Germany versus Mexico 

The title defense starts in earnest for Germany as they take on Mexico at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The two sides actually met in the Confederations Cup semifinals last year with the Germans prevailing 4-1. Mexico is looking for revenge and a chance to prove that they can indeed compete at this level. it 

The object in this World Cup for Mexico is to get to the quarterfinals and that fifth match. They open against arguably their toughest opponent in this group. They came close against Germany in 1998 only for Germany to come from behind and defeat them, 2-1. 

Germany’s lead-up to the World Cup after a perfect qualification record has not been without its bumps. Mesut Ozil’s and Ilkay Gundogan’s photo with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruffled some feathers, plus Germany had indifferent performances against Austria and Saudi Arabia. 

Still, this is Germany. On paper, it may be an even better squad than the one that won the Cup four years ago. For Germany, the players to watch are midfielder Toni Kroos and striker Thomas Muller. On Mexico, look out for Hector Herrera and Chicharito who scored 39 goals in 76 matches for Bayer Leverkusen before going to West Ham United. 

The intangible here is in goal. Manuel Neuer is expected to start, but is just coming off a broken foot which cost him most of the season at Bayern Munich. Guillermo Ochoa has had his moments in goal for Mexico, but he also had his moments like the match against Honduras in World Cup qualifying. 

Kickoff is at 11am ET/10am CT on FS1 and Telemundo.