FIFA World Cup 2018: Here's a look at this year's 'Group of Death'

With the FIFA World Cup just around the corner, the teams are gearing up for the very first hurdle in their paths -- making it to the knockout stages by finishing in the top two in their respective groups.

Each team will play three games in the group stages, one against each of the others in their group. The two teams with the highest points will qualify for the knockouts.

The term ‘Group of Death’ is usually reserved for a group that has three, or at times even four, teams of high caliber, all likely to make it to the next round.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil had not one, but two ‘Groups of Death’ -- Spain, Netherlands, Chile and Australia in Group B, and England, Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in Group D.

As fate would have it, Spain, Australia, Italy and England, all big-ticket contenders, did not make it to the knockouts. Luis Suárez's heroics against England, and his altercation with Giorgio Chiellini in the fixture against Italy are well-remembered.

This year, Group E, which features Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia and Costa Rica, has been labelled as the ‘Group of Death’, going by World Football Elo Ratings.

The Elo rating system calculates the power of a team in terms of its results in international matches. This time around, Group E is the highest-rated group with a total of 1881 points.

Group B, which features Spain, Portugal, Iran and Morocco, comes in at second with 1879 points. Here's a look at where the other groups stand.