World Cup Draw

[R33DH4M]

If anyone cares...

Group A
South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France

Group B
Argentina
Nigeria
South Korea
Greece

Group C
England
USA
Algeria
Slovenia

Group D
Germany
Australia
Serbia
Ghana

Group E
Netherlands
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon

Group F
Italy
Paraguay
New Zealand
Slovakia

Group G
Brazil
Korea DPR
Ivory Coast
Portugal

Group H
Spain
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile

[back_blows]

Group G = Group of Death

You English got an easy one this time around.

[R33DH4M]

Yea we did :) poor USA. I really hope Ivory Coast knocks Brazil out. Ivory Coast have the best player in the world so I think they can do it. Group A will be a challenge for South Africa if they wish to keep their country satisfied, France have mostly top class players AND top class cheaters :D. And Italy got it easy again!

[back_blows]

My predictions are as follows:

Group A
Mexico
France

Group B
Argentina
Nigeria

Group C
England
USA

Group D
Germany
Ghana

Group E
Netherlands
Cameroon

Group F
Italy
Paraguay

Group G
Brazil
Ivory Coast

Group H
Spain
Switzerland

[Banky71]

Group B is tough.

[Sayburr]

Wow... USA might just get through the first group.

[back_blows]

Group B is tough.

Not really. South Korea and Greece are push-overs.

[R33DH4M]

I forgot how it works. Does the winner of group A play group B next, winners of C and D and so forth?

[back_blows]

If I recall correctly, the top seed of A would face the second seed of B and vice versa.

[Banky71]

I forgot how it works. Does the winner of group A play group B next, winners of C and D and so forth?

Group A winner plays Group B second
Group B winner plays Group A second.

[R33DH4M]

Wow... USA might just get through the first group.

doubtful. There going to have a tough time with the likes of Rooney, Gerard, Lampard, Defoe, Heskey, Wright-Phillips. I'm sorry to say but the US are done for.

[back_blows]

USA will make second seed no question.

[Banky71]

US should get runner up in the group.

[Banky71]

Cut it out Back! :D

[R33DH4M]

^lol
Scratch what I said above. I forget that 2 teams make it in the group.
US shouldn't have a problem with the other teams.

[back_blows]

Cut it out Back! :D

Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me!
I'm the Gingerbread Man!

[ryan12147]

I won't be watching much of it this year, my beloved Croatia didn't make it past the group stage of the qualifier. :(

[ryan12147]

Group A = Group of Death

You English got an easy one this time around.

kthx.

[R33DH4M]

I won't be watching much of it this year, my beloved Croatia didn't make it past the group stage of the qualifier. :(

Yup, I remember that 5-1 whooping to England during the qualifiers. Croatia had a good team last campaign though I'll give them that and they usually have a respectful team anyway.

[ryan12147]

Yup, I remember that 5-1 whooping to England during the qualifiers. Croatia had a good team last campaign though I'll give them that and they usually have a respectful team anyway.

I wouldn't try to make fun of them with England. Remember Euro 2008? :3

[R33DH4M]

kthx.

dude, Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal??! You may want to rethink that one. Let me remind you that C.Ronaldo, Kaka, Drogba and other all-star players are on these teams.

[ryan12147]

dude, Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal??! You may want to rethink that one. Let me remind you that C.Ronaldo, Kaka, Drogba and other all-star players are on these teams.

2 teams make it out, Côte D'Ivoire sucks so they won't make it. Mexico, Uruguay, and France on the other hand...

[back_blows]

kthx.

Let's break it down, shall we?

Group A:

South Africa (home field advantage, that's it pretty mediocre)
Mexico (decent, but rarely makes a splash at the WC)
Uruguay (haven't been in the WC in over 40 years)
France (Hand of Gaul, divers, cheaters)


2 teams make it out, Côte D'Ivoire sucks so they won't make it. Mexico, Uruguay, and France on the other hand...

Côte D'Ivoire is better than any of the teams you mentioned. Seriously take a look at their lineup.

[LibertineStripes]

USA got a good draw here. We just need to beat the easy teams and take out England. Do not want a match against Germany in the round of 16.

[Rock_Band_Over]

Plz, "Group of Death" doesn't mean "Group of Relative Parity".

It has to include stronger sides (Ivory Coast is considered to be, right or wrong) and generally means at least one team you would have otherwise expected to reach the knockout stages is doomed to be eliminated.

In fact, Group A is almost guaranteed not to be the Group of Death unless the hosts are a very strong side.

[tridentgum0]

America, **** yeah.

I alwas end up watching the World Cup, despite not knowing jack about soccer, nor do I watch it at any ohter time.

