.Liverpool wizard Salah missed his team’s defeat to Uruguay on Friday as he struggles to recover from the shoulder injury sustained during last month’s Champions League Final.

Salah’s shoulder has continued to cause him problems in Russia, and last weekend he needed the help of three team-mates to put a shirt on during a training session.

However the 26-year-old is desperate to start in what is a must-win game on Tuesday for the Pharoahs, who are playing in the World Cup for the first time since 1990.

Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov was bullish ahead of the match in Saint Petersburg that his team can rein in the explosive striker.

“We know how to play against him,” he said. “We are ready to stop Salah and we will.”

Russia got the 2018 World Cup off to the perfect start Thursday with a 5-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia, but are under no illusions that the seven-time African champions with Salah pose an altogether tougher test.

“Egypt’s game with Salah is different from the one they play without him,” forward Alexei Miranchuk said.

Salah, already a national hero after his 94th-minute penalty clinched a 2-1 win over Congo to send Egypt to their first World Cup since 1990, has been declared 100 percent fit by the team doctor.

Without Salah, Egypt lacked bite in their 1-0 opening loss to Uruguay.

But if fully fit, the sight of Salah, who scored 44 goals in a remarkable debut season at Liverpool, will strike fear into the Russians.

– Lewandowski vs Mane –

Also on Tuesday, Robert Lewandowski and Sadio Mane face off in a mouthwatering World Cup shootout between two of European football’s most lethal forwards as Poland take on Senegal.

Eighth-ranked Poland enter their Group H opener at Moscow’s Spartak Stadium as favourites led by Bayern Munich’s Lewandowski who netted 41 times in all competitions this season.

After a disappointing showing at the Euros in France two years ago, the forward said he was entering the tournament in a different frame of mind from 2016.

“I’m sure that training will be better now and that I’ll be fresh and dynamic at the right time,” he said. “I started preparing for the World Cup much earlier.”

Tuesday’s early game sees Colombia take on Japan in Saransk, four years after pounding the Asians 4-1 at the 2014 World Cup.

The South Americans have their own injury concern in the form of Brazil top scorer James Rodriguez, with the Bayern midfielder nursing a calf strain.

James, 26, netted six goals and created four assists to help Colombia qualify for Russia, while midfielder Wilmar Barrios is also battling to be fit.

Japan’s build up to Russia has been tumultuous, after coach Vahid Halilhodzic was sacked in April despite steering the team to the finals.

Tuesday’s round of fixtures will mean that all 32 teams in the tournament have now played at least once.

On Monday, England made hard work of a 2-1 win over Tunisia in Volgograd, relying on an injury-time Harry Kane header to spare their blushes.

Captain Kane put the Three Lions ahead on 11 minutes from close range but Tunisia levelled through a first-half Ferjani Sassi penalty.

“Credit to the lads, they kept going, kept going to the last second,” Kane said after the final whistle.

“I am absolutely buzzing, everyone on the staff is. It shows good character to get the job done.”

Third-ranked Belgium meanwhile beat World Cup newbies Panama 3-0, with Romelu Lukaku bagging a second-half brace in Sochi.

Belgium laboured against the South Americans in the first half but opened their 2018 account with a stunning Dries Mertens volley.

“That first goal was going to be essential,” said Martinez. “It is almost a mental blow for one team and it gives you a lot of breathing space for your first game in the tournament,” said coach Roberto Martinez.

Gareth Southgate’s men almost paid a heavy price for missing a slew of first-half chances when Tunisia’s Ferjani Sassi slotted home a softly-awarded penalty 20 minutes before half-time.

And the north Africans were still level as the game went past the 90-minute mark.

But Harry Maguire won a header from a corner and Kane was on hand at the far post to nod in the winner before being mobbed by his ecstatic teammates.

England had started brightly in a blur of passing and movement and could have been two goals up inside the first four minutes.

