Germany and Mexico will face each other in their opening match in the FIFA World Cup 2018 on Sunday.
All eyes will be on defending champions Germany, who are the heavy favourites in Group F, where they will also face Sweden and South Korea.
But their biggest challenge may be Mexico, who they previously faced in the semi-final at the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017.
Though the score from that encounter reads 4-1, the Germans did not walk off with the match.
Their opening salvo was ruthless as Leon Goretzka notching twice inside the opening eight minutes. Germany then lined up with three at the back, defended deeper than usual and waiting to strike on the counter-attack.
Gaining such an early enabled them to sit back before striking again shortly after half-time, effectively settling the contest.
But from the moment the Germans found the back of the net for the second time, Juan Carlos Osorio's men played arguably their best football of the tournament, pinning the Germans back and carving out a host of chances that went begging for an effective finish.
Both teams will have adjusted their tactics since then.
The Germans will hope to be just as clinical going forward as they were 12 months ago, while preventing the Americans from dictating play and creating danger as freely as they did last time out.
For their part, the Mexicans will look to correct their major mistakes – the early-match jitters that allowed Germany to score twice in the opening minutes and the overly gung-ho approach on the whole that left Osorio's side exposed. This time round, El Tri will look to display more composure and not give in to the world champions easily.
The German team has changed significantly from the one in that encounter. Coach Joachim Low only named 13 of the players who went to the Confederations Cup in his World Cup squad including Julian Brandt, who was chosen ahead of Leroy Sane, and the surprise omission of Mario Gotze, who scored the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup Final.
In contrast, the Mexican side consists of 18 of the 23 players who competed last year. Osorio could practically roll out the same line-up that started in Sochi, if two of them were not injured. Mexico’s fans must hope that they have learned from that encounter.
