If Uruguay makes it out of the group stages (thats the real group of death) which i think it probably will, they stand a pretty good chance of making it to the finals. I would be pretty upset if the Spanish won, dont like them at all.
I would definitely have to disagree with Uruguay being in the group of death. I personally feel that both Germany and Portugal are better than England and Italy by a large degree. And then adding the US and Ghana, it is honestly a indescribable group.
Uruguay are an extremely good team, and showed well in the last World Cup, but I don't see them winning it. Am I remembering correctly that they were the team that used the hand ball to advance? I don't really see that as good sportsmanship but I supposed it worked for you guys at the time.
As for Spain, I have a tough time backing them. Although they are European, I just don't see my fandom going that way any time soon. They obviously have an unreal shot at winning it. Their match against the Netherlands should be an interesting one to say the least.
Well the group of death to me consists of excellent teams that are on a relatively even level, its pretty open out there for group D, if i had to pick 2 for group D it would be italy and uruguay, england is just.. disappointing. the thing about the other groups is that you can guess whos going to go through, group D is more uncertain hence group of death.
Don't let the FIFA rankings fool you. Although im from England and a supporter of England, USA have done much better than them in recent years. Also, ever since Ghana have made it to big stage (as well as Ivory Coast) they perform to the highest degree. That's why I think group G is much tougher. Portugal have good and bad days and sometimes solely rely on just Ronaldo, so there's that element that Ghana and USA can finish 2nd in that group. I've seen bigger shocks (Greece winning euros, anyone? Lol)
England have come into this tournament as underdogs.
I have to agree with Nurul. I feel that the US team can actually do better in the tournament than England. Had USA gotten an easier group, they would have gone further. Ghana too. They were robbed by Uruguay last year and had a very respectable showing.
Italy doesn't have the team they have had the past couple of years and are missing a few pieces. I would say that Group D is definitely the 2nd toughest but wouldn't pass out Group G. I attached a picture showing their national rankings averaged per group and it agrees with that I am saying.
Who do you think is gonna qualify past the group stages ?
Group A : Brazil, Mexico
Group B: Spain, Holland
Group C: Japan, Ivory Coast??
Group D: Uruguay, Italy
Group E: France, Swiss
Group F: Argentina, Nigeria
Group G: Germany, Portugal
Group H: Belgium, Korea/Russia??
I would say the round of 16 will consist of Brazil vs Netherlands, Spain vs Mexico, Ivory Coast vs England, Japan vs Uruguay, France vs Nigeria, Argentina vs Switzerland, Germany vs South Korea, USA vs Belgium.
Winners of that will be Brazil, Spain, England, Uruguay, France, Argentina, Germany, USA.