First Jordan Henderson’s lofted first-time pass released Dele Alli and when the ball eventually broke to Jesse Lingard he saw his shot from six yards saved by the outstretched left boot of Mouez Hassen in the Tunisia goal.

Kane had been kept quiet in the opening salvos but he exploded into action in the 11th minute when he cut inside from the left and saw his shot from the edge of the box deflected wide for a corner.

Ashley Young delivered the set piece for John Stones to rise highest and meet with a powerful header. Hassen saved acrobatically but Kane was on hand to tap home the rebound with his right foot and open his World Cup account.

Hassen, who had injured his left shoulder making an earlier save, could not continue and left the field in tears as he was replaced in goal by Farouk Ben Mustapha.

England continued to press and were made to pay for not converting a succession of chances when they conceded a soft penalty.

Kyle Walker swung a lazy arm across Fakhreddine Ben Youssef who fell as if poleaxed and Colombian referee Wilmar Roldan pointed to the spot, with his decision being upheld by the VAR.

Ferjani Sassi took one step and fired home confidently past the hitherto unemployed Jordan Pickford and Tunisia who had been outplayed for the first half-hour were somehow level 10 minutes before half-time.

Still there was time for Lingard to come close again twice, first from a goalbound shot and then a dink over the keeper which agonisingly struck the post.

Alli too hit the woodwork with a header and England went into half-time wondering how they had not sealed victory already.

Tunisia’s midfielder Ferjani Sassi (2R) celebrates a goal with Tunisia’s defender Ali Maaloul.

England still enjoyed the lion’s share of possession but could not find the same zip and penetration they had enjoyed at the start of the first half.

The ineffective Sterling gave way to Marcus Rashford with just over 20 minutes to go and the Manchester United man almost fashioned a chance straight away with a jinking run into the box.

A moment of inspiration from Dries Mertens set the Belgians on their way two minutes after the break, his volley breaking the deadlock after a rather flat first period.

Lukaku then converted assists from Kevin De Bruyne and captain Eden Hazard to secure victory in this Group G clash, with the Central Americans succumbing to a defeat in their first-ever match at the finals.

Group rivals England will look to respond to Belgium’s win when they kick off their campaign against Tunisia but this was not entirely the statement of intent that Roberto Martinez’s side would have been hoping to make.

A victory will do for a team who are, on paper at least, good enough to go far in Russia, especially after heavyweights Germany, Brazil and Argentina all slipped up over the weekend.

Belgium are now unbeaten in 20 matches, although the nature of the first-half performance against weak opposition showed that Martinez’s men still have significant progress to make if they are to improve on quarter-final appearances at the last two major tournaments.

Panama’s forward Gabriel Torres (L) is marked by Belgium’s Thomas Meunier (C) and Belgium’s Dedryck Boyata. 

To be fair to Martinez, the Spaniard had warned on the eve of this game that his side would not have it easy.

The Central Americans lined up with a team of journeymen featuring five thirty-somethings. Jaime Penedo in goal is 36, while Blas Perez up front is 37. But while the Belgians had the younger, talented players, other factors played in Panama’s favour.

The heat and humidity on Russia’s Black Sea coast was one, as was the fact their supporters greatly outnumbered those following the Belgians.

The locals at the Fisht Stadium got behind the outsiders too, and they were given encouragement as Hernan Dario Gomez’s side competed well in the first period.

Hazard pulled the strings when he could, although the Chelsea star was denied by Penedo in the 38th minute, having earlier found the side-netting when a slack back-pass from opposing captain Roman Torres gifted him the chance.

At the other end, Panama tried to expose Belgium’s potential weaknesses at full-back. However, they struggled to score goals in qualifying and rarely looked capable of beating Thibaut Courtois.

– Mertens strike –

Belgium just needed a spark from somewhere, and they got it from Mertens in the 47th minute.

The Napoli man’s cross looking for Lukaku was headed out by Torres and on by Fidel Escobar. But the ball dropped perfectly back to Mertens, whose volley from the right side of the box arced into the far corner.

