World Cup 2018 - Russia

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Sweden



Pedigree: Russia 2018 will be Sweden's 12th World Cup finals appearance, but their first since 2006. They reached the final in 1958, losing to Brazil, and finished third in 1994.

Key player: Replacing Zlatan Ibrahimovic was never going to be an easy task, but Al Ain striker Marcus Berg scored eight times in 10 qualifying matches as Sweden finished runners-up to France before beating Italy in the play-offs.

Premier League players: Kristoffer Nordfeldt (Swansea City), Victor Lindelof (Manchester United), Martin Olsson (Swansea City),

Championship players: Pontus Jansson (Leeds United), Seb Larsson (Hull City)

Scottish Premiership player: Mikael Lustig (Celtic)

Who's the boss? Janne Andersson, 55, took over in 2016 after five years with IFK Norrkoping. He has guided his side to the World Cup in his first qualifying campaign.

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Switzerland

Pedigree: This is Switzerland's 11th World Cup, having reached the quarter-finals three times - including when they hosted the tournament in 1954. They lost to eventual finalists Argentina in extra time in the last 16 in 2014.



Key player: Xherdan Shaqiri. The talented Stoke City playmaker has scored 20 goals for his country, including a hat-trick against Honduras at the last World Cup.

Premier League players: Granit Xhaka (Arsenal), Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke), Edimilson Fernandes (West Ham), Shani Tarashaj (Everton), Florent Hadergjonaj (Huddersfield, on loan from Ingolstadt)

Championship player: Timm Klose (Norwich)

Who's the boss? Vladimir Petkovic has been in charge of the Swiss since 2014 and led them to the last 16 at Euro 2016. The Sarajevo-born coach has a Swiss passport and won the 2013 Coppa Italia as Lazio manager.

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South America


Argentina

Pedigree: Argentina have won the World Cup twice - in 1978 and 1986 - and been runners-up on three occasions, in 1930, 1990 and in Brazil in 2014, when they lost 1-0 to
in the final.



Key player: Lionel Messi. Messi, who has been voted the best player in the world on five occasions, scored the hat-trick in the last round of South American Qualifying against Ecuador to take Argentina to the finals.

Premier League players: Sergio Aguero and Nicolas Otamendi (both Manchester City), Sergio Romero (Manchester United), Manuel Lanzini (West Ham).

Who's the boss: Former Chile boss Jorge Sampaoli, who guided Chile to the Copa America in 2015, became Argentina boss in May 2017. He succeeded in his first task - to ensure Argentina qualified for the World Cup.

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Brazil

Pedigree: Winners in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002, Brazil were beaten 7-1 at the semi-final stage by Germany in the World Cup they hosted four years ago.



Key player: Neymar. The £200m forward is averaging a goal and an assist per game since his world-record move to Paris St-Germain. Brazil legend Pele says the 25-year-old is the country's best player and has backed him to win the Ballon d'Or.

Premier League players: Ederson, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus (all Manchester City), Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino (both Liverpool), Willian (Chelsea).

Who's the boss? Brazil were sixth with a third of the qualifying campaign gone when journeyman coach Tite replaced former Brazil midfielder Dunga. The former Corinthians boss, 56, guided his country 10 points clear of second-placed Uruguay by the time qualifying ended.

"What a difference a coach makes. Out went the snarling Dunga and in came Tite - charismatic and intelligent - and he made an immediate impact," South American football expert Tim Vickery told BBC Radio 5 live.

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Colombia

Pedigree: Colombia produced their best ever performance at a World Cup in Brazil in 2014 when they reached the quarter-finals, before losing 2-1 to hosts Brazil.



Key player: James Rodriguez. The attacking midfielder, who is on loan at Bayern Munich from Real Madrid, won the Golden Boot in the 2014 World Cup, awarded to the top goalscorer in the competition. He scored six goals in that World Cup.

Premier League players: David Ospina (Arsenal), Jose Izquierdo (Brighton), Davinson Sanchez (Tottenham)

Who's the boss: Jose Pekerman has been in charge of the Colombia team since 2012 and has won the South American Coach of the Year on three occasions since then.

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Uruguay

Pedigree: Uruguay won the first World Cup in 1930 and then again in 1950, but they only reached the last 16 at Brazil 2014.



Key player: Luis Suarez. Barcelona forward Suarez is the country's record goalscorer and scored twice in their last qualifier against Bolivia to secure their qualification.

