What an exciting past few weeks it’s been for football fans, culminating with the recent draw for the group phase of next year’s big event in Rio de Janeiro.
We have some very interesting match-ups on the horizon, and some groups already seem to be full of great storylines with six months still to go before the first match kicks off.
With so many teams qualifying from Europe, FIFA allows only a maximum of two UEFA countries to be in each group, which caused more than a fair amount of confusion among many in the days and weeks leading up to the draw.
Who made out the best? And who got the short end of the stick? Let’s take a look at how some of the 13 European clubs are looking after the draw.
Group G: Group of Death
As there always seems to be, a group of death formed clearly during the draw. Maybe it’s due to FIFA’s ridiculous rules for geographically selecting teams, or maybe the whole thing is rigged after all – regardless every cup seems to get a group that is absolutely loaded from top to bottom.
It is good for the headlines, not so good for the two great teams who drew the short end of the stick.
This year’s group of death is easily Group G with Germany, Portugal, USA and Ghana. Yikes. No one wants any piece of Group G.
Germany has to be the favourite here, but who takes the group’s second spot in the quarter finals?
Portugal made an incredible late push just to make the cup – needing to knock out Zlatan Ibrahimovic in an epic playoff set where Cristiano Ronaldo showed that he just might be the top player in the world right now.
Unfortunately for Portugal, they are a basically a one-man team which gets frustrated against solid opposition.
The USA and Ghana could both be headaches for Ronaldo and company. This is the best team the Americans will be sending to a World Cup in decades, and Ghana is a feisty and talented team that might not be getting quite the respect they deserve.
Any true fan of world football will be in for a treat with Group G next summer.
Group D: Full of history
Group D is another set creating big headlines already. Why? Somehow FIFA threw in three countries that have already won world championships (England, Uruguay and Italy) into one group.
England and Italy might not be at the strength they were at a decade ago, but to say that they don’t have the talent to make it out of the group phase would be foolish.
Uruguay is overshadowed by fellow South American powerhouses Brazil and Argentina, yet Edinson Cavani and Luis Suárez provide enough firepower to compete with any world football force when they are in form.
This is an exciting group, with three teams that believe they can win it all who will be putting on a show in front of the world next June (sorry, Costa Rica).
Group B: Set for a rematch
Speaking of a show, how exciting is Group B looking with a rematch of 2010’s finals already booked between Spain and the Netherlands?
Chile and Australia are strong teams and might be able to steal a win against the Dutch, but this is still Spain’s tournament to lose and they are just about a lock to advance deep into the tournament.
Don’t sleep on Group E
Finally, let’s take a look at Group E. Many consider this to be the weakest group in the field – and it probably is – with Switzerland, Honduras, France and Ecuador set to compete.
However, it is easy to overlook Switzerland here. They may be the weakest seeded team, but don’t let their lack of household names fool you – this team made it to #8 in the world for a reason.
Like Portugal, France came up huge in November’s do-or-die playoffs and is in good shape to advance through this group and maybe even win it with a little luck.
This is shaping up to be another incredible cup. There are bound to be many surprises once the games actually start – until then, we can only speculate and enjoy the suspense as it builds up towards next summer.
Brian
Guest
If you break down the draw you would expect Brazil, Spain, Germany & Argentina to be the 4 that progress to the semis. The teams most likely to upset that are Netherlands, Italy, Colombia & Chile. They are all in Groups A-D so in my opinion Germany and Argentina are almost guaranteed semi-finalists. Spain hard to know, the recent record of winners is not good 2010 Italy group stage 2006 Brazil Quarters 2002 France group stage
Michael Bovell
Roar Rookie
Agree here... to me a group of death is any group with 3 teams would have been expected to make the last 16 with a good chance of making the quarter finals. I wouldn't *expect* Ghana to make the last 16, and the US and Portugal are both teams I wouldn't highly fancy as quarter finalists. Spain, Netherlands and Chile on the other hand are all teams you might've picked as quarter finalists before the draw was made (2 were the finalists last time around, while Chile on its home continent and with a strong team were being tipped very highly). Group D with England, Uruguay and Italy is a tough group based on their historic records but the England and Uruguay teams of today just aren't really strong enough to demand making the quarter finals, so I rate this the third toughest group.
Nathan Cirson
Roar Pro
Nice analysis. Group D is a real tough group as well. The fact that either Italy, England or Uruguay won't be getting out of the group stage is surely bigger news than if USA or Ghana didn't make it.