Panama sought to regroup and right-back Michael Murillo came surging forward to finally force a save from Courtois.

But the gulf in class began to tell as Belgium doubled their lead midway through the second half. Hazard found De Bruyne, and his sumptuous cross with the outside of the right boot was headed in by Lukaku.

With Panama forced to throw more bodies forward, they were punished on the break a quarter of an hour from the end.

This time Hazard released Lukaku, and the Manchester United man beat Penedo to complete the scoring and take him to five goals at major tournaments, as Belgium get up and running.

Germany are licking their wounds after slumping 1-0 to a Hirving Lozano strike in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium — their first defeat in their opening game of a World Cup since 1982.

“We won’t fall apart,” insisted Loew, but that is exactly what his defence did in the first-half.

Loew is under contract with the German Football Association (DFB) until 2022, but Sunday’s result tarnishes the glittering reputation of the 2014 World Cup-winning coach.

“I have not seen the German team so weak at a big tournament for a long time,” said West Germany’s 1990 World Cup-winning captain Lothar Matthaeus.

“Almost everything was missing. There were concentration errors, unnecessary bad passes and also the attitude was not there.”

Loew has been heavily criticised in Germany for his tactics and keeping faith in under-performing players, especially Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil.

The decision to leave Manchester City starlet Leroy Sane out of the squad after a dazzling season for the Premier League champions has led to searching questions.

Loew’s faith in Ozil, who came to Russia after a series of frustrating performances for Arsenal, and Khedira, who is no longer the midfield dynamo he was, leaves Loew open to accusations of misplaced loyalty.

He got his tactics wrong in Moscow, telling his players they would be pressed high up, only for Mexico to counter-attack from deep at speed.

When their gameplan was shredded, none of Loew’s senior players could stem the Mexico attacks or fix the disarray in defence.

– ‘Helpless’ –

Now the Germans must beat Sweden in Sochi on Saturday to get their Russia 2018 campaign back on track.

The fear in Germany is that the national team will not qualify for the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time since the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal.

The last time they failed to progress beyond the first round of the World Cup was in 1938.

Worryingly for the remaining group matches, the Germans lacked leadership when they needed it most — despite the return of captain Manuel Neuer in goal.

“What bothered me most is that no player is capable of solving a problem when it gets difficult,” Paul Breitner, a 1974 World Cup winner with West Germany, told Munich-based paper TZ.

“It was depressing to see how helpless our team was.”

Loew is under pressure to make changes and only his former captain Philipp Lahm, who lifted the World Cup trophy in 2014, offered hope amid the deluge of criticism.

“They have the experience to turn things around. Sometimes a small setback doesn’t hurt to pull the team together,” Lahm said at an event in Moscow.

However, the performance suggests there are deeper problems and the first-half disarray was glaring.

Matthaeus said Marco Reus, Germany’s most dangerous player, who only played the last 30 minutes, must start against Sweden.

– Warning –

German daily Bild demanded Ozil, Khedira, Julian Draxler and Thomas Mueller step up in training this week or be dropped.

“For me, Mesut Ozil was missing speed and body language,” said Matthaeus.

“He has so much freedom from Loew, but nothing comes back from him. Thomas Mueller was also disappointing.”

Centre-backs Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels complained about being isolated at the back.

However, the fleet-footed Mexicans exposed Boateng’s lack of pace, while Hummels was on the halfway line when the attack started that led to Lozano’s winning goal.

“Against Mexico, the motto was ‘it will be OK. At some point, the ball will go in the net’,” former international Manfred Schwabl told the Muenchner Merkur newspaper

“Of course, that doesn’t work in football, not in the third division and especially not at a World Cup.”

Matthaeus offered a chilling warning.

“Just because Germany are world champions, doesn’t mean they will automatically reach the last 16.

