Group F of the 2018 FIFA World Cup took place from 17 to 27 June 2018. The group consisted of defending champions Germany, Mexico, Sweden, and South Korea. Sweden and Mexico were the top two teams that advanced to the round of 16.
The surprise elimination of holders Germany marked the first time since 1938 that they did not advance beyond the first round, specifically the group stage which was first introduced in 1950. The early German exit was "greeted with shock in newspapers around the world".
Teams Draw position Team Pot Confederation Method ofqualification Date ofqualification Finalsappearance Lastappearance Previous bestperformance FIFA Rankings October 2017 June 2018 F1 1 UEFA UEFA Group C winners 5 October 2017 19th 2014 (champions) Winners (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) 1 1 F2 2 CONCACAF CONCACAF fifth round winners 1 September 2017 16th 2014 (round of 16) Quarter-finals (1970, 1986) 16 15 F3 3 UEFA UEFA second round winners 13 November 2017 12th 2006 (round of 16) Runners-up (1958) 25 24 F4 4 AFC AFC third round Group A runners-up 5 September 2017 10th 2014 (group stage) Fourth place (2002) 62 57
Notes
Standings
In the round of 16: The winners of Group F, Sweden, advanced to play the runners-up of Group E, Switzerland. The runners-up of Group F, Mexico, advanced to play the winners of Group E, Brazil.
Matches All times listed are local time.
Germany vs Mexico The two teams had faced each other 11 times, including three FIFA World Cup games all of which were German victories: 6–0 in 1978 (first group stage), 2–1 in 1998 (round of 16), but a 1986 quarter-final game being the most significant, which ended with a German penalty shoot-out victory.
Timo Werner fired a warning shot across the face of Guillermo Ochoa's goal during the first minutes of the match. Héctor Moreno headed straight at Manuel Neuer from their clearest opening. Javier Hernández's one-two with Andrés Guardado allowed him to spin away from Mats Hummels just inside the Germany half and feed Hirving Lozano down the left. Lozano then cut inside the resistance offered by the back-tracking Mesut Özil to crash a low right foot shot inside Neuer's right post. However, two minutes later, Toni Kroos's free-kick arrowed towards the top corner. Ochoa denied the midfielder's shot, pushing the ball against the crossbar. Near the end Joshua Kimmich and Werner came close to scoring, but their attempts were unsuccessful. Julian Brandt had one final chance to equalize in the 89th minute, but he hit the post from outside the box.
This defeat represented the first time that Germany had lost the opening game in defence of their trophy. They beat Argentina 3–1 in 1958, drew 0–0 with Poland in 1978, and defeated Bolivia 1–0 in 1994. Germany lost their opening match at a World Cup for only the second time, having done so in 1982, against Algeria. This is the third consecutive World Cup in which the reigning champion has failed to win their opening match – Italy drew 1–1 with Paraguay in 2010, while Spain lost 5–1 against the Netherlands in 2014; and also the fourth champions failed to win their opening match, as France lost 0–1 to Senegal at the 2002 FIFA World Cup (all of whom had been knocked out at the group stage). Germany had 26 shots, the most by a side without scoring in a World Cup fixture since 2006 (Portugal v England, 29 shots in a 0–0 draw). Conversely, Mexico beat Germany for only the second time – their previous only win against them came in a friendly in June 1985. However, Mexico's victory over Germany marked the first time a team from the CONCACAF region defeated Germany in the World Cup, and also the second Mexican win against a World Champion's team in a World Cup after beating France in 2010. Additionally, Mexico became the first team from the Americas to defeat Germany at a World Cup in almost 16 years – the last time Germany lost to either a North- or South-American team was at the 2002 final against Brazil. Rafael Márquez featured in his fifth World Cup finals, becoming just the third player to achieve this feat – along with Mexico's Antonio Carbajal and Germany's Lothar Matthäus.