[Sayburr]

Being that it doesn't start until mid June, here are my early predictions:

Group A
France
Mexico

Group B
Argentina
Nigeria

Group C
England
USA

Group D
Germany
Australia

Group E
Netherlands
Denmark

Group F
Italy
Paraguay

Group G
Brazil
Portugal

Group H
Spain
Switzerland

[killer_roach]

doubtful. There going to have a tough time with the likes of Rooney, Gerard, Lampard, Defoe, Heskey, Wright-Phillips. I'm sorry to say but the US are done for.

Although in recent years England has been about as proficient of choke artists in the World Cup as the US have been...

...at least Keller isn't in net for the Americans anymore. That helps a lot. :)

[R33DH4M]

Although in recent years England has been about as proficient of choke artists in the World Cup as the US have been...:)

True. England have done better in the qualifiers this campaign than any other campaign though so I think it will be a different story this time around. It's still a long way off though. I'm glad that there are the Premiership and Champions League to hold me over until then. If England won the World Cup and Chelsea won both the Premier and Champions League, I will be one happy mofo.

[Apples]

USA got a great draw and a fun first round feature match.

Group G is going to be a blood bath.

Other than that, I'm surprised how well balanced the groups are. Lots of groups with 2 good teams and 2 "underdogs."

Also, if I believed in conspiracy theories I would say the FIFA gods shined brightly on France.... again...

[R33DH4M]

Also, if I believed in conspiracy theories I would say the FIFA gods shined brightly on France.... again...

Of course, the head of FIFA is french. I'm sure most people will be booing them especially Henry Handball, that's if you'll be able to hear anything that's going on over THOSE ANNOYING FREAKING HORNS!!!!!!!!!!

Edit:
Please everyone go here (http://banvuvuzela.com/) to put your vote for or against the annoying vuvuzela. They are very distracting to the players and commentators and will make the atmosphere less enjoyable as you will barley here cheers over the incessant drone of the vuvu****tas. They will make listening to the game at home unbearable. Anyone who watched the confederations cup would understand this.

[daftuprising]

Argentina shouldn't hav problems, which I'm thankful for.
And USA will go through to 2nd round at least.

[franticfish]

YES! England has a piss easy group, there's a whole load of buzz going on over here about how this might be the year England has been waiting for since 1966. Going by our performances in the qualifiers it probably is our best chance in a long time, but I still remain pessimistic.

[harveyglobetrot]

Australia got a tough-ish group. If it goes by the book it will be Germany + 1, but in all honesty I could see any of Australia, Serbia or Ghana go through with the Germans. All three are very quality teams. It's not as hard as the group Australia drew in the 2006 (Brazil, Japan and Croatia), but it will be an achievement to get out of the group.

Most of the big teams got pretty good draws. The only one who might have got a group of death is Brazil, because Portugal and Ivory Coast are both very good sides. England has definitely been smiled upon by the footballing gods, though.

EDIT: I'll also do my predictions

Group A
France
South Africa

France are (on paper) easily the best side in the group. Home teams have a tendency to over-perform at World Cups (e.g. Japan/South Korea in '02).

Group B
Argentina
Greece

Argentina is self-explanatory. Greece are a good defensive unit so they might be able to plug away at 2 draws and 1-0 win and advance.

Group C
England
USA

Obvious.

Group D
Germany
Australia

Germany is the best in the group. I'm Australian, so I may be biased, but I do think they have a very good shot at advancing. Plus it would set up an awesome round of 16 match with England.

Group E
Netherlands
Cameroon

Netherlands should advance, hard to pick from amongst the remaining teams.

Group F
Italy
Slovakia

Italy have an almost England-like draw. It could be either Slovakia or Paraguay, but it definitely won't be New Zealand.

Group G
Brazil
Portugal

The group of death. These teams should go through, but Ivory Coast or even N. Korea (who were strong in the qualifying games I saw of them) could knock one or both of them out.

Group H
Spain
Switzerland

Another weak-ish group. Spain will go through no problems, but it's a bit of a toss-up between the rest.

[back_blows]

YES! England has a piss easy group, there's a whole load of buzz going on over here about how this might be the year England has been waiting for since 1966. Going by our performances in the qualifiers it probably is our best chance in a long time, but I still remain pessimistic.

That's because you guys have a good manager this time.

[R33DH4M]

YES! England has a piss easy group, there's a whole load of buzz going on over here about how this might be the year England has been waiting for since 1966. Going by our performances in the qualifiers it probably is our best chance in a long time, but I still remain pessimistic.

yes hopefully. We have top class players from all the best premier league teams. Rooney, Gerrard, Defoe, Lampard, Terry, Cole, J. Cole. The team is stacked! Although they didn't play too well in the friendly against Brazil although all the best players weren't there except for Rooney.

I hope Brazil fail in the group of death is all.

[Xygnus]

Portugal got the tough group ffffu-

And I bet 5 bucks on how Brazilian players will teleport across the field and lag and stuff.