“Just a reminder: three of the last four champions all went out in the group stages,” he added after France, Italy and Spain all bowed out early, four years after lifting the World Cup.

Veteran Swedish skipper Andreas Granqvist scored the only goal of the game from the spot after Viktor Claesson was upended by South Korean substitute Kim Min-woo Kim in the 62nd minute.

Despite furious appeals, El Salvadorean referee Joel Aguilar, who had ironically been whistle-happy up until that point, intially waved away Swedish penalty claims.

But after consulting the video, he pointed to the spot.

It was the third VAR penalty awarded at these championships after France and Peru also benefitted from video referrals.

South Korea’s midfielder Ki Sung-yueng 

The win was reward for Sweden’s more attacking approach, but it was unsurprising the winner came from the penalty spot in a game between two sides who had only managed two goals between them in seven games heading into Russia.

Sweden never really convinced that they would score prior to the penalty despite their domination and a toothless South Korea did not manage one shot on target.

However they should have equalised in the 90th minute but Hwang Hee-chan put a free header wide, spurning the Koreans’ best chace of the game by far.

The victory leaves Sweden joint top of the group after Mexico’s surprise victory against world champions Germany on Sunday.

Next up for the Swedes is an intriguing encounter against Germany in Sochi on June 23.

South Korea started the game brightly, forcing the first corner in the fourth minute, but were gradually forced back by an attritional Swedish side.

It was the Europeans who came closest to breaking the deadlock when forward Marcus Berg was denied by a fine point-blank save Jo Hyeon-woo in the 20th minute.

Berg was denied again nine minutes later by a desperate last-ditch block from Kim Young-gwon.

South Korea’s forward Hwang Hee-chan (R) vies for the ball with Sweden’s midfielder Emil Forsberg.

Despite their increasing dominance, Sweden also demonstrated why they have struggled to score goals.

Berg, again, and Claesson went close before the end of the half, but it was clear for everyone to see why they had only scored once in their four matches prior to Russia.

Korea threatened only on the break where Son Heung-min’s pace troubled 33-year-old Granqvist, who was without defending partner Victor Lindelof, who was ill.

The somewhat rancorous build-up to the game — where Sweden were accused of spying on their opponents — was increasingly reflected in the niggly nature of the match.

Resilient Sweden held firm after the goal and the Hwang late scare aside, and a half-hearted South Korea appeal for a penalty, their defence rarely looked troubled.

The huge celebrations, the first match played in the $290 million stadium, at the end showed the importance the Swedes attached to this match.

Before the game, South Korea’s coach Tae Yong-shin called it a “must win” game but the defeat leaves his side contemplating only an early exit.

The 28-year-old Kiradech closed with a 3-over 73 in the final round, which included a closing birdie on the demanding 18^th hole for a four-day total of 9-over 289. He emerged as the leading Asian, finishing one stroke ahead Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (66) and Haotong Li of China (69) who were amongst those in T16.

American Brooks Koepka successfully retained his title by one shot with a final round 68, holding off a fast-charging Tommy Fleetwood of England who matched the U.S. Open low with a superb 63. Koepka, who became the first repeat winner at the U.S. Open since Curtis Strange in 1989, totaled 1-over 281.

Starting the week, Kiradech set himself a goal of finishing in the top-30 in what was only his second U.S. Open appearance but entering the final day three shots off the lead following a third round 68, the likeable Thai was disappointed with his final 18 holes on Sunday.

“It was a tough day. I didn’t hit enough fairways or greens unlike the third round and that makes it tough here. I’m happy with my final position as I wanted top-30 but I’m quite disappointed I didn’t put any pressure on the leaders at all. I was three shots back at the start of the day but I didn’t stay in contention,” said Kiradech, who had finished T15 at the 2016 Masters Tournament.

Kiradech, a former Asian Tour No. 1, turned in one-over with three bogeys against two birdies but battled to stay within the top-15 despite three more dropped shots. He signed off with an 18-foot birdie conversion on 18, which was ranked the toughest hole during the final round.

