Germany has the chance to make history in Russia by becoming the first team in more than half a century to successfully defend the World Cup title.
Their lead-up form couldn’t be better – ten wins in ten qualifying matches with just four goals conceded, picking up a Confederations Cup along the way.
Coach Joachim Loew is well-aware there will be plenty of talented opponents at this tournament to hunt the Germans down.
"We are the reigning World Champions, Confederation Cup winners, now of course our goal is to stay at the top. It will be difficult because now we have won everything, everyone wants to topple us from the throne. So we have to expect this and we will probably face greater opposition that we did in Brazil."
With new leader Toni Kroos marshalling the midfield and a hardened backbone including Thomas Mueller, Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng , SBS Football analyst Lucy Zelic says the power and depth of the German squad can’t be over-stated.
“This is a team that’s very experienced. Very well-drilled and it understands how to compete at this tournament and how to win. They are the reigning champions, first and foremost, but also the fact that they won the Confederations Cup last year with what was highly regarded as a B team. They were smashed publicly by everyone in Germany, saying you are being disrespectful and you are not actually selecting the best players possible to win this … then they go on and win it, so when you look at that you also have to consider that they are going to be right up there again.”
Joining Germany in Group F is another World Cup regular but one that’s never been able to go all the way.
In the past six tournaments, Mexico has been knocked out in the round of 16.
It’s lead-up form has been topsy-turvy to say the least.
A seven-nil drubbing at the hands of Chile at the Copa America and a 4-1 Confederations Cup loss to Germany have been balanced by impressive recent wins over Poland, Bosnia and Iceland in friendlies.
Defender Oswaldo Alanis says the team is coping with the pressure of expectation on it by adopting the old adage – just take one game at a time.
"We've changed our mentality a little. Rather than thinking about a World Cup quarter-final, we are concentrating on giving the best of ourselves and thinking about everything that is Mexican football. We want to achieve great things and not to just hit a goal to reach a fifth game. So we're looking at it like this, to get familiar with the pressure that we have."
Another Group F combatant - and perhaps an unlikely one - is Sweden.
Drawn in a qualifying group with France and the Nertherlands then up against Italy in a play-off, the Swedes weren’t expected to be making the trip to Russia.
They’ll be doing so without the country’s all-time top-scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who retired from international football after the 2016 European Championships.
Fleet-footed Emil Forsberg has proved a more than handy replacement as the team’s X-factor and coach Janne [[YAH-ner]] Andersson is pleased with the squad he’s put together, despite the lack of famous names.
"Most of the players are players that were playing during the qualification and the playoff, and I thought that they should also be taking part in the World Cup. Maybe one or two or three positions, I would think a little bit extra about it, but as I told earlier here, it was the midfield players that was the biggest question, which eight we should choose. But I'm very satisfied with how we approached it and where we are today. I think we showed in the playoff we had similar scores done and I think we did it really well, so it's a strength in that way."
Rounding out Group F is South Korea, which has featured in every World Cup for the past 32 years.
The team’s form has been patchy since reaching the Asian Cup final in 2015 and it only secured a Russian berth with a nil-all draw with Uzbekistan on the final day of the Asian group stages.
A key to their fortunes will be the form of English team players, including mid-fielder Son Heung-min – the top-scoring Asian player in premier league history.
The 25-year-old Tottenham Hotspur star has been keen to reassure fans over questions about his fitness.
"My recovering physical condition is quite important. If I don't feel good, I can get treatment, so there's not much to worry about that. I can clearly promise that I will prepare myself to make my body 100 per cent or 120 per cent by the World Cup, so I hope you will not worry too much."
The biggest worry for the Shin Tae-yong might well be finding someone to share the goal-scoring burden to get the South Koreans through what looks to be a challenging group stage.
Germany and Mexico ... the favourites to advance.