GK 1 Manuel Neuer (c)RB 18Joshua KimmichCB 17Jérôme BoatengCB 5 Mats Hummels LB 2 Marvin Plattenhardt CM 8 Toni KroosCM 6 Sami Khedira RW 13Thomas Müller AM 10Mesut ÖzilLW 7 Julian DraxlerCF 9 Timo Werner Substitutions:FW 11Marco Reus FW 23Mario Gómez MF 20Julian Brandt Manager:Joachim Löw GK 13Guillermo OchoaRB 3 Carlos SalcedoCB 2 Hugo AyalaCB 15Héctor Moreno LB 23Jesús GallardoCM 16Héctor Herrera CM 18Andrés Guardado (c) RW 7 Miguel LayúnAM 11Carlos Vela LW 22Hirving Lozano CF 14Javier HernándezSubstitutions:DF 21Edson Álvarez FW 9 Raúl Jiménez DF 4 Rafael Márquez Manager: Juan Carlos Osorio
Man of the Match: Hirving Lozano (Mexico)
Assistant referees: Reza Sokhandan (Iran) Mohammadreza Mansouri (Iran) Fourth official: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates) Reserve assistant referee: Mohamed Al Hammadi (United Arab Emirates) Video assistant referee: Massimiliano Irrati (Italy) Assistant video assistant referees: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil) Carlos Astroza (Chile) Mark Geiger (United States)
Sweden vs South Korea
The two teams had faced each other four times, most recently in 2005, a 2–2 draw in a friendly game.
Sweden's defence was tested by a South Korean attack in the early stages. Andreas Granqvist was denied a shot at goal by a last-ditch interception by Kim Young-gwon. Marcus Berg was close to score midway through the first half but his close range shot was beaten away by Jo Hyeon-woo, while South Korea did not manage a single shot on target. Jo also saved from Ola Toivonen's header following a free-kick. In the start to the second half, both sides exchanged chances within the first six minutes. There was a short delay for Kim Min-woo's foul on Viktor Claesson to be analysed on video and for the referee to point to the spot but it did not affect Granqvist, who sent Jo the wrong way. Hwang Hee-chan spurned a glorious opportunity late on, heading wide from 10 yards out, as Sweden ultimately held on for a precious three points.
This was Sweden's first win in their opening match at a World Cup since beating Mexico 3–0 as hosts in 1958. South Korea lost their opening match at a World Cup for the first time since 1998 when they lost 3–1 against Mexico. Sweden's goal was the first they had scored in 402 minutes of international football.
GK 1 Robin OlsenRB 2 Mikael LustigCB 18Pontus JanssonCB 4 Andreas Granqvist (c)LB 6 Ludwig AugustinssonRM 17Viktor Claesson CM 7 Sebastian Larsson CM 8 Albin Ekdal LM 10Emil ForsbergCF 9 Marcus BergCF 20Ola Toivonen Substitutions:MF 15Oscar Hiljemark FW 22Isaac Kiese Thelin MF 13Gustav Svensson Manager:Janne Andersson GK 23Jo Hyeon-wooRB 2 Lee YongCB 20Jang Hyun-sooCB 19Kim Young-gwonLB 6 Park Joo-ho CM 17Lee Jae-sungCM 16Ki Sung-yueng (c)CM 13Koo Ja-cheol RF 11Hwang Hee-chan CF 9 Kim Shin-wook LF 7 Son Heung-minSubstitutions:DF 12Kim Min-woo MF 15Jung Woo-young MF 10Lee Seung-woo Manager:Shin Tae-yong
Man of the Match: Andreas Granqvist (Sweden)
Assistant referees: Juan Zumba (El Salvador) Juan Carlos Mora (Costa Rica) Fourth official: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti) Reserve assistant referee: Bertrand Brial (New Caledonia) Video assistant referee: Mauro Vigliano (Argentina) Assistant video assistant referees: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar) Taleb Al Maari (Qatar) Daniele Orsato (Italy)
South Korea vs Mexico The two teams had met in 12 matches, including one game at the 1998 FIFA World Cup group stage, won by Mexico 3–1. The match was attended by the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in.