“This week was all about being patient and positioning the ball well. But I think I tried to control my game too much today to avoid the trouble and it didn’t work out. I wasn’t as aggressive as I would normally play,” said Kiradech, who rose two rungs to 29^th in the latest Official World Golf Ranking.

As a Special Temporary Member of the PGA TOUR, Kiradech earned an equivalent of 61 FedExCup points to increase his season’s tally to 401 points. Last season, the 125^thranked player, J.J. Henry, kept his TOUR card by earning 365 points which puts Kiradech firmly in position to secure his PGA TOUR card for 2018-19.

“I think I got that unoficially. I was told 380 points would probably be good for this season (to reach the 125^th ranked position),” said Kiradech, whose 401 points would rank him 89^th in the latest FedExCup points standing if he was a full member. He also became the first from Thailand to earn a full PGA card.

 The powerful Koepka made a little history on Sunday, winning his second straight U.S. Open Championship. Clinging to a one-shot lead after England’s Tommy Fleetwood tied the championship record with a 63 two hours earlier, Koepka shot a 68 for the highest winning score at the championship since 2012. He became only the seventh player to win the championship in consecutive years.

“This is incredible,” said Koepka, who shot 75 in the first round. “I don’t think I could have dreamed of this, going back-to-back. I always felt like I had a chance (despite the poor opening round). Make a couple birdies and make up a lot of ground. Keep grinding. I knew conditions would ease up and they did and I took advantage of it.”

The other three third round co-leaders never got on track. Dustin Johnson, the 36-hole leader, had another rough day on the greens and shot 70 to finish third at 3-over 283. Tony Finau shot 72, including a double-bogey on the 72nd hole and finished fifth at 5-over. Daniel Berger shot 73 and tied for sixth at 6 over.

Fleetwood’s 63 matched the record shared by five others and was reminiscent of Johnny Miller, who shot a 63 at Oakmont in 1973 to deny Arnold Palmer the championship. Fleetwood, the No. 12-ranked player in the world, missed an eight-foot birdie on the 18th hole that would have given him the record and would have forced a playoff.

“I honestly never really thought I was out of it,” Fleetwood said. “All the way around, I always felt like I could get myself back in it. It’s funny, though, when you finish, you always feel like you’ve kind of missed your shot.”

Reigning Masters champion Patrick Reed, who played alongside Kiradech, began the day with a barrage of five birdies over his first seven holes and had a share of the lead early. But a pair of untimely bogeys halted his momentum and prevented him from winning the second leg of the Grand Slam. He shot 68 and tied for fourth.

 England, winners on football’s biggest stage more than half a century ago, crashed out without a win four years in Brazil, and haven’t won a knock-out match in any tournament since 2006.

Southgate’s young charges however come to Russia quietly confident after a solid qualifying campaign and encouraging friendly results against the likes of Brazil, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

They play Tunisia in the historic city of Volgograd on Monday evening knowing anything other than a win would scatter pre-tournament plans, with Belgium looming later in Group G.

Southgate’s lack of experience was much fretted over when appointed but the former Under 21s coach has cultivated an atmosphere of unity and a determination to bury past failures.

“This team shouldn’t be burdened with that because they’re a fresh group, most of them have very few international caps, so the future is all ahead of them,” Southgate told reporters at the Volgograd Arena on Sunday.

England captain Harry Kane, who is yet to score a goal in a tournament, has vowed an aggressive approach against opponents expected to defend in numbers.

“First and foremost we are going to want to attack the game, we feel like we are going to have a lot of possession of the ball,” the Tottenham forward said.

– Hazard to shine: Martinez –

Belgium, meanwhile, enter Russia on more familiar ground: a squad stuffed with stars but questions over their manager.

Spaniard Roberto Martinez was a left-field choice to replace Marc Wilmots after Euro 2016 and the former Everton boss seems no nearer to solving the puzzle of getting Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne playing to their sky-high potentials in the same side.

