FIFA World Cup 2018: Brazil vs Switzerland– Preview, Stats, Quotes

by Siddharth Yadav June 17, 2018

Preview

After facing a humiliation in the 2014 World Cup semi-final against eventual winners Germany, Selecao Brazil will be hoping to wipe those haunting memories when they will take on Switzerland tonight. It was an inch-perfect display by Selecao in their own backyard four years ago until they met Germany.

Neymar had suffered a horrific back injury against Colombia in the quarter-final which turned out to be a huge blow. The Brazilian star suffered another injury earlier this year with PSG but recovered well in time to lead his side in Russia.

Brazil only lost once in the qualifiers and finished at the top of the table with a total of 41 points in 14 games where they scored an astounding 41 goals. Talking about their opponent, Vladimir Petkovic’s side had a great qualifying campaign where they finished below European Champions Portugal and later defeated Northern Ireland 1-0 over two legs in the play-off to book their ticket to Russia.

A blend of simplicity and flair. The Swiss comprise of experience and as well as young blood. Stephen Lichsteiner, Ricardo Rodriguez, Xherdan Shaqiri are amongst the few notable players from Petkovic’s side. In the 2014 World Cup, they crashed out against Brazil’s nemesis Argentina in a thriller when Angel Di Maria’s 118th-minute winner ended Swiss hopes. Difficult but they do have the quality to upset Brazil tonight.

Stats (via BBC):

1. Brazil are unbeaten in their last 12 World Cup group games, winning 10, their last defeat in the group phase dating back to 1998 against Norway. In fact, Brazil have topped their group (first round) in every single World Cup since 1982 and last failed to progress past the first round in 1966.
2. Brazil have also won 16 of their last 18 opening games at the World Cup (drawn two). The last time they lost their first game in the tournament was in 1934 against Spain (1-3).
3. Switzerland are unbeaten in their opening game in each of their last four appearances, winning the last two (v Spain in 2010, Ecuador in 2014).
4. Switzerland have topped their group only once previously at the World Cup, it was in 2006. That was the year they became the only team not to concede a single goal at a World Cup (four games).

Brazil vs Switzerland – Last 5 games

Brazil: D-W-W-W-W
Switzerland: D-W-W-D-W

Brazil vs Switzerland – Head to Head 

1. The only previous meeting at a World Cup finals ended in a 2-2 draw on Brazilian soil in 1950.
2. Brazil has defeated Switzerland just three times in eight matches (D3 L2), scoring 10 goals and conceding eight.

Quotes (via BBC):

Brazil defender Thiago Silva: “After three months, and having played just a game and a half, he [Neymar] is already playing at a high level. Nobody expected that. Not even him.”

Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic: “We’ll try to be as organised as possible, you need to provoke a team like Brazil into making mistakes so you can create opportunities, that’s the mentality you need to have because we’ll need to score one or two goals to win the game.”

This article will be updated with Report and highlights after the game.