly to Lagerback's principles of a well-organised squad in top physical condition playing compact defence and launching quick counter-attacks.
    Despite ending the qualifying campaign as top scorers in Group I with 16 goals, Iceland lack a single potent scorer up front, with Everton attacking midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson topping the internal scoring chart for the stage with just four goals.
    They also lack the strength in depth of the bigger nations but that will not matter next year as the tiny island nation comes to a standstill, with normal life postponed as fans travel to Russia to perform their famous "thunderclap" celebration for the first time on the global stage.
    IRAN: Iran secured back-to-back World Cup qualification for the first time in the country's history as Carlos Queiroz and his team sealed the nation's fifth appearance at the finals with relative comfort.
    Iran were the first Asian nation to qualify as a tight defence and the striking prowess of Sardar Azmoun saw them top their group ahead of South Korea to take one of the continent's four automatic berths.
    Queiroz has built on the country's performance in Brazil 2014, when they exited in the group phase after encouraging showings against Nigeria and Argentina.
    The former Real Madrid and Portugal coach, who took over in 2011, has freshened up his squad, with Rubin Kazan's Azmoun the star. Azmoun is one of three players who play their club football in Russia, along with central midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi and full back Milad Mohammdi, while Alireza Jahanbaksh and Reza Ghoochannejhad are well established in the Dutch Eredivisie.
    Queiroz has kept World Cup veterans Ashkan Dejagah and Jalal Hosseini involved as he sets his sights on taking the country - three-time Asian Cup winners - into the second round for the first time.
    SENEGAL: Senegal's only prior appearance at a World Cup came in 2002 when they beat holders France in the opening game before going on to reach the quarter-finals, and now a new generation of talent is set to take Russia by storm.
    Senegal became only the second African country to progress that far at a World Cup but they then missed out at Germany, South Africa and Brazil.
    An unbeaten run through a controversy-laden group has earned Senegal their place in Russia with what could be another imposing generation of players led by talisman Sadio Mane, centreback Kalidou Koulibaly and industrious captain Cheikhou Kouyate.
    Strengthened in recent years by the defection of former French youth internationals such as Mbaye Niang and Moussa Sow, and with exciting prospects like Balde Keita and Opa Nguette coming through, Senegal now boast a squad of depth with vigorous competition for places.
    They also have a coach with World Cup experience as Aliou Cisse captained the team in 2002.
    Their only 2018 qualifying campaign blemish was a 2-1 defeat in South Africa last year which was expunged from the records after FIFA found the referee had manipulated the result on the behalf of a betting syndicate. The replay took place earlier this month and Senegal won to secure their berth, and they finished the campaign six points ahead of second-placed Burkina Faso.
    SWEDEN: Sweden manager Jan Andersson and his players have stunned pundits at home by overcoming some sizeable hurdles to qualify, beating Italy in a thrilling playoff to make it to the finals for the first time since 2006.
    After Erik Hamden's side went out of Euro 2016 at the group stage, Andersson took over a squad which had lost a total of 380 caps when captain and record goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson and midfielder Kim Kallstrom all left the international stage.
    Pitted against France and Netherlands in qualifying, Andersson created a compact, hard-working team which collected enough points to edge out the Dutch and come second in the group, beating France at home along the way.
    The 1-0 aggregate win against four-times world champions Italy was the high point so far for Andersson, his tactically-astute game plan perfectly executed by a squad lacking household names but with plenty of heart. In Ibrahimovic's absence, RB Leipzig winger Emil Forsberg scored four goals in qualifying.
    The win over Italy put the 1958 hosts and runners-up in the finals for the 12th time and their performances in qualifying have shown that they will be one of the tougher teams in Pot 3.
    Andersson will have to deal with the thorny issue of a possible return for the 36-year-old Ibrahimovic, who is still a potent threat but not well-suited to his coach's ideal of a selfless collective.
    TUNISIA: Tunisia were handed a relatively easy passage to their fifth tournament but they went through the African preliminaries with a proficiency that bodes well for next year's finals.
    The north Africans won their group ahead of Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya and Guinea to qualify for the first time since 2006. But in their last 11 World Cup matches Tunisia - at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 finals - have failed to win a game.
    Unbeaten in their qualifying group, their campaign was not without its disruptions. After winning the first two matches at the end of 2016, Tunisia were uninspiring at the African Nations Cup in Gabon in January, after which veteran coach Henryk Kasperczak left.
    Nabil Maaloul, fired during the abortive 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, returned and two wins and two draws from their last four group games saw Tunisia win their group by a point from the Congolese.
    Unlike the other African teams in Russia, Tunisia still draw the bulk of their players from the domestic league.
    Best player Youssef Msakni is little known outside the region. He plays in Qatar but could move to a bigger league if the form he showed in the preliminaries is repeated at the finals.
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