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Saudi Arabia
At the outset, Saudi Arabia might look the weakest of the teams in the group, but nobody qualifies for the finals of the World Cup by a mere stroke of luck.
The Falcons qualified for the World Cup as runners of their respective group in the Asian qualifiers, behind Japan and ahead of Australia. Despite not beating Australia, they finished ahead of them by beating Japan 1-0 on the final match day.
Coach: Juan Antonio Pizzi
The Argentine was granted the job only in November 2017, well after qualification was confirmed. Argentine fans would remember him as the manager who denied them the Copa America Centenario in 2016, but he was sacked by Chile after they failed to qualify for the World Cup.
Saudi Arabia have changed their coach twice since the World Cup. Bert van Marwjik, who was responsible very much for Saudi Arabia's entry into the tournament was sacked in September 2017, after talks to renew his contract stalled.
The new manager - Edgardo Bauza, lasted only 4 matches. He tried experimental squads in the friendlies with fringe players, the FA didn't like it and promptly told him that it was over. They take no hostages, the Saudi FA.
Pizzi has the experience to manage a tournament of such big stakes, and believe it or not, Saudi has the quality around them to make life difficult for other teams.
Nawaf Al Abed, a player from Al-Hilal was the top-scorer of the final round of the Asian qualifiers with 5 goals scored. Mohammad Al-Sahlawi, who plays as a striker of Al-Nassr finished the qualification as the highest scorer with 16 goals to his name, alongside Robert Lewandowski from Poland.
Saudi Arabia will have no troubles about going forward in Russia, as they have enough talented players among them. It will be the defence that is the downside to the Saudi Arabian side.
Moreover, they are shorter on average than other teams in the WC and will find it doubly hard to defend set-pieces against more physical teams. Osama Hawsawi, their captain has over 100 caps for the national team and is the backbone of the team.
He might be prone to a few mistakes here and there, but his leadership and experience is vital to the team, especially on a stage as big as this.
Another problem with the team is that some of the more important players in the side have gone to La Liga, but have spent most of their time on the bench and without much-needed game time.
For example - Fahad Al Muwallad, scorer of the goal that sent Saudi Arabia to the World Cup, secured a loan move to Levante in 2018 and has played a mere 26 minutes for the club. Despite being renowned for pace and accuracy on the ball, nothing comes close to match practice and that will be what Saudi Arabia find lacking.
Player to watch out for: It was supposed to be Nawaf Al Abed, but he has been struggling with an injury and has been left out of the final squad. After him, it has to be Fahad Al Muwallad.
He is absolutely pacey and is often subbed in against tired legs to have a greater impact, and it usually works. Despite not playing enough, he still looks good on the ball and scored in Saudi Arabia's friendly against Ukraine.
