Brazil's Neymar, centre, practises with teammates during a training at Sochi in Russia on Sunday — AP SOCHI, June 26 (Agencies): Brazil will look to build on their morale-boosting 2-0 win over Costa Rica and seal a berth in the knockout stages when they take the field in their final Group E match here on Wednesday.
Brazil need just a draw to secure qualification for the last 16.
For Serbia, a win would guarantee their progress although a draw could see them through if Switzerland lose to Costa Rica by more than one goal in the other group game.
Pre-tournament favourites Brazil haven't been at their best in the first two games, playing out a 1-1 draw against the Swiss and having to wait until injury time to finally secure the goals and the win against lowly Costa Rica.
Although the manner of victory should give them a lot of confidence, coach Tite will know they need to up their game in all departments, more so with the talent in their ranks.
Brazil are expected to be unchanged from the side that beat Costa Rica.
Meanwhile, Germany look set to rely on players who did not win the 2014 FIFA World Cup to carry them past South Korea in their final Group F match on Wednesday and into the knockout stage.
A shock 1-0 opening loss to Mexico was followed by a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Sweden, with players like Marco Reus, Sebastian Rudy and Julian Brandt providing much of their spark in the latter.
The world champions now need to beat South Korea by two goals or more to guarantee they qualify, or they must better Sweden's result in the other group game against Mexico to secure a top two finish.
The South Koreans, after two defeats, would have to beat Germany by more than two goals while hoping Sweden lose to Mexico to have any chance of advancing.
Loew had already benched World Cup winners Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira after their first game and will add even more players who were absent in 2014 to his next line-up against South Korea on Wednesday.
The Germans have so far failed to live up to their expectations as title favourites and were it not for those players hungry for World Cup success, they might already have been booking their return flights to Frankfurt.
Reus, who missed the 2014 tournament after being injured in their final warm-up game, should start once more after his fine performance against Sweden.
He has quickly ousted Ozil, who had faced a barrage of criticism for his opening match performance.
Instead Reus, time and again, sliced past the Swedish defence with his speed and was a constant threat while also scoring the equaliser in their win.
In another game, Mexico will look to add gloss to their FIFA World Cup campaign when they face Sweden in their final Group F match on Wednesday, with a win likely to boost the image of their embattled coach Juan Carlos Osorio back home.
Osorio's relationship with the Mexican media has been prickly due to his frequent experimentation with the squad since taking charge in 2015. The Mexican public too have seemed unconvinced by his methods.
But that appears to have changed somewhat after a shock victory over defending champions Germany in their first game and a 2-1 win over South Korea, which has put the team top of their group and on the brink of qualification to the last 16.
Supporters who had been calling for the 56-year-old to be axed following a 1-0 friendly win over Scotland earlier this month appear to have made their peace with the Colombian.
Meanwhile, after winning a politically-charged match against Serbia, Switzerland are unlikely to face the same hostility when they face already-eliminated Costa Rica in Group E of the FIFA World Cup on Wednesday.
Switzerland, needing a draw to reach the last 16 of the tournament, have a number of ethnic Albanians in their squad and they were given a hostile reception by Serbian fans in Friday's dramatic 2-1 win in Kaliningrad.
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