FIFA World Cup 2014 : Analysing the Groups

Group E: Switzerland, France, Honduras, Ecuador

France are one lucky team. Having had to come from behind to beat the plucky Ukrainians to even get here, they now find themselves with perhaps the best draw among the traditional favourites. Switzerland, Honduras and Ecuador should not put up much of a fight against the French, but then again, this is the French we are talking about, brilliant one moment and shockingly inept the next. The draw perhaps had something to do with the Swiss inexplicably being a seeded team in the draw, and they would probably struggle to live up to their seeding, despite having topped their group in qualification.

Ecuador will know the conditions better than anyone in this group, and that could play a part, with Honduras likely to make up the numbers in what is their second straight appearance at the World Cup.

Prediction - Group winner: France(if they manage to not give up midway through the group stages). Group runner-up: Ecuador

Group F: Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nigeria, Iran

Messi and his band of merry men will be happy with their draw in what is a huge opportunity for them to capture their third world crown. The Argentinians find themselves in what should be a very winnable group for them, with Bosnia and Nigeria expected to battle it out for second place.

The Bosnians are making their maiden experience at the World Cup and will be relying heavily on Edin Dzeko to fire if they are to make any headway in the tournament. The Nigerians will benefit from their appearance at the Confederations Cup in Brazil earlier this year which could well prove to be the difference as conditions will play an important role. Iran are appearing on the world stage after having missed out last time and will be keen to make an impression, though unlikely to have any real impact.

Prediction - Group winners: Argentina. Group runner-up: Nigeria(done through a toss of the coin)

Group G: Germany, Portugal, USA, Ghana

The real ‘Group of Death’ in my opinion. Germany will look to finally, and I mean finally, win something internationally after coming close in tournaments for close to a decade now. They will not find it easy though against Portugal, who are not a one-man team, and even if they are, they are a pretty strong one-man team with the world’s joint best player, Cristiano Ronaldo spearheading their challenge in the form of his life.

The USA and Ghana meet yet again after meeting in the previous two editions and will be cursing their luck at the group they have got. Both teams impressed in the last edition but will find it hard to get past their established opponents and get out of this group.

Prediction - Group winners: Germany. Group runner-up: Portugal (or should I say Ronaldo?)

Group H: Belgium, Russia, Algeria, South Korea

If Belgium don’t make an impression at the World Cup, consider it a massive underachievement. If they don’t make it out of the group they have been drawn in, well then it should count as a major failure. The Belgians have a strong and youthful team, and performed exceedingly well in the qualifiers and start as favourites in this group.

The Russians are talented, but will find themselves very out of place in the Brazilian climate. With South Korea not being the team they once were with their powers on the wane, expect the well-conditioned Algerians to cause a potential upset in this group.

Prediction - Group winner: Belgium. Group runner-up: Russia (They will lose against Germany in the second round)

If the groups go according to my predictions, the second-round fixtures will be as follows:

Brazil v NetherlandsSpain v MexicoColombia v ItalyIvory Coast v UruguayFrance v NigeriaEcuador v ArgentinaGermany v RussiaBelgium v Portugal

And the rest, well we shall have to wait to see whether this materializes to predict the rest! Happy viewing!