Having qualified for Russia with a perfect record, Joachim Low's new-look team are primed to waltz their way through Group F. So who will join them in the knockouts? It's a closely-matched three-way fight between well-drilled Sweden, regular performers Mexico and a South Korea side with a track record for springing a surprise.

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1 HOSTS WITH THE MOST

Group F is unique in that all four nations have previously hosted a World Cup finals tournament. Sweden were first to do so in 1958, and reached the final before succumbing to a Brazil side inspired by a 17-year-old Pele. Mexico hosted what is widely regarded as one of the all-time best World Cups in 1970, South Korea shared the honour with Japan in 2002 and Germany was the setting in 2006, with West Germany having hosted and won the 1974 edition.

2 DRESS REHEARSAL

It’s fair to say the Germans have done their prep - 10 wins out of 10 in qualifying, well sure, that’s one thing, but their Confederations Cup win last year means they’ve even had a trial run for ticker tape celebrations on Russian soil. They faced Group F rivals Mexico in the semi-finals of that campaign and comfortably swept them aside - Leon Goretzka’s brace putting them two-up inside eight minutes on the way to a 4-1 win. Same again lads, just like we practiced…

Germany's players celebrate winning the 2017 Confederations Cup final...More of the same in Russia?

3 BREAKING NEW GROUND

Group F sees the first match of the tournament to be played at the newly-opened Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, as Sweden and South Korea kick off their campaigns on Day 5. Situated at the joining point of the rivers Oka and Volga, five further games will be played at the blue-and-white 45,000 seater venue, after which local second-tier club FC Olimpiyets will become the permanent tenants. Remarkably, Olimpiyets were only founded in 2015 - the same year that construction on their gleaming future home began.

4 ALL CHANGE

The Germany squad travelling to their training base in the south-west suburbs of Moscow has a very different make-up to the triumphant one that took so well to the beaches of Bahia four years ago - legendary stalwarts Bastian Schweisteiger, Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker, Philipp Lahm and Miroslav Klose have all retired from the international fold. Indeed, only Podolski is still playing at all. The baton’s been handed to the fresh faces of Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sane and Timo Werner. Can they maintain the sky-high standards set by their predecessors on football's greatest stage?

Swede talk: Blågult before a friendly against Chile in March

5 HOME SWEDE HOME?

Apparently not. Sweden join Group H contenders Senegal as the only squads in the competition without a single player selected from their domestic league. Coach Janne Andersson’s 23 are registered to clubs from 12 different countries, stretching from USA (midfielder Gustav Svensson) to the UAE (well-travelled striker Marcus Berg), with a mixed bag of European nations in-between.

6 GETTING KLOSE

Thomas Muller could dethrone Miroslav Klose as the all-time record World Cup goalscorer in this tournament. Klose’s record is 16 and Muller stands on 10, having notched five goals in each of the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. It may be a bit of a tall order - he scored just eight goals in the Bundesliga last season and hasn’t netted for Die Mannschaft in over a year. However, still just 28, you feel that even if he doesn’t poach his way to the top of the pedestal in Russia, it’s only a matter of time.

7 KNOCKOUT BLOWS

Mexico hold a record of their own at World Cups, and it’s one they’d really like to change - they’ve been eliminated at the Round of 16 stage in each of the last six tournaments. Breaking that cycle will take some doing. With Germany clear favourites to top the table, El Tricolor will likely have to settle for second, and who’s waiting for them in the knockouts as the probable winners of Group E? The Brazilians.

Quick out of the blocks: South Korea looking for another winning start

8 FIRST CLASS

The bookies may have South Korea down as outsiders to escape the group but Sweden should beware - the Asian champions start fast. They’ve won three of their last four opening World Cup matches, and to make it four from five would be to take a very big step towards progression.

9 STELLAR KOREA

They’ve got a winning coach too, in Shin Tae-yong - the 49 year-old tasted AFC Champions League glory as both a player and manager of South Korean club Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. His face should be a familiar one with some Aussie fans - drafted into the Queensland Roar for the inaugural A-League season in 2005, he made one appearance before retiring due to a niggling ankle injury and instead became the club’s assistant manager until 2008.

Mexico's milestone man Andres Guardado

10 TO CAP THINGS OFF

Andres Guardado is aiming to reach a mighty milestone in Russia. Assuming the Mexico captain recovers from surgery in time to play a part in El Tri's two remaining warm-up matches, he'll have clocked up 146 caps by the start of the tournament, meaning the big 150 could arrive should El Tri escape the group. It's some tally, although three players participating in other groups better it - Cristiano Ronaldo (149), Sergio Ramos (151) and top of the pile, age-defying Egypt keeper Essam El-Hadary (156).