The World Cup tends to be full of shocks. Like France making the final at the 2006 World Cup. Or France’s mutiny against their manager in 2010. And like France’s shocking defence of the World Cup in 2002. Anyway, that’s enough ripping on the French.
Football’s most prestigious tournament will also contain some shock exits at the group stage. Here are five World Cup shock exits that could happen before the knockout round.
GROUP B: CHILE PIP NETHERLANDS TO SECOND PLACE
Assuming that Spain win all of their games, or at least get seven points, and that Australia are going to finish with nothing, Chile vs Netherlands will be the game to watch from this group. And the best part is that match is happening in the last round of matches.
Chile plays a kamikaze-type of football which could either be devastating or suicidal, exemplified by their unorothodox 3-3-1-3 formation. They could do tremendous damage to a weak Netherlands defence, especially with the likes of Sanchez and Vidal in their squad.
GROUP C: JAPAN BEAT IVORY COAST AND GREECE TO LAST 16
Group C is what I consider to be the “group of average death.” Admittedly it is a strange title to label a group, but neither of the four sides in this group have a good chance of winning the World Cup. Colombia, however, should top the group, even without Falcao in their ranks.
Which leaves the other three teams in the group scrambling for second place. Many pundits believe that Cote d’Ivoire’s time is now considering their golden generation is coming to an end. And that’s why I think they will fail to qualify (plus they have an awful defence). Greece are also a considerably older squad that is very good defensively but they are not very creative—only 37 year old Karagounis has any sense of real creativity.
Japan have reached the last 16 twice in World Cup history—in 2002 and 2010. The best team in Asia are brilliant going forward and can be lethal as well as entertaining. (Watch their game against Italy in the Confederations Cup last year for proof). They can be weak defensively, but their quick passing, pressing and possession football will mean they will do very well.
GROUP D: BYE BYE URUGUAY
This group is a three way dance between Italy, England and Uruguay to avoid the humiliation of not progressing to the next round. England have an impressive amount of attacking talent in their midfield and a solid back four—the latter saw them qualify with relative ease. Italy, may have some problems with strikers, but they have a great defence and midfield, which means they should top the group.
Uruguay are the ugly duckling of the three. Their two frontmen of Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani cover up the fact that their team are old and not very good—centreback Diego Godin is an obvious exception. Add to the fact that they struggled to qualify for this World Cup, the Copa America champions are heading for an early exit. Playing in their home continent holds no advantage here.
GROUP E: AU REVOIR FRANCE
Did I say I would stop mocking France? I lied.
In fairness to the French, they have a great opportunity to reach the quarter-finals of this tournament. Manager Didier Deschamps also knows what makes a good French side. After all he won the World Cup as a squad member in 1998. He’s also got rid of players that could cause unrest amongst the team; leaving Manchester City’s Samir Nasri might be a great decision.
Deschamps must not underestimate the troubles that Switzerland and Ecuador could provide. The Swiss have a surprisingly good squad—Drmic, Behrami, Shaqiri, Inler, Lichsteiner, Rodriguez are a few key names. Ecuador are playing in South America and that could be very useful in getting one over their opposition—and they have also started getting results on foreign soil again, a 1-1 draw against Netherlands highlights that they are improving.
GROUP G: USA FINISHES SECOND. BEATS PORTUGAL IN PROCESS.
Nothing can be taken for granted in the real “group of death” in this World Cup. Ghana cannot be underestimated and the Germans are hotly tipped to reach the semi-final stages for the third time in a row.
But one cannot be blamed for having a feeling that the USA could reach the knockout stages for the third time in four World Cup tournaments. The US are notorious for being frustrating opponents and could easily leave the group unbeaten if they perform to their best—it was only twelve months ago that the US beat Germany 4-3 in a friendly.
Portugal are not the same side as they used to be. While they were impressive at the European Championships in 2012, their qualifying campaign was dismal and overly-reliant on the heroics of captain Cristiano Ronaldo. Without the best player in the world (arguably), the Portugese would have faltered to Northern Ireland in qualifying… yes, Northern Ireland.
The next edition of Hand of Brod will focus on under the radar players heading into the World Cup.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on twitter – @BrodSutherland. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at r/football.
For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at sports injury alert.
Main Photo:
