Germany World Cup 2006 Group analysis

Group A : Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
Germany as the hosting nation is one of the favorites to win the tournament. Therefore, they should have no problem in topping group A. The second place would either be won by Poland or Ecuador. Poland however would have a brighter chance to qualify from the group as Ecuador could only produce results at home. They are quite weak away from home and I could not see their chances of beating Poland. They might struggle against Costa Rica as well.

Group B : England, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Sweden
Trinidad and Tobago is the weakest team in the group and would not pose any threat to the other teams. England and Sweden might be the one who qualify considering the team strength and depth. England has all the world class players in their squad with particularly Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry in their best form. Sweden is also another black horse who could produce something in the tournament. Their strike force looks convincing with the partnership of Ibrahamovic and Larsson. The match between England and Sweden is the top match of this group. Whichever side that wins could avoid Germany in the next round (assuming Germany finish top of Group A). There are lots of reasons that make this match most anticipated - England’s Manager is a Swedish, England has not beaten Sweden for years and whether Rooney would be available for this match.

Group C : Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia and Montenegro, Holland
Group C is the group of death in the tournament. Holland and Argentina are both unlucky to be drawn in this group. Argentina, particularly must be cursing their luck to be drawn in the group of death for two consecutive world cup. They were in Group F in World Cup 2002 together with England, Sweden and Nigeria and were sent home after the group stages. Ivory Coast is making their world cup debut and will definitely try to produce something to make their nation proud. Serbia and Montenegro has the best defence in the European World Cup Qualifying round and they have a dynamic team. Therefore it is quite hard to predict which two teams would make it to the next round, however I would go for Holland and Ivory Coast. If the world cup tradition continues, there would be a debut team which will make a successful campaign(like 1998 Croatia and 2002 Senegal). This year, Ivory Coast might be the team to be watched.

Group D : Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
Portugal, as one of the favorites might have the upper hand to qualify from the group. However, Mexico and Angola would pose some problems to the European Runner up. Mexico has shown the world what they are capable of during the Confederations cup. Angola though making its world cup debut should not be underestimated as they have considerably talents in their squad. Iran is the weakest in Group D and would be more than happy if they could snatch a victory from three of their matches.

Group E : Italy, Ghana, USA, Czech
Italy is having a difficult time with the bribery happening in Serie A. Things couldn’t get worst when the media reported that there is a rift among the players in the Italian Camp to secure a starting line-up in the Italy squad. After failing to qualify for the world cup for some time, Czech is trying to give their last and probably best shot as most of their players are almost at the end of their careers. Ghana could make something out of this group provided they put up a classy performance. If nothing goes wrong, we would still watch players like totti and Nedved playing some tricks in the knock-out stage.

Group F : Brasil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
Brasil no doubt is the top favorite to win the tournament. To finish top of the group is definitely not a problem for Brasil. Croatia and Australia are both an average team. Croatia football squad had definitely dropped in standard since the retirement of most of their key players after 1998 world cup. Australia has some good players like Harry Kewell, Viduka and Cahill. However football is a team game and they would definitely struggle in the group. Japan is one of the best team in Asia but yet to produce results in the world cup. This time round, it might be their turn, after South Korea makes it to the semis in 2002.

Group G : France, Switzerland, South Korea, Togo
France is definitely lucky to be drawn into a relatively easy group. There wouldn’t be much problem for them to top the group. Whereas all other three team has an equal chance to qualify. However, if South Korea continues to play like the last world cup, there would be few teams that could stop them. I will put faith in South Korea to qualify together with France.

Group H : Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is the weakest team in the group, perhaps they are the weakest team in this tournament. I bet many could still remember the 2002 world cup where Germany Hammered Saudi Arabia 8-0. Four years passed and I do not see any obvious improvement in this Middle-East squad. Spain could qualify easily if their key players like Xabi Alonso, Puyol, Vincente and Reyes produce what they have achieved at club level. Ukraine’s world cup campaign looks promising by snatching a draw against Italy in the friendlies without their most influential player – Andriy Shevchenko. I believe Ukraine and Spain will both make it to the next round.