2014 FIFA World Cup

[DS729]

It may be about 7 months away, but the group draw will be on Friday, and I didn't see one like it. It would be cool to see everyone's predictions some of the favorites are:

Spain (Defending champs, #1 FIFA Ranking)

Germany (3rd place, loads of young talent, #2 FIFA Ranking)

Brazil (Hosts, confederation cup champs, only ranked 10th in the latest FIFA Ranking probably due to a lack of qualifying matches)

Argentina (Still got Messi, #3 in FIFA Rankings)

[TorinK92]

Okay, but since I'm saying these none of them will come true:

Champions: Brazil (only team [besides Spain] to win the world cup but not on home soil)

Runner Up: Italy

Third & Fourth Place: Spain & Belgium

Surprise Dark Horses: Ghana, Japan, & Ecuador

Surprise Group Stage Busts: Mexico, Portugal, Colombia & England

Player of the Tournament: Mario Balotelli / Gianluigi Buffon

[GFB]

The US is about to get screwed in the group draw, I can feel it. Also, Mexico will find themselves in an easier group than the US.

[NEW.ERA]

Discovered this.

And came up with this for groups.

Group A - Group of Death 1

Brazil, Ghana, USA, Greece

Group B - Group of Death 3

Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Italy

Group C - Group of Death 2

Germany, Ecuador, Korea Republic, France

Group D

Spain, Algeria, Honduras, England

Group E

Uruguay, Russia, Iran, Portugal

Group F

Colombia, Nigeria, Japan, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Group G

Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire, Australia, Croatia

Group H

Switzerland, Cameroon, Mexico, Netherlands

[TorinK92]

^I wouldn't necessarily call a group with Chile and Costa Rica the group of death.

[NJTank]

Discovered this.

And came up with this for groups.

Group A - Group of Death 1

Brazil, Ghana, USA, Greece

Group B - Group of Death 3

Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Italy

Group C - Group of Death 2

Germany, Ecuador, Korea Republic, France

Group D

Spain, Algeria, Honduras, England

Group E

Uruguay, Russia, Iran, Portugal

Group F

Colombia, Nigeria, Japan, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Group G

Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire, Australia, Croatia

Group H

Switzerland, Cameroon, Mexico, Netherlands

That would be a nightmare scenario for the USMNT

[DS729]

Discovered this.

And came up with this for groups.

Group A - Group of Death 1

Brazil, Ghana, USA, Greece

Group B - Group of Death 3

Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Italy

Group C - Group of Death 2

Germany, Ecuador, Korea Republic, France

Group D

Spain, Algeria, Honduras, England

Group E

Uruguay, Russia, Iran, Portugal

Group F

Colombia, Nigeria, Japan, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Group G

Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire, Australia, Croatia

Group H

Switzerland, Cameroon, Mexico, Netherlands

That's more like the "screw USMNT" scenario. They'd still have a decent shot, but it would definitely be hard to claim second in there.

^I wouldn't necessarily call a group with Chile and Costa Rica the group of death.

I think he's meaning Chile and Costa Rica are in the group of death, it's not really possible to get a group harder than that with the plot system. Belgium & Italy is a hell of a tough one though. It'll all be easier tomorrow.

[-kj]

I've run through a couple of other simulators for fun, so I figured I'd give the one mentioned above a go. The US's group:

Brazil

Ghana

USA

Netherlands

If that happens, I'm going to go cower in the corner for six months. The only thing that makes it more nightmarish for me is having Italy instead of the Netherlands, just because of the history.

[TorinK92]

I tried it and got USA, Portugal, Cameroon and Uruguay, ouch.

The other group of death might be Germany, Ghana, Honduras and England.

[crashcarson15]

Sounds kind of backwards but I'd be generally cool with Brazil, Ghana, and Greece.

God this is going to suck.

[NEW.ERA]

The one I posted was probably the best scenario for the Dutch too.

This is by far THE strongest World Cup field ever.

[DS729]

I'll post a few draws I got:

1: Switzerland-Cameroon-USA-Greece

2: Belgium-Chile-USA-France

3: Colombia-Ivory Coast-USA-Bosnia-Herzegovina

I figure the US will probably be the 3rd best team in whatever group they get in, it's going to be tough either way. It's alot different from 2010, toughest field I've seen.

[SuperNerdToTheRescue]

Okay, but since I'm saying these none of them will come true:

Champions: Brazil (only team [besides Spain] to win the world cup but not on home soil)

Runner Up: Italy

Third & Fourth Place: Spain & Belgium

Surprise Dark Horses: Ghana, Japan, & Ecuador

Surprise Group Stage Busts: Mexico, Portugal, Colombia & England

Player of the Tournament: Mario Balotelli / Gianluigi Buffon

I don't think it would be surprising to see Mexico be a bust in the group stage.

[crashcarson15]

I mean, yeah, say we were drafting the strongest possible field. How many changes would we be making per confederation?