Championship player: Abel Hernandez (Hull)

Who's the boss: Oscar Tabarez has been in charge of Uruguay since 2006 and guided them to the Copa America title in 2011.

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Peru

Pedigree: The 32nd and last team to qualify, Peru are heading to their fifth World Cup after goals from Jefferson Farfan and Christian Ramos gave them a 2-0 win over New Zealand in the play-offs. Their best result came in 1970, when they finished seventh, and the last World Cup they qualified for was in 1982. They're 10th in the Fifa rankings.

Key player: Farfan, who plays for Lokomotiv Moscow, has made 79 appearances for Peru, scoring 23 goals. The 33-year-old is known for his speed and scored three goals in four matches during qualifying.



Premier League player: Winger Andre Carrillo is playing for Watford after a loan move from Benfica. The 26-year-old has made 34 appearances for Peru.

Who's the boss? Argentine Ricardo Gareca, nicknamed 'The Tiger', has managed Peru since 2015. He played 20 times for Argentina and has been a manager for more than 20 years. The 59-year-old introduced a psychologist to the Peru team when he began coaching them.

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North, Central America and Caribbean


Mexico

Pedigree: Mexico have reached the knockout stage in each of the past six World Cups, and made the quarter-finals as hosts in 1986.



Key player: Hirving Lozano has scored three goals in three games since leaving Pachuca for PSV Eindhoven this summer, and the 22-year-old is also becoming the star of the national team, netting Mexico's winner against Panama.

'Chucky' even impressed Argentina legend Diego Maradona on his Eredivisie debut, and the Philips Stadion crowd gave the winger a standing ovation following his first goal for PSV.

Premier League players: Javier Hernandez (West Ham).

Who's the boss? Former Manchester City assistant manager Juan Carlos Osorio is the man in charge, but missed his side's Gold Cup campaign this summer after being given a six-match ban by Fifa for "using insulting words and displaying an aggressive attitude towards officials" during the Confederations Cup.

The Colombian, who graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a diploma in science and football, has been backed by a number of experienced players in his squad following criticism from fans.

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Costa Rica

Pedigree: Russia 2018 will be the fifth time Los Ticos have appeared at a World Cup finals. Last time out in Brazil, they finished top of a group containing Uruguay, Italy, and bottom-placed England, before going out in the quarter-finals on penalties to the Netherlands.

Key player: Bologna defender Giancarlo Gonzalez made the BBC pundits' team of the tournament in 2014, but the man on whom Costa Rica's recent success is built is Keylor Navas. The 30-year-old goalkeeper's performances at the last World Cup earned him a move to Real Madrid. Since then he has established himself as the number one there, winning one Spanish league title and two Champions Leagues.



Premier League players: Arsenal striker Joel Campbell is Costa Rica's only Premier League player - although he is on a season-long loan at La Liga side Real Betis.

Scottish Premiership player: Cristian Gamboa (Celtic)

Who's the boss? Oscar Ramirez was a player when Costa Rica made their World Cup debut in 1990. Since ending his playing career and moving into coaching, he has carved out a reputation for being tactically astute and creative, winning several league titles in club football before taking over from Paulo Wanchope, who resigned after being involved in a brawl during a match against Panama, at the helm of the national side in 2015.

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Panama

Pedigree: None. Panama reached their first World Cup finals with a victory over Costa Rica that took advantage of the United States' defeat to Trinidad & Tobago. They were runners-up at Concacaf's Gold Cup in 2013.

Key player: Luis Tejada. He may be 35 now but the country's record goalscorer with 42 goals could be their best hope of goals in Russia.



Premier League players: None. Only three of the current squad play in Europe.

Who's the boss? Colombian Hernan Dario Gomez has had a varied international coaching career, including managing his homeland twice. This will be his third World Cup after taking Colombia to the 1998 finals, where they lost to England, and Ecuador to the 2002 tournament.

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Asia


Australia

Pedigree: This will be the fourth consecutive World Cup appearance and a fifth overall for Australia. Their best performance came in 2006 when they went out in the last 16, losing 1-0 to eventual champions Italy through a 95th-minute Francesco Totti penalty.



Key player: Tim Cahill may be 37 years old but he continues to be his country's talisman. The former Everton midfielder has scored 11 times during qualification, including the two decisive goals in Australia's second-leg victory over Syria.