The boys from Brussels face Panama, Central America’s World Cup debutantes, in Sochi.

Martinez on Sunday said Hazard was ready to light up a tournament in the same way as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo did with his stunning hat-trick against Spain on Friday.

“I think Eden is in a great moment of his career, look at his age, he is the captain, in terms of leadership — he never finds it difficult to show for the ball,” he said.

Results under Martinez have been excellent — Belgium haven’t lost since he took over — but there is a sense that this tournament represents their best chance at World Cup glory.

– Post-Zlatan Sweden –

Monday’s early game sees Sweden take on South Korea in Nizhny Novgorod in a clash from a Group F that also contains holders Germany.

The Swedes come to Russia at the dawning of the “post-Zlatan” era, after their talismanic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic retired from internationals after the last Euros.

“We must focus on us, we are here now, the squad that has been selected is the one that will play,” captain Andreas Granqvist told AFP.

Sweden beat France in qualifying, and finished ahead of the Netherlands who failed to make it to Russia. The Swedes later advanced by eliminating Italy in a play-off.

Asian powerhouses South Korea meanwhile are hoping to avoid a repeat of 2014, when their performance in Brazil was so dire that the team was pelted with toffees

Four years ago, South Korea’s performance was so woeful that the players were pelted with toffees on their return to Seoul.

They will need to summon the spirit of their 2002 home heroics in order to extricate themselves from what is arguably 2018’s toughest group.

“I think we will have to beat Sweden if we want to get to the last 16,” said South Korea coach Shin Tae-yong.

“We’ve waited a long time for this World Cup.”

In snake-hipped Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-Min, the Koreans have a world-class player and potential match-winner.

But in truth they are a shadow of the team who famously reached the semi-finals as 2002 World Cup co-hosts.

Ratcheting up the pressure before the Group F clash in Nizhny Novgorod, Shin Tae-yong said both sides had to target three points.

“For tomorrow’s match, I think that we the Koreans and also for the Swedes, it’s a match that must be won,” he said.

“I think both teams will be thinking that way.”

The Koreans and Swedes have been drawn against Germany, the reigning world champions, and Mexico, who have never failed to get out of the group stage at a World Cup.

Despite it being his first World Cup, the 49-year-old said he was relaxed, despite growing expectations in South Korea as the tournament approaches.

Shin Tae-yong took over as coach last year from German World Cup winner Uli Stielike as the country’s qualification attempt for Russia teetered towards failure.

South Korea’s coach Shin Tae-yong

They eventually qualified but in far from impressive fashion.

Despite that, Shin Tae-yong says he is convinced fans will get behind his team, even though South Koreans are expecting to be vastly outnumbered in the stadium, with only 1,500 supporters expected to travel to Russia.

“Right know, I can say that I am quite calm, if we just do what we have prepared, we will have good results.”

Captain Ki Sung-yeung, who will be playing in his third World Cup, said he was “very excited”.

“I hope that we will have good results,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s captain Andreas Granqvist revealed the teams have been helped by sports counsellors in the run-up to the tournament.

“We are better prepared now than for previous tournaments,” he said.

Supporters of South Korea’s football team cheer during a training session at Spartak Stadium.

At their historic summit in April, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had agreed to joint participation in “international sports events such as the 2018 Asian Games”.

On the agenda for the meeting Monday are proposals for a joint march and unified teams for the Asian Games, said Jeon Choong-ryul, South Korea’s chief delegate.

The games will be held in Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

Officials will also discuss details of an inter-Korean basketball match, which was proposed by Kim at his summit with Moon.

“As witnessed at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, everyone knows that sports triggered the reconciliation between the South and North,” Jeon said before departing for the meeting.

The two Koreas formed their first-ever unified Olympic team — a joint women’s ice hockey squad — for the 2018 Winter Games.

