It's time for crucial matches in Group A, where everything will be decided. It will be clear who will advance to the semi-finals and start waiting for their opponents, and for whom, unfortunately, the Confederations Cup will end after the group stage. Indeed, New Zealand already knows that these are their last tournament matches. They will face the Portuguese national team, who only need a draw to advance to the semi-finals. Meanwhile, in the other match, Mexico and Russia will clash. The math is simple: Russia must win, otherwise the tournament at home will end for them after the group stage, while Mexico simply needs to avoid losing. Mexico - Russia It's clear that the Mexican Carlos Salcedo will not appear in these matches. The player suffered a knee ligament injury in the match against New Zealand and even left the Mexican camp. The player will recover from the injury at his club - Eintracht Frankfurt. Undoubtedly, the pressure falls on the Russian national team, for whom playing at home creates a fact. For this reason, the Russian coach is not very confident about the lineup they will face against the Mexicans: "I will decide after reviewing the opponents, but we also need to consider the form of my players," said the head coach of Russia. The Mexican and Russian national teams have met 12 times already. The most common result is a draw. Seven matches ended in a draw. From the remaining five matches, Russia won 4 and only one - Mexico. Mexico After Mexico had serious difficulties with New Zealand, they have a great opportunity to send a message to all their opponents in the match against Russia. Although they only need a point to enter the final four, the Mexican national team certainly has something to prove and show that they can play and are serious. Juan Carlos Osorio will have to make changes to the team's defense due to the injuries of C. Salcedo and Hector Moreno, but there is no doubt that the coach will find solutions. Possible starting lineup: Goalkeeper: Guillermo Ochoa. Defenders: Diego Reyes, Nestor Araujo, Rafa Marquez, Miguel Layun. Midfielders: Jonathan dos Santos, Hector Herrera, Andres Guardado. Forwards: Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez, Raul Jimenez. Average age: 27.9 years Last three matches: Mexico 2:1 New Zealand, Mexico 2:2 Portugal, Mexico 1:1 USA. Participation in the Confederations Cup: Six times (1995, 1997, 1999 (Champions), 2001, 2005, 2013) Russia Good news for the hosts that they are masters of their own fate. Win - you're in the next stage. Draw - you have to hope for Portugal's failure, and if you lose, just lower your head and leave the pitch. That's the situation for Russia. Of course, Russia doesn't even think about draws, as hoping that Portugal will stumble against New Zealand is naive. Both teams know their strengths and weaknesses, but it remains to be seen who will better exploit them. Possible starting lineup: Goalkeeper: Igor Akinfeev. Defenders: Aleksandr Samedov, Georgiy Dzhikiya, Viktor Vasin, Fedor Kudryashov, Yuri Zhirkov. Midfielders: Denis Glushakov, Aleksandr Yerokhin, Aleksandr Golovin. Forwards: Dmitri Poloz, Fedor Smolov. Average age: 28 years. Last three matches: Russia 0:1 Portugal, Russia 2:0 New Zealand, Russia 1:1 Chile. Participation in the Confederations Cup: Debut Portugal - New Zealand Again, the math is simple. Portugal only needs a draw and they are already in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, New Zealand still has the same goal - to achieve their first victory in the history of the Confederations Cup. The task is not easy, but the fact that they are no longer under pressure can really help. After a 555-minute break, New Zealand scored a goal in the Confederations Cup when they scored against Mexico. True, New Zealand could have scored another goal, but Chris Wood ran out of energy. Of course, it will be harder against Portugal, as they clearly strengthened their defense after the first matches. If Cristiano Ronaldo really rested, as rumored, New Zealand really has a real chance to fight for that dream victory. It would also be interesting to see Portugal without their captain, who scored 15 goals in the last 9 matches for the national team. This will also be the first meeting between the two teams. Portugal Knowing that Portugal only needs a draw, Fernando Santos can afford to give rest to key players. Of course, the Portuguese coach will not underestimate the opponents. It can be expected that the team will start from defense and only once the match gains momentum, they may start threatening opponents with their individual plays. Bernardo Silva will have a lot of freedom for creativity again, but he will probably not be assisted by C. Ronaldo. Possible starting lineup: Goalkeeper: Rui Patricio. Defenders: Nelson Semedo, Luis Neto, Jose Fonte, Eliseu. Midfielders: Andre Gomes, Danilo, Adrien Silva, Bernardo Silva, Andre Silva. Forward: Nani. Average age: 27.8 years. Last three matches: Portugal 1:0 Russia, Portugal 2:2 Mexico, Portugal 3:0 Latvia. Participation in the Confederations Cup: Debut. New Zealand New Zealand will only try to repeat their great performance, as they did against Mexico. Anthony Hudson adheres to his tactics and plays attacking football, pressuring opponents, and that can be expected against Portugal as well. In a 5-3-2 formation, the main players will be wing-backs, who connect well in attacks and manage to return to defense in time. Possible starting lineup: Goalkeeper: Stefan Marinovic. Defenders: Tom Doyle, Tommy Smith, Andrew Durante, Michael Boxall, Kip Colvey. Midfielders: Ryan Thomas, Bill Tuiloma, Clayton Lewis. Forwards: Chris Wood, Marco Rojas. Average age: 25.9 Last three matches: New Zealand 1:2, New Zealand 0:2 Russia, New Zealand 0:1 Belarus. Participation in the Confederations Cup: Three times (1999, 2003, 2009)