In the 12th minute, Hirving Lozano made a block to deny Lee Yong. Nine minutes later, Son Heung-min shot a low drive which Héctor Moreno helped to keep out. Jang Hyun-soo handled Andrés Guardado's cross and the referee awarded a penalty, Carlos Vela stepped up and sent Jo Hyeon-woo the wrong way. Two minutes later, Miguel Layún lashed his effort over from close range. South Korea wanted a penalty of their own after the restart when Moon Seon-min's strike clipped Carlos Salcedo's arm, but the referee waved away their appeals. Jo lunged to his right to tip Javier Hernández's shot wide. Lozano drove into space, Vela drew away to the right as the ball went left to Hernández, who checked back and clipped low past Jo. In the third minute of stoppage time, Son struck from 20-yards into the top-left corner.
Before Son's goal, South Korea had gone 288 minutes without scoring at the World Cup, their longest ever such drought. Hernández scored his 50th goal for Mexico, becoming the inaugural player of the Mexico national team to reach that milestone. Mexico has won consecutive matches at the World Cup starting with their inaugural achievement at the 2002 World Cup. Hernández is the third player to score at three World Cups, preceded by Mexico's Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Rafael Márquez.
GK 23Jo Hyeon-wooRB 2 Lee Yong CB 20Jang Hyun-sooCB 19Kim Young-gwon LB 12Kim Min-woo RM 18Moon Seon-min CM 8 Ju Se-jong CM 16Ki Sung-yueng (c)LM 11Hwang Hee-chanCF 17Lee Jae-sungCF 7 Son Heung-minSubstitutions:MF 10Lee Seung-woo MF 15Jung Woo-young DF 14Hong Chul Manager:Shin Tae-yong GK 13Guillermo OchoaRB 21Edson ÁlvarezCB 3 Carlos SalcedoCB 15Héctor MorenoLB 23Jesús GallardoCM 7 Miguel LayúnCM 16Héctor HerreraCM 18Andrés Guardado (c) RF 11Carlos Vela CF 14Javier HernándezLF 22Hirving Lozano Substitutions:DF 4 Rafael Márquez MF 17Jesús Manuel Corona MF 10Giovani dos Santos Manager: Juan Carlos Osorio
Man of the Match: Javier Hernández (Mexico)
Assistant referees: Milovan Ristić (Serbia) Dalibor Đurđević (Serbia) Fourth official: John Pitti (Panama) Reserve assistant referee: Gabriel Victoria (Panama) Video assistant referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy) Assistant video assistant referees: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal) Carlos Astroza (Chile) Tiago Martins (Portugal)
Germany vs Sweden The two teams had met in 36 previous matches, including four FIFA World Cup games, the latest of these being a 2–0 Germany win in the 2006 World Cup round of 16.
Julian Draxler had a shot blocked from close range before he toe-poked a left-footed effort narrowly wide from a tight angle soon after. Sebastian Rudy left the field with a bloody nose after a collision with Ola Toivonen moments before he burst into the box to control a Viktor Claesson cross on his chest and lift his shot over Manuel Neuer into the far corner of the net. Three minutes into the second half, Germany drew level when Timo Werner's cross found Marco Reus, who met it with his knee and turned the ball into the bottom corner of the net. With just under 10 minutes left, Jérôme Boateng was dismissed after picking up a second yellow card for a tackle on Marcus Berg, and Neuer then made a one-handed save to deny substitute John Guidetti from a downward header. Toni Kroos tapped a free-kick short to Reus before sweeping the return pass into the top right corner from left of the penalty area with his right foot.
Kroos' goal in (94.39) is the latest winner ever scored on the World Cup stage. The previous record belonged to Francesco Totti, who found the net late on (94.26) against Australia in 2006. Germany came from behind at half-time to win a World Cup match for the first time since 1974 – which was also against Sweden (0–1 at HT, won 4–2). Sweden have lost a World Cup group-stage match for the first time since June 1990, when they lost to Costa Rica – this defeat ends a run of 10 group games unbeaten. Boateng is the first player to be sent off at the World Cup for Germany since Miroslav Klose in 2010 against Serbia.