Africa: Maybe you could make the case for Senegal or Egypt over Algeria? I think you could but you've definitely got the top four teams here. Dropping South Africa from the field in favor of another South American side makes it stronger than 2010.

Asia: Can't say that I'd make any here. Japan and South Korea have been the two best sides here recently, the Aussies were a knockout round team last year, and Iran's definitely the fourth best nation here IMO. Them replacing North Korea adds competitiveness.

Europe: Of course you could probably argue for a couple of changes here but with Belgium and Bosnia-Herzegovina being impressive this qualifying cycle, the only UEFA team I'd say that's in the top 13 that isn't here is Sweden—I'd have them over Greece (who are always pesky as it is). Other than that though, I find it hard to believe we don't have 12 of the top 13 European teams.

North America: I don't think there's any disputing that the USA, Mexico, and Costa Rica are the top three teams in CONCACAF and Honduras has shown that they're starting to be able to hang. I think Honduras is a better fit than New Zealand (NOTE: The way the play-offs were drawn this year meant two additional American sides rather than an additional Asian/Oceanian side) meaning that we've got the four best teams here.

South America: Of course, it doesn't really matter who comes out of here, especially with how their qualifying format is set up, but it's hard to argue that we didn't at least get 5 of the 6 strongest CONMENBOL teams into the field this year. Brazil as hosts, Argentina, and Uruguay would commonly be thought of as the continent's strongest three teams and they're all there. With Falcao and Co. playing well for Colombia, it's hard to argue they aren't in the top five right now as well as Chile who have a good strong side. If I had to make one change here to get the "best possible field," it'd be substituting Ecuador with Paraguay, though Paraguay's disastrous qualifying campaign might say otherwise.

So why is this World Cup going to be so talented (and great)? Paging through the confederations, there are 3 changes I'd make to the 32 team field to form the best possible field. And in the grand scheme of things, Algeria v Egypt/Senegal, Greece v Sweden, and Ecuador v Paraguay aren't all that big of changes to make.

EDIT: To respond a bit to TorinK92's predictions, I think that with the strong field we have this year, there's a short list of teams (read 5 or 6) for whom not getting out of the group stage would be a real "surprise bust:"

- Spain, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina for sure. They're regarded as the 4 best teams here by just about anyone.

- Belgium and Uruguay I'd also put here. Of course, Uruguay were semifinalists in 2010 and have a lot of talent while Belgium's been hyped up very well and not getting out would be a surprise bust I think.

On the surface, you'd also be surprised a bit to see Italy or Holland heading home after just three matches but then again, there's the chance they're drawn together and with Brazil so by the nature of their potential groups, things will be difficult on them. I mean, if you look at the FIFA World Rankings, Côte d'Ivoire, France, and Mexico are all expected not to get out of the group stage. Talk about one hell of a World Cup we're gearing up for.

[dbadefense1990]

The US is about to get screwed in the group draw, I can feel it. Also, Mexico will find themselves in an easier group than the US.

Don't they always find a way? It's like FIFA always sends a message to the USMNT that says, "haha, you silly Yanks humiliated our CONCACAF lovechild in the Hex; now we'll humiliate you in the group draw!"

[DS729]

The US is about to get screwed in the group draw, I can feel it. Also, Mexico will find themselves in an easier group than the US.

Don't they always find a way? It's like FIFA always sends a message to the USMNT that says, "haha, you silly Yanks humiliated our CONCACAF lovechild in the Hex; now we'll humiliate you in the group draw!"

So you call England, Slovenia, and Algeria "getting screwed"?

[lopernv]

Going to steal this template here

Champions: Brazil

Runner Up: Germany

Third and Fourth: Spain, Portugal

Surprise Dark Horses: (one from each pot) Colombia, Ecuador, Japan, Bosnia

Surprise Group Stage Busts: Belgium, Ivory Coast, United States, France

Player of the Tournament: Cristiano Ronaldo

Belgium doing well in qualifiers is one thing but we saw what happened to Netherlands last year...that Belgian team is less experienced. Great squad but

too much hype to live up to.

Would like to see Portugal go further but I don't trust Bento. Hopefully they don't see themselves in a group of death for the third straight tournament and can save it for knockouts.

[NEW.ERA]

It's too early I think to be making predictions, at least in my mind.

But on the surface, Brazil sure does look like favourites to win the whole thing. This tournament is wide open. 10 nations probably have a legit shot at winning this thing, with a handful of dark horses. But as history tells us, the dark horses usually only last until the quarters or semis and get booted in a horribly, sad way (Ghana).

As for my boys. Netherlands can win this thing if they forget 2012 and consider Tim Krul as their number one, also learn how to play as a collective unit. RVP is in that Ronaldo, Messi conversation, he needs to bring that next summer.

[TorinK92]

I have a feeling that if Sepp Blatter just shuts up this will be an enjoyable broadcast.

[HedleyLamarr]

Germany, Ghana, Portugal.

Uh oh.