2010 World Cup Groups

Ok, so we've had a bit of time to take in the World Cup draw, and assess favorites, etc.

But now let's see if we can anticipate and predict who is gonna progress to the Second Round, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, and then which two teams will be playing for the Jules Rimet trophy in the Final.

Below are the groups, and then just under that is the Fifa match-planner (who goes on to play who).

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
South Africa	Argentina	England	Germany
Mexico	South Korea	USA	Australia
Uruguay	Nigeria	Algeria	Ghana
France	Greece	Slovenia	Serbia
Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H
Netherlands	Italy	Brazil	Spain
Japan	New Zealand	North Korea	Honduras
Cameroon	Paraguay	Ivory Coast	Chile
Denmark	Slovakia	Portugal	Switzerland

It would be amazing if the USA could snatch top spot from England, so that we wouldn't have to play against ze Germans in the "Round of 16". I think we could comfortably beat any of the other teams from Group D to make it through to the Quarter-Finals. Looking at who we could be up against (I'd bet on France winning Group A and then beating the 2nd team in Group B)...so France...and I think if we play to our strengths, we could make it even further. Semi-Finals and Final is where I am worried I might start jinxing the USA, so we'll get into that a little bit later.

But how do you see the competition playing out? Who's gonna go through from the group stage, and what will the match-ups be in the "Round of 16"? Who is then going to make it through to the Quarters, etc...?

Should be an interesting experiment...

3 Comments

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By tyler9481

13.12.2009 14:16

Right Sara. After Spurs lost yesterday I'm in football pessimism mode, so here goes. Our press have decided we have the easiest group in World cup history and we are going to walk out of our group. This almost certainly means that at some point Rio Ferdinand will be waltzing around our defence thinking he's better than he is and make another mistake that will earn the US a shock win. We will then lose to Germany on pens in the quarter finals and it'll be blamed on our lack of a quality goalkeeper and not on Rio. Also watching the games will be frustrating as hell because Capello will insist on playing Heskey and so Rooney will be wasted and probably get so frustrated himself that he will lash out and get sent off at some point. Should play Defoe and Rooney and let Defoe annoy defenders allowing Rooney space to start pulling strings and making runs throught the middle. Brazil will win the tournament and Spain will do well. Ivory Coast will rain on Ronaldo's parade. I want to be proved wrong though.

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By dank

13.12.2009 15:42

Cheeky Sara, cheeky. @Stephen - i dont think England can meet Germany in the QFs. It would either be in "Round of 16" or....in the Final! And if it's the final, we better not lose, and better not lose on penalties! It might be worth doing a series on this - each nation's road to the final... obviously, not every country is going to make it to the big match, but might provide for some nice little theories! Hopefully Capello will not make those judgement calls which will inevitably lead to failure...

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By SamuraiX

09.01.2010 18:56

There is no easy way out. I think that everyone in group D is tough, except maybe Australia. But it's unlikely they'll get 2nd place. Ghana has a world class midfield, but from what I know about them, their defense is bad enough for US to be able to take them. I'm hoping they sneak into 2nd spot and US gets 1st, this would give US the best chances. Serbia will be difficult to beat, I wouldn't be surprised if they take the 1st spot. But like Germany, they are beatable.

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