By: Eli Locke
Sentry Staff Reporter
The FIFA (Federation International of Football Associations) World Cup, which takes place every four years, is the most followed and most watched sporting event on the planet. This year, it will take place in Brazil, with the final match being played in Rio De Janeiro, and group stage matches taking place everywhere from Brasilia to Recife.
The 32 teams that qualify are put into eight groups of four, and first and second place in each group advance to the knockout stage. Each team in the group faces off against every other team once, for a total of three games per team.
Group A features hosts Brazil, who kick off the tournament with a contest against Croatia on June 12. Besides boasting immense talent and depth throughout their lineup, Brazil also features a unique blend of younger players and older more experienced players. Cameroon, who feature a surprising number of high-talent players including attacker Samuel Eto’o, are also in Group A along with Mexico, who barely qualified after a disastrous beginning to their qualification campaign. Although Croatia and Cameroon will contest for the second place spot, in the end Brazil will win the group with Croatia being the runners up. Unless Mexico has a remarkable turnaround, they will likely finish last in this group, leaving Cameroon third.
Possibly the most highly anticipated single group stage fixture of the tournament is Spain versus Netherlands, a rematch of the 2010 World Cup Final. Although minnows Australia have little chance of advancing past Group B, Chile will look to surprise the favorites of Spain and Netherlands in this group. Behind the play of Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez, Chile will surprise the Dutch and finish second behind the dynasty that is Spain. Australia will undoubtedly finish fourth.
Unlike groups A and B, Group C has no one clear team that will dominate. Although Japan could be a dark horse, they have stiff competition in the likes of the Ivory Coast, who have arguably the best team in all of Africa. However, it will be no walk in the park for them either. Greece, even though they lack star power, play a rough and relentless game, and could advance from the group. Out of all the teams in Group C, Colombia looks most likely to finish first. They are led by top striker Radamel Falcao, who will likely lead his team to first place in the group with all of the talent behind him. Greece will surprise and take the runner-up spot, but the Ivory Coast and Japan will not be easy to defeat.
The award for most dramatic group far and away goes to Group D. Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, who infamously bit an opponent while playing for his club team in England, will square off with Mario Balotelli, the Italian forward whose ego is almost as unbelievable as his talent. Then there is England, who are loaded with talent throughout the lineup but tend to perform poorly in big games. Costa Rica was very unlucky to be placed in such a group and will surely finish last. Uruguay, who has a few weak spots in their team, will likely place third behind England, who will not dominate but squeak out of the group in second. Italy will fly high on its way to first place in Group D.
If Group D is most dramatic, than Group E surely is weakest. Although FIFA’s ranking system put Switzerland in this group as the supposed giant, they achieved this by having relatively easy opponents in the qualifying rounds. France own one of the deepest and most talented squads, but locker room squabbles hurt their performance in 2010 and are still somewhat unresolved. Ecuador, led by Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia, will look to play the role of underdog but will likely come in third. Switzerland, although they are a weaker team, will likely come in first with France in second. Honduras will be lucky to win even one game and are very unlikely to advance.
Group F is headlined by world-renowned Lionel Messi. The short Argentinian will look to lead his team to victory, but is often criticized for not playing as well internationally as he does for his club team. Fortunately, Argentina’s Group F opponents Iran are possibly the weakest team in the whole competition. Nigeria, who have a few top-talent players, will likely come in third and lowly Iran will finish fourth. With Argentina breezing to first place, second place will be taken by Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although the Bosnians are appearing in their first ever World Cup, players like Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko and goaltender Asmir Begovic could lead this tiny country deeper into the tournament than expected.
This year’s ‘Group of Death’ is likely Group G (although some will argue it is actually Group B). Germany, with their unbelievable depth, talent and shrewd coaching, will look to get into the quarterfinals at least or will risk being labeled a failure by the German fans. However, Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo will also look to catapult Portugal out of this tough group and into the knockout stage. Ghana will struggle with the aforementioned European superpowers despite the African team’s impressive talent and tenacity. Despite the fact that many are praying that the USA can surprise everyone and somehow advance, that outcome is unfortunately all too unlikely. At the end of the day, Germany will claim first, followed by Portugal, which leaves Ghana out of the knockout round in third and the same goes for the USA in fourth.
Lastly comes Group H, another weak group that the US would have liked to be placed in but unfortunately was not. Algeria nearly qualified for the knockout stage in 2010, but a lack of talent in key positions likely dooms them. South Korea possess a surprising amount of high-level midfielders playing for multiple European clubs. Coming off of hosting the winter Olympics, Russia, despite their relatively underrated club league, lack the talent of Belgium. Algeria will surely go last and Belgium first. Don’t count out Russia, but South Korea is poised to surprise and probably will finish second.
Avoiding all of the confusing outcomes that take place during the knockout stage, the final four teams are likely to be Argentina, Spain, Colombia and Germany. After surprising England and hosts Brazil, Colombia will miss out on the finals by losing to Germany in the semifinals, who will beat minnows South Korea as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina before beating Colombia to go to the finals. With Spain’s experience, they will finish off Croatia before narrowly beating Italy. Argentina will fly past France before brushing off Belgium, who will surprise Portugal in the round of sixteen. Although Spain against Argentina is a toss up, in the end Spain will win out but lose in the final to Germany. Behind the play of top goalie Manuel Neuer and defender Phillip Lahm, both of whom play for Bayern Munich and were named to the FIFPro Team Of The Year, Germany will defeat Spain in the final. Lastly, Max Kruse will be a diamond in the rough for the victorious Germans.
Featured Image Courtesy of worldsoccertalk.com
