Germany vs. Chile: 2017 Confederations Cup Live Stream, Schedule and Prediction

Germany and Chile face off in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup at the Kazan Arena in Russia on Thursday in what is likely to be a crucial clash in deciding who finishes top of Group B.

Chile's tournament opener saw them struggle to break down Cameroon before late goals from Arturo Vidal and Eduardo Vargas earned them a 2-0 victory.

Pre-tournament favourites Germany, meanwhile, beat Australia 3-2, but it was a far-from-convincing performance by Joachim Low's young side.

Read on for a preview of what could be one of the games of the tournament, along with scheduling and viewing details.

Date: Thursday, June 22

Time: 7 p.m. BST, 2 p.m. ET

TV Info: ITV4 (UK), FS1 (U.S.)

Live Stream: ITV Hub, Fox Sports Go

Preview

Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images

FIFA has Germany ranked as the third best side on the planet and Chile as the No. 4 international team in the world.

Both sides have enjoyed immense success of late. La Roja won the Copa America in both 2015 and 2016—beating Argentina in the final each time—and Germany are the holders of the FIFA World Cup.

Low, though, opted to leave many of his more experienced players at home for the Confederations Cup.

Die Mannschaft stalwarts such as Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Marco Reus and Mesut Ozil were all left out of the squad, while Leroy Sane and Manuel Neuer were unavailable due to injury.

Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi, on the other hand, opted to take a strong squad to Russia, and he has stars such as Vidal, Vargas, Alexis Sanchez, Gary Medel, Mauricio Isla and Charles Aranguiz to call upon.

As a result, Chile are arguably favourites to topple the world champions on Thursday and put themselves in the driving seat to top their group.

Germany looked decent in attack against the Socceroos but were vulnerable defensively, with goalkeeper Bernd Leno enduring a particularly tough game, per German football writer Raphael Honigstein:

The world champions will need to be much tighter against a Chile side that boasts terrific dynamism and pace in their attack.

Low said after the defeat of Australia that his side will need to step up a level to beat Chile, per DFB.de:

"The Chile game will be at a different level. Chile are incredibly versatile and play a very intense game, so we need to see if we can maintain our stability for the entire 90 minutes, not just 60."

It would be no surprise if Thursday's clash ends up being a forerunner of the final. Germany and Chile are arguably the two strongest sides in the tournament and are being well backed to make it to the July 2 showpiece.

As such, it should be a brilliantly entertaining and high-quality clash at the Kazan Arena as two of the world's best sides go head-to-head. 

Prediction: Germany 2-2 Chile