Costa Rica

2018 record: 2W 0D 3L 

Costa Rica manager Oscar Ramirez opted for some puzzling sides to face in 2018 in preparation for the tournament. Los Ticos went on a UK tour facing Scotland, Northern Ireland and England, amongst Tunisia and Belgium friendlies. 

Costa Rica travelled to Hampden Park and kicked off the March friendlies with a 1-nil victory over Scotland. The same result ensued against Tunisia, although Wahbi Khazri for The Carthage Eagles stole a 1-nil win. 

Mixed emotions following March gave Los Ticos purpose heading into the month of the World Cup where they faced Northern Ireland.

A 3-nil victory lifted the morale of the squad as Joel Campbell, Johan Venegas and Francisco Calvo gave Los Ticos some confidence heading into their tough challenge against England. 

Costa Rica's forward Bryan Ruiz (C) celebrates with teammate after scoring against Belgium

It was never going to be easy travelling to Wembley and a 2-nil loss brought Costa Rica back down to earth. With one last chance to prove their worth before the World Cup, beating a tournament favourite in Belgium was a perfect opportunity. 

Bryan Ruiz opened the scoring but a Lukaku brace ended any chance of Costa Rica finding a result as they lost 4-1. 

Costa Rica play Serbia first on Sunday 17th June but their most important game will be the last against Switzerland on June 27th. 

Switzerland

2018 Record: 3W 1D 0L

As well as Brazi, Switzerland are looking the goods heading into the tournament with four extremely positive performances before the World Cup. Vladimir Petkovic's side have tested the motors against Greece, Panama, Japan and 2010 World Champions Spain.

They passed their first test in Athens, defeating Greece 1-nil thanks to Blerim Džemaili's effort just before the hour mark.

They backed it up with a 6-nil thumping of Group G's Panama with six different scorers rounding out a shellacking that exhibited Switzerland's ability to dominate a match putting four goals past the North Americans before half-time.

They showed persistence, poise and a scary ability to finish their chances. 

Switzerland's midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri controls the ball during a match against Japan

A spectacular 1-all draw against Spain showed Switzerland was on the path to a rampant World Cup as they backed up yet another good result with a 2-nil victory over Japan. 

Breel Embolo and Xerdan Shaqiri showed what they were made of with man of the match performances against Spain and Japan. 

Switzerland's first match is against Brazil on Monday June 18 but their match against Serbia will be a fight to the death for second spot.