Following on from the first instalment where I took a look through Groups A-D for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, I will now do the same with the remaining groups before mapping out the final stages.
GROUP E – SWITZERLAND, ECUADOR, FRANCE, HONDURAS
To see Switzerland as one of the seeded teams for the World Cup draw may have surprised some casual observers but they are reaping the rewards of investing in youth football and nurturing these young talents. Many of the squad that finished as runners up at the Under 21 European Championships in 2011 will be heading to Brazil next summer. With FC Basle beginning to make an impression at Champions League level and many of their other star players performing in the top European leagues, the future is looking bright for the Swiss after qualifying undefeated from an admittedly weak qualifying group. Ecuador will not be easy opponents to brush aside and should have more about them than Honduras, but without the huge advantage of the altitude of Quito (where each of their 7 wins during the qualifying campaign came) they could just fall short of qualification. Their match against the Swiss will be crucial. France left it late to qualify thanks to a 3-0 win in the second leg of their qualification play off with the Ukraine following a 2-0 loss in the first leg, so it was only fitting that they were handed a nice group at the Finals themselves! Blessed with star quality and match-winners, if they turn up with the right mentality and attitude, they can make their presence felt. Franck Ribery is as good as anyone in the world on his day and the French will be looking to him to lead the way. Honduras, with a smattering of players who have graced the Premier League to some degree or another will be facing an uphill challenge in a group that they wouldn’t have been too disheartened about being drawn into. Goals will be a problem however and I see nothing longer than a 3 match stay in Brazil.
Qualification:
1st: France
2nd: Switzerland
GROUP F – ARGENTINA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, IRAN, NIGERIA
Argentina duly finished atop the South American qualifying group, losing just 2 out of 16 matches along the way, the confidence will be high in the Argentine camp, and even more-so following the draw. Blessed with an array of attacking talent that any country in the world would envy, they will fancy their chances to qualify with maximum points from a group that could’ve been more threatening. Playing on their home continent will be another boost, but one that they could’ve qualified without. This could well be the tournament that puts Lionel Messi up alongside the all-time greats in the game, doing away with the caveat that he doesn’t always perform as well for his country as he does for Barcelona. The unenviable task of thwarting Messi and co at the group stage goes firstly to Bosnia-Herzegovina and the dual strike threat of Vedad Ibisevic and Edin Dzeko will have to be at their best for them to progress beyond the group stage. Asmir Begovic is a class act in goal and he will need to perform out of his skin if they are to get anything out of Argentine, though picking up points against the remainder of the group will be their best hope. Miralem Pjanic of Roma is a highly technical player who will need to pull the strings and open up things for the attackers ahead of him. Iran will have the most on their plate in this group and anything other than finishing fourth must be viewed as a success and a goal at the finals may be all they have to cheer about. Making up the group are Nigeria, who are not quite the force of old but can still cause trouble to many when on their game. With their main strength being in attack and in wide areas, the match with Bosnia-Herzegovina will decide who accompanies Argentina into the second round. If goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama can transfer his form at the start of this season’s Ligue 1 campaign with Lille to Brazil, they may be in business.
Qualification:
1st: Argentina
2nd: Bosnia-Herzegovina
GROUP G – GERMANY, PORTUGAL, GHANA, USA
Imperious in the qualifying campaign and heavily-stocked with star quality throughout the squad, Germany will be on a lot of people’s minds when they come to think about who to back to lift the gleaming trophy next July. With just 2 points dropped during qualification in an inexplicable 4-4 draw at home to Sweden (Germany led 4-0 until the 62nd minute), confidence will be high for the 3rd placed team at the 2010 finals. This is by no means an easy group and Germany will need to perform as well in defence as they surely will in attack if they wish to go all the way. After winning the battle of the ego’s against Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden in the qualification play off, Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal will need to be at their best in Brazil. The supporting cast need to up their game if they are to make any real impact next summer, as they laboured slightly during qualification with draws both home and away to Israel and unbelievably at home to Northern Ireland highlighting their infuriating inconsistency. Impressive in a weak African qualifying group, the Black Stars of Africa, Ghana will need their star players to turn up in the mood to impress next summer. With a good helping of Ghanaians representing some of the biggest clubs around, taking as many points as possible from Portugal and the USA will be key to their hopes of progression. The USA boasted a 100% home record, conceding just twice during the final stage of qualifying but were a little brittle on the road, leading me to question whether they have enough strength in depth and all-round quality to advance from what is, Germany aside, a very closely matched group. Scoring goals at the finals will not come as easy to the squad as it did to their manager, Jurgen Klinsmann during his playing days.
Qualification:
1st: Germany
2nd: Portugal
GROUP H – BELGIUM, ALGERIA, RUSSIA, SOUTH KOREA
Belgium, the current buzz-team of Europe, have been blessed with a generation of extremely talented players in all positions who have the chance to put themselves right at the fore of international football over the next few tournaments. Young and hungry and in no way found wanting for skill and technical ability, they have all the components within the squad to make a serious impression. Draws during qualification at home to Croatia and Wales were the only points they dropped but coupled with a few indifferent results in recent friendly matches, the doubt is there whether they are ready to take the world on just yet. I fear it may be a tournament or two too soon to be collecting on those ante-post Belgium bets. After winning 5 from 6 during the qualifying campaign and seeing off Burkina Faso in a tight play off on away goals, Algeria will be leaning heavily on the young talents of Saphir Taider and Ishak Belfodil of Inter Milan and Valencia’s Sofiane Feghouli. Not so young, strong or talented in defence, it may well be a short stay in Brazil. With a 100% home record during qualifying but a worrying tendency to struggle on their travels, Russia will need to hit the ground running next summer. Winnable matches against Algeria and South Korea sandwich the big game against Belgium and will be targeted as their best hopes of progression. Exciting youngsters Alan Dzagoev and Aleksandr Kokorin will need to be at their very best, but if they are, they have enough of a supporting cast to cause trouble within the group at least. South Korea round out the group and are another who excelled at home during the qualifying campaign, yet made hard work of it on their travels. With the quality of opposition a rung or two up the ladder from those faced in the Asian groups, Bayer Leverkusen’s exciting attacking talent Heung-Min Son will need to provide the spark, but unfortunately, I don’t see them igniting come next summer.
Qualification:
1st: Belgium
2nd: Russia
So there you have it, my take on who will be celebrating and who will be joining the departures queue at the end of the group stages come next summer.
Please check back over the next few days where I will proceed to map out the second round and beyond, right up to the World Cup Final itself from Rio de Janeiro on July 13th.
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