Premier League players: Mathew Ryan (Brighton), Aaron Moy (Huddersfield), Brad Smith (Bournemouth), Adam Federici (Bournemouth).

Championship players: Bailey Wright (Bristol City), Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa), Massimo Luongo (QPR), Jackson Irvine (Hull City).

Scottish Premiership player: Tom Rogic (Celtic)

Who's the boss? No-one - at the moment. Greece-born Australian Ange Postecoglou resigned six days after the team qualified, saying the job had "taken a toll" on him.

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Japan

Pedigree: Mainstays in the competition since 1998, Japan have twice reached the second round, including in 2002 when they jointly hosted the tournament with South Korea.

Key player: Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa and Leicester forward Shinji Okazaki will of course be key, but a young forward on the books at Arsenal could be leading the line come next summer.

Takuma Asano has already netted three times for his country and helped Stuttgart win promotion to the Bundesliga last season while on loan from the Gunners. Arsene Wenger has called the 22-year-old "a talented young striker and very much one for the future".

Premier League players: Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City), Takuma Asano (Stuttgart, on loan from Arsenal).



Who's the boss? Vahid Halilhodzic, although that could change come the finals if reports of unrest in the camp are true. The Bosnian, however, has already proved his worth on the World Cup stage by leading Algeria to the knockout stages for the first time in the country's history in 2014.

The former Yugoslavia forward has also coached teams such as Paris St-Germain, Dinamo Zagreb and the Ivory Coast.

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Saudi Arabia

Pedigree: Saudi Arabia's only victories at a World Cup came in their first appearance in 1994, when they won two group matches and reached the second round. Their second win - 1-0 against Belgium - featured one of the greatest goals of all time when forward Saeed Al Owairan ran from his own half and beat half the Belgian defence to score.

Key player: Veteran striker Nasser Al Shamrani will play a vital role. The 2014 Asian Player of the Year can be a bit volatile - he was once banned for eight games for spitting at Western Sydney Wanderers player Matthew Spiranovic before trying to headbutt him after his Al Hilal side lost in the 2014 Asian Champions League final.

Premier League players: None

Who's the boss? Good question. Bert van Marwijk steered the team through qualification but left just days after the successful conclusion of the campaign and was replaced by former Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza.

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South Korea

Pedigree: No Asian team has a better World Cup pedigree than the side nicknamed the Taegeuk Warriors. South Korea's goalless draw against Uzbekistan secured a place at a 10th finals and the tournament in Russia will be the ninth World Cup in a row in which they have featured.



Key player: Son Heung-min has showcased his trickery at Tottenham and is the stand-out name on the team sheet. He has managed just one international goal since the start of 2016 however, as the side have struggled in front of goal. And keep an eye out for Lee Dong-gook who came on as a substitute in their final qualifier and will be 39 by the time the World Cup comes around. The former Middlesbrough striker boasts 105 caps spanning 19 years.

Premier League players: Ki Sung-yueng (Swansea), Son Heung-min (Tottenham)

Who is the boss? Shin Tae-yong has been nicknamed 'the Asian Mourinho' but he has come under pressure as a result of their hit-and-miss displays in qualifying. However, having only taken charge in July, he is likely to be given time to get things right. The 48-year-old spent 12 years as a player in South Korea's K-League and then made a single league appearance in Australia before retiring in 2005.

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Africa


Egypt

Pedigree: Egypt are currently 30th in Fifa's world rankings - one place below the Netherlands. Having missed out on the 2010 and 2014 competitions after play-off defeats, they qualified for Russia when Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scored an injury-time winner against Congo on 8 October. Their last notable success at a major tournament was in 2010, when they lifted the Africa Cup of Nations for the seventh time.



Key player: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool's major summer signing, is Egypt's most talented player. The speedy forward has scored 32 goals in 56 international appearances, including five during qualifying for Russia.

Premier League players: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal), Ahmed Hegazy (West Brom), Ramadan Sobhi (Stoke),

Championship players: Ahmed Elmohamady (Aston Villa).

League One players: Sam Morsy (Wigan).

Who's the boss? Argentinian Hector Cuper, who previously coached Valencia and Inter Milan, was appointed in March 2015. He also managed Georgia between 2008 and 2009. His only major tournament was the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations - where Egypt were defeated 2-1 in the final by Cameroon.