Can the 2010 World Cup's unpredictability continue?

Portugal’s Christiano Ronaldo will be looking forward to a Round of 16 clash with the Spanish.(AP Photo/Tariq Mikkel Khan/POLFOTO)

The Socceroos may be slowly arriving home but the World Cup must go on in South Africa and the tournament heats up now as we head into the knockout stages with sixteen nations left.

Arguably the highlight of the 2010 World Cup has been its unpredictability, with big footballing nations such as France and Italy organising their flights home early, while the likes of England, Germany and Spain haven’t had it all their way despite progressing.

That level of unpredictability bodes well for the armchair fan dreaming of an unlikely champion.

Also in South Africa records have been broken, with South Africa becoming the first hosts not to progress to the knockout stage, while Asian pair Japan and South Korea reached the Round of 16 for the first time on foreign soil.

Greece grabbed their first ever World Cup goal and points, Slovakia qualified for the Round of 16 at their first attempt, Chile ended a 48-year winless drought in the tournament while our neighbours New Zealand created history claiming their first ever World Cup point on their way to three draws from their three matches.

Now, though, the attention turns to those final sixteen nations and the question of who will lift the 2010 World Cup at Soccer City on July 11?

The case for a South American champion is strong, with all five CONMEBOL nations qualifying for the knockout stage, with all bar Chile topping their respective groups.

It’s hard to know why they’ve succeeded so far, perhaps it’s something to do with the altitude, maybe the Jabulani, perhaps the climate, maybe they’ve had the rub of the green with the refereeing?

Whatever it is, the evidence is there that the South Americans are enjoying themselves in South America and shouldn’t be ignored as genuine threats to the trophy with Argentina and Brazil leading the charge.

On the other hand, only one African nation has made it through to the final 16, with the CAF confederation’s representatives proving largely underwhelming when some fancied their chances on their home continent.

For UEFA, it’s been a mixed bag with seven of their thirteen representatives already eliminated, but Euro 2008 champions and pre-World Cup favourites Spain remain in the hunt, although Fernando Torres’ woes could be a concern after going goalless again in last night’s 2-1 win over Chile.

The Spanish, though, will now face their Iberian neighbours and perennial dark-horses Portugal in an intriguing Round of 16 clash.

The Portuguese may not have Cristiano Ronaldo firing, but boss Carlos Queiroz was quick to point out after last night’s dull goalless draw with Brazil, that his side hasn’t conceded all tournament and have actually kept 22 clean sheets in their past 26 matches.

As for Brazil, who settled for a point and top spot in Group G last night, they don’t appear to have hit top gear just yet, but they’ll fancy their chances of beating their next opponents Chile in the Round of 16 (after easily accounting for La Roja twice in qualifying).

Both Spain and Brazil didn’t overly impress on last night’s evidence, but they’ll still be regarded as favourites to get through their sections of the draw and into the semi-finals.

The in-vogue World Cup favourites Argentina will need to navigate a tricky section including Mexico, Germany and England, while there’s a curious section of the draw which will see one of South Korea, Uruguay, USA or Ghana reach the semi-finals (and no doubt leave Socceroos fans with some more ‘what-ifs’).

And while it’s always difficult to tell what will happen at this stage, as we saw in Korea/Japan 2002, a World Cup away from Europe or South America can throw up a few surprises.

So given some of the results we’ve already seen in South Africa, who wouldn’t be expecting another upset or two. Let’s hope the unpredictability in South Africa continues.

Full World Cup second round match-ups (times AEST):

June 27:

At Port Elizabeth –

Uruguay v South Korea 0000

At Rustenburg –

United States v Ghana 0430

June 28:

At Bloemfontein –

Germany v England 0000

At Johannesburg (Soccer City) –

Argentina v Mexico 0430

June 29:

At Durban –

Netherlands v Slovakia 0000

At Johannesburg (Ellis Park) –

Brazil v Chile 0430

June 30:

At Pretoria –

Paraguay v Japan 0000

At Cape Town –

Spain v Portugal 0430

Note: Drawn matches go to extra time and penalty shoot-out if necessary