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Germany has one point and no goals from two games at the 2017 World Cup: it has not looked great. Still, the team is expected to make the knockout rounds by virtue of the fact it has Vanuatu in its group. This game should provide the lack luster Germans with the points and goals they require to advance to the round of 16.
That is not to disrespect Vanuatu, who gave Mexico a scare in the opening round of Group B games, but the Oceania qualifiers have not looked at the same level of either of their Group B opponents to date, and got close to tying Mexico largely because El Tri missed a lot of chances.
The Group B standings are as follows:
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points |
| 1 | Venezuela | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 6 |
| 2 | Mexico | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 |
| 3 | Germany | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 1 |
| 4 | Vanuatu | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | -8 | 1 |
Germany's task is to win and turn that -2 goal difference into a positive number - a large positive number. A goal difference of +2 or +3 would be nice; anything higher would be better. So the Germans have every incentive to run up the score: if Mexico loses against Venezuela in the other Group B game, then Germany can slip into second place and guaranteed knockout-round qualification with a win an a healthy goal difference; if Mexico ties, Germany will want to have the best goal difference of all the third-placed teams in the group stage, just in case four points isn't in itself enough on its own to secure one of the four best third-place records.
Either way, Germany wants to win and win big. Any sign at all that it is struggling to achieve that ambition, and it would mean Vanuatu is putting up an unexpected fight - worth tuning in for in itself.
Per livesoccertv.com, here's where to find the game:
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