2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa - - Teams in Groups A-H and Group-wise Brief Analysis

The 2010 FIFA World Cup to be played in South Africa is only a few short months away now and as the domestic leagues around the world come to a conclusion the anticipation for the start of the World Cup will begin to grow. The draw for the group stages of the tournament took place in early December 2009 and at a star studded event in South Africa the eight groups of four were drawn. These are as follows.

Group A - South Africa, Uruguay, Mexico, France

With South Africa being the host nation it would be good to see them doing well in the tournament. Host nations traditionally have a good tournament and I can see South Africa progressing from this group although not making much of an impression after that. France is the other team I see progressing from this group. They have a good World Cup record in recent years having won the 1998 tournament and been runners up in 2006. Uruguay and Mexico have relatively good sides although I don’t think either of these teams will progress to the knock out stages.

Group B - Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece

Argentina is a former World Cup winning nation and their most famous player, Diego Maradona is now their manager. This provides him with the opportunity to win the tournament as both player and manager. However Argentina struggled during their qualifying campaign and it remains to be seen whether Maradona can manage the team to success. They should be strong enough to qualify from this group though. Nigeria has a decent team at present and they qualified in dramatic style with a goal in the last 10 minutes of their final game clinching them a spot in the finals. I think they will qualify alongside Argentina. Korea Republic has a good record in the World Cup and made it all the way to the semi-finals when they co-hosted the tournament in 2002. I don’t think they will repeat this and see them losing out along with Greece in the group stages.

Group C - England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia

England had an excellent qualifying campaign when they lost only one of their 10 games played. They are one of the top teams in Europe at present and will consider that they have a chance of going all the way in 2010. They should comfortably qualify from this group. They should be joined by Slovenia who has a strong team and had a close fought victory over Russia in a play off game to reach the finals. USA has a decent record in qualifying for the World Cup with 2010 being their sixth finals in a row. However I see them missing out in this group along with Algeria.

Group D - Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana
Germany always seem to do well in World Cup tournaments and 2010 will probably be no different. They have won the trophy on three occasions as well as being runners up on four occasions. They should be too strong for the other teams in this group. I see them being joined in the knock out stages by Australia who comfortably won their qualifying group and have a decent squad of players. Serbia also has a relatively good side although I see them missing out in this group alongside Ghana.

Group E - Holland, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Holland have never won the World Cup although have come close on a couple of occasions when they reached the final in 1974 and 1978. Although they were not in a strong qualifying group they did win all their games and will go into the tournament in confident mood. I see them progressing from this group. Denmark won their qualifying group also and has a relatively good team. However I do not see them progressing to the knock out stages and would expect Japan to be the team that will qualify alongside Holland. Cameroon has done well in past World Cups although their present team is not as strong as in previous years and I would not expect them to repeat this in 2010.

Group F - Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Italy has won four World Cup titles and are second only to Brazil in terms of success. They are the reigning champions and will want to put up a good defense of their title. They should qualify from this group. Paraguay has a strong team and they finished the South America qualifying group only 1 point behind Brazil which shows how good they are. They should qualify alongside Italy with Slovakia and New Zealand being the teams to miss out.

Group G – Brazil, Korea DPR, Ivory Coast, Portugal

This is the group of death for the 2010 World Cup and three of the teams will consider they have a great chance of having a good World Cup run. Brazil is the most successful team in World Cup history having won the trophy five times and they are one of the best teams in the world at present. I see them progressing from the group. Ivory Coast have some great players in their team including Didier Drogba of Chelsea and they are probably the African nation with the best chance of doing well in the tournament. I see them qualifying alongside Brazil. Portugal has one of the best players in the world playing for them in Cristiano Ronaldo and they made it all the way to the semi finals in 2006. They will be looking to better this in 2010 but I see them being the team that will miss out from group of death. The last time Korea DPR qualified for the World Cup in 1966 they created one of the biggest shocks in its history when they defeated Italy 1-0. However I do not see them repeating their giant killing feats in 2010 and they will probably end up bottom of this table.

Group H – Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

Spain is one of the top international sides in the world at present and they went through their qualifying campaign unbeaten. They have never won a World Cup trophy in their history although 2010 may present them with their best chance of doing so. They should qualify from the group. Chile should be the team to join them. They had their best qualifying campaign ever finishing runners up to Brazil in the South America qualifying group and only one point behind them. They have a young attacking team which scores lots of goals and this should be enough for them to progress from the group. Switzerland topped their group in qualifying although I don’t think they will be strong enough in this group and Honduras are the rank outsiders.