2014 FIFA World Cup Preview: Group Deathmatches

[D H]

The World Cup is less than three weeks away.

The brackets were set long ago. There are three groups of death.

• Group B (Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia). Total FIFA ranking points: 4009. Difference between second and third ranked teams (Chile and Netherlands): 70.
  Poor Australia. They have the toughest draw of all nations. Poor Chile and Netherlands. Which of those two will eke their way out of this group is anyone's call. The Spain v Netherlands rematch on the second day of the competition is the #1 game to watch in the group play.
• Group D (Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy). Total FIFA ranking points: 4087. Difference between second and third ranked teams (Italy and England): 72.
  This group comes in second to group A in terms of the smallest delta between the second and third ranked teams.
• Group G (United States, Germany, Portugal, Ghana). Total FIFA ranking points: 4313. Difference between second and third ranked teams (Portugal and US): 230.
  This group far outranks all others in terms of total strength. The US have their work cut out for them. That Donovan did not make the final 23 makes it that much tougher.

Who are you cheering for? What are your must-watch games?We should have a PF Futbol League like we did in the last two World Cups. Setting it up early means we can decide on the rules well in advance. Ideas? Here's a link to the PF discussion on World Cup 2010: [thread]409479[/thread].
The 2014 Futbol League has started! See here for more information: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=756611

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I love the world cup. Favorite competition. Obviously I'm rooting for USA! Very strange to hear Donovan didn't make the roster cut yesterday, but it should be fun anyway. I'll be watching as many games as I can!

 

[Dembadon]

I can't wait! It's the only televised competitive event we follow besides the Olympics.

I'll be rooting for the US, but my ancestry originates in Spain and Portugal, so I'll be cheering for them as well.

D H, I think a PF Futbol League is a great idea and adds to the experience. If I had more time, I'd throw together a mySQL database with a PHP frontend that would allow us to track games, outcomes, and member predictions. I'm taking two summer courses and working 40 hours, so I don't think I can make that happen. Would anyone else be able to do that? If not, maybe a Google Spreadsheet to help keep track of everything so we don't have a thread mixed with league predictions and game discussion.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Snoop Dogg gives USMNT some words :)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...t-world-cup-wishes-to-team-usas-clint-dempsey

 

[D H]

Bring it home? We are in *the* group of death (from a US perspective). It's hard to imagine US having a worse draw than they do have, facing the #2 and #3 teams in group play.

Note: Some other countries don't look upon group G as a group of death. A group of death has to have at least three teams that count, and to many, the US still doesn't count when it comes to football. Group B is the group of death to the Chileans and the Dutch, while it's group D to the Italians and British.

 

[Monique]

Yeah, I don't see the Dutch passing the first group phase. We have a team of young players, I'm curious to see how they'll stand their ground.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Stephen Hawking unveils formulae for England World Cup success
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/28/stephen-hawking-formulae-england-world-cup-success

 

[Monique]

The English team is now training with three layers of clothing, let's see if that will help them.

 

[Sean AA]

I'm rooting for Germany; tired of seeing them finish third. Klose is so close to breaking the goal scoring record! I just hope that Sami Khedira is healthy to play.

 

[D H]

I'm obviously not rooting for Germany. I'm hoping for a US upset. Without Donovan.A Brazil vs Argentina finals looks like a real possibility. That would be interesting.

 

[Sean AA]

I would like to see the US go through, but that would take a miracle, and then they would mostly likely get knocked out in the first knockout round.

My prediction:
Group A: Brazil and Mexico
Group B: Spain and Chile
Group C: Greece and Colombia
Group D: Italy and Uruguay
Group E: Switzerland and France
Group F: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Argentina
Group G: Germany and Portugal
Group H: Belgium and Russia

 

[D H]

Except for the order within a couple of groups, that's a rather boring prediction, Sean. That's exactly what the FIFA rankings would predict. There's always one or two teams that are way overrated (*cough* Mexico), and there are always two to four underdogs that make it into the round of sixteen.

But ... Argentina second to Bosnia, Columbia second to Greece, Uruguay second to Italy? Each of those South American teams is ranked higher than their European counterparts, and to top it off, South American countries traditionally do extremely well when the World Cup is in South America.

My predictions:
Group A: Brazil and Croatia (Something bad happened to Mexico with CONCACAF, and they haven't gotten over it.)
Group B: Spain and Chile
Group C: Columbia and Greece
Group D: Uruguay and England (I need some underdogs. England is my first,)
Group E: Switzerland and Ecuador (Ecuador is my second,)
Group F: Argentina and Bosnia/Herzegovina
Group G: Germany and USA (and USA is my third.)
Group H: Belgium and Russia

 

[Sean AA]

There is no order within each group, just listing.
Also, I think it would be interesting and likely to see Japan make it through the group stages if Falcao does not seem healthy to play.

 

[D H]

Logger: I moved your post to this thread: [thread]756611[/thread].

There's no reason to have two threads open on the same topic. I'm closing this one.To all others who want to participate in PF Futbol League 2014, please visit the thread cited above. You can predict outcomes of individual matches and of the final match. Points will be awarded for skill in predicting each day's competitions and a running tally will be kept.

The winner gets ... hmmm ... I was the winner of the 2010 competition. My reward: pride in being a futbol nerd.