FIFA World Cup 2014 - Group Predicitons
Hey guys,
The FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil is going to be one of my most favourite topics to talk about leading up and during the World Cup during June and July of 2014 :)
Despite living in Australia, I am actually a huge German fan. Below, you will find my response to each group and below that will be my predictions of who will go through to the second round! Bring on the FIFA World Cup!
Group A - Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon - Brazil and Croatia have the opening game for the FIFA World Cup and honestly thank god it's not Mexico in the opening game again haha, it nearly happened. Nevertheless, It is good to have an interesting game straight off the bat for the FIFA World Cup Finals :) Brazil are a huge team, but they may die in the second round because of the two likely winners out of Group B. Croatia, Mexico and Cameroon all a difficult challenge and to be honest I am actually not too sure on which two teams will make it too. I think people underestimate all three of these teams. But I've made my pick on which two teams are going through down the very bottom.
Group B - Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia - This has surely got to be the group of death because it contains the current World Champions, Spain and Runner-up Netherlands and to top it off, this group has Chile which they are ranked 12th. Now let's talk about Australia first, which is where I am living by the way. Australia, the lowest ranked team in the tournament has found themselves in the group of death, damn. I actually think that Australia will end their World Cup without scoring a single point in their group, I'm serious. They may not even score a single goal! One of my friends actually believes that they will be eliminated having 20 goals scored against them; 8 goals scored by Spain, 8 goals scored by Holland and 4 goals scored by Chile! Insane tip? Anything can happen. Spain and Netherlands are probably the two most likely teams to face each other in the Grand Final. If Brazil claim first place in Group A, the runner-up of Group B will have to face Brazil, it really feels like the very last stages of the World Cup have been pushed back to the Second Round, doesn't it? Chile is just as in trouble as Australia, perhaps a draw over Spain and Netherland with a win over Australia could be the way to do it? This is one interesting group to watch!
Group C - Colombia, Greece, Côte d’Ivoire, Japan - A powerhouse team, Colombia are ranked 4th in the world! How did this happen? Japan are still ranked 44th? My tip for this group at the bottom of this post is going to surprise you all then. Despite the wide range in rankings for this group, it seems to me that these four teams could be actually pretty well evenly matched to me. I can see Colombia and Greece going through just as well as Côte d’Ivoire and Japan going through in this group. I honestly have no idea who is? Okay, perhaps the rankings do tell the truth and Colombia are going to smash everyone in this group. Greece being 15th on the rankings may hit huge scores against Japan or they won't because the rankings are messed up and underestimates Japan big time?
Group D - Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy - My initial reactions to this group was. "England are gonna fail." Of course, I am saying this because I am going off how they performed last World Cup where they just managed to get through the group stage before being debatebly smashed by Germany, like they were as easy as Australia, again that's also debatable. Okay, this group is getting onto my nerves because Italy did really bad in last world cup coming last! Therefore, if you were going to watch only one game in the world cup apart from the Grand Final, this game would have to be it because it may critically determine who will go through out of this group. Poor Costa Rica, I can't see anything happening for you. Uruguay had it easy (or lucky?) getting all the way up to the Semi-finals four years ago and I actually think Uruguay is going to find it just as hard as England and Italy. Wow this World Cup is amazing already just by looking at these groups!
Group E - Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras - Simple group most will say, Switzerland, the team a lot of people are backing for all of a sudden, I don't know why you guys are backing for Switzerland but there you have it. People like Switzerland. France are actually getting less recognition, I think their name hides in this group too much. The rankings suggests Côte d’Ivoire, USA, Chile, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia are all teams that are better than France? I found this hard to believe because in 2006 they were in the Grand Final with Italy. What's going on? Maybe I need to stop living in the past because perhaps France just don't have it anymore. let's not forget about Ecuador because the match to watch personally for me is Ecuador vs France which is the final game for this group. This will show me if France still have it or not, unless France lose to Honduras as well, then I have no hope for France doing anything great for many years to come. Guys, I think I am going to surprise you again with this group in my tips down below because I have put hope into a team that looks to be getting worse.
Group F - Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria - Argentina have it easy. They are in heaven. Argentina are going to Brazil and they may as well treat it like they are going on a holiday. Okay fine, Bosnia may be the challenge in this group but Iran and Nigeria? Please! ... Guess what, I think Nigeria are going to surprise everyone in the world cup. I am making an interesting tip here guys, I think Nigeria are going to make it through and beat Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nigeria did alright in 1994, 1998 but below par in 2002 and 2010. Even though they had a really hard group in 2002. I just have that feeling that Nigeria can finally produce something good in a group like this and I can't wait to see if they really do. So yes, the game to watch shall be Nigeria vs Bosnia-Herzegovina, bring it on!
Group G - Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA - G is for Germany. This is Germany's group, it's a tough group with Portugual, USA and Ghana here. Germany say Ghana last world cup so I have an idea of what will happen in this group. With USA in the mix of things, this group will surely come with surprises, the Americans always come with surprises and this time they have Juergen Klinsmann as their head coach. I don't know what to think know about the United States of Aye anymore. Joachim Löw, coach for Germany is going to really enjoy playing against him, it will not be an easy match. Time to put Portugal in the spot light From their point of view, this group looks real tough for them but they may beat every team in this group come to think of it but it's so hard to judge with these Americans in the group! I am never too sure about Ghana, I just don't know them enough, I think people over-rate them, tough to say. If Germany vs Portugal is not the game to watch in this group then it must be Portugal vs USA! I absolutely cannot wait to see what will happen in this group.
Group H - Belgium, Algeria, Russia, Korea Republic - This group gives me a similar feeling as with group C except I am more certain about Belgium qualifying through to the next stage. It's just a matter of who will go with Belgium. Algeria are a tough African team and England and USA will know that they posed a serious threat in their group, somehow USA managed to beat them but England could only settle for a draw. Russia can do anything as they topped their group in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup getting ahead of Portugal on table despite winning and losing to each other once. Korea is like the mystery-unknown-watch-your-back sort of team that will stir this group up with a different playing style!
My predictions on who will advance in each group....
| Group |
First Place |
Second Place |
| A |
Brazil |
Croatia |
| B |
Netherlands |
Spain |
| C |
Colombia |
Japan |
| D |
Italy |
Uruguay |
| E |
Switzerland |
France |
| F |
Argentina |
Nigeria |
| G |
Germany |
USA |
| H |
Belgium |
Korea Republic |