The idea for a joint team at Pyeongchang Olympics initially sparked backlash in the South, on the grounds that Seoul was depriving its own athletes of the chance to compete on the Olympic stage.

Ultimately, the sight of North and South Korean players wearing the same jerseys drew emotive responses from spectators and the squad quickly became an Olympic favourite, despite being thrashed all their matches.

The rapprochement on the Korean peninsula was triggered earlier this year when Kim decided to send athletes, cheerleaders and his sister as an envoy to the Pyeongchang Games.

Diplomatic efforts have gathered pace since, leading to a landmark summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore last week.

The outstanding Hirving Lozano smashed home the Mexican winner in the 35th minute at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, leaving Manuel Neuer clutching at thin air on his return to the German goal after a nine-month injury absence.

Toni Kroos crashed a shot against the crossbar for Germany but they were never able to get back into the match as they slid to their first defeat in their opening game of a World Cup since 1982.

“I don’t know if it’s the biggest win in Mexico’s history but doubtless it is one of the biggest for sure,” said 22-year-old Lozano.

Lozano’s winner made the earth move in Mexico City, where seismologists detected a minor tremor possibly caused by “widespread jumping during the goal.”

Germany coach Joachim Loew did not mince his words about his side’s performance, saying his team had played “very badly” in the first half of the Group F tie.

“We weren’t able to impose our usual way of playing, our attacking and passing was not effective,” he said.

“It goes without saying that the next match will be decisive for us, we have to win it,” Loew added ahead of his team’s next game against Sweden next Saturday.

If Germany finish as group runners-up, they could face Brazil in a clash of World Cup titans in the next round — a perfect chance for the Brazilians to avenge the humiliating 7-1 defeat to the Germans on home soil in 2014.

Brazil, and their star Neymar, made their bow in Russia in Rostov-on-Don but gutsy Switzerland battled back to cancel out a Philippe Coutinho strike midway through the first half of the Group E tie.

The Barcelona man found the top corner with a stunning curled effort in the 20th minute but Steven Zuber headed an equaliser from a corner shortly after half time and the five-time champions could not make their superior quality count.

Coach Tite blamed first night nerves.

“I’m not happy with this result. Our finishing wasn’t good. We had 20 chances, but too many shots were off target. We should have made their keeper work harder than that.

“I put it down to stress, first match nerves, that’s true for me too,” the Brazil boss said.

Four years after injury cut short his World Cup — Brazil suffered that defeat to Germany without him — Neymar is once again spearheading his country’s hopes.

The Paris Saint-Germain striker’s participation at the finals in Russia had been cast into doubt after he suffered a broken bone in his right foot in late February.

However, the 26-year-old forward has shown few signs of rustiness since returning for Brazil, scoring in consecutive friendlies in the buildup to the finals and started on Sunday.

– German disarray –

Germany had breezed through qualifying, scoring 43 goals and conceding just four.

Loew has, like the Brazilians, transformed the team from 2014 to the extent that the man who scored the World Cup winning goal in Rio, Mario Goetze, is not in the squad.

But his plans to become only the third side in the World Cup’s 88-year history to successfully defend their title were in disarray on Sunday after the Mexicans tore into his defence from the start.

Mexico only lost one game in qualifying and have reached at least the second round of every World Cup they have played.

In the first game of the day, Serbia beat Costa Rica 1-0 thanks to a brilliant Aleksandar Kolarov free-kick in Samara.

The victory puts Serbia in a strong early position in Group E ahead of games against Brazil and Switzerland as they look to reach the last 16 for the first time since becoming an independent country.

Away from the football, Russian authorities said a taxi driver who ploughed into pedestrians on a crowded pavement near Red Square in Moscow on Saturday, injuring at least seven people, had been suffering from exhaustion.

The taxi driver, a 28-year-old man from the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, told police during questioning that he had been working for 20 hours solid before the incident and had mixed up the brake pedal and the accelerator.