Last week, I looked at the first four World Cup groups, including the Brazilian hosts, one of the most dominant teams of all time—Spain—and a group with Italy, Uruguay and England that could go any way.
The rest of the field is filled with as many contenders, questions and storylines as Groups A-D.
Without looking at the qualifying process, some casual fans might see France and Switzerland in the same group and assume France dominated on its way to being seeded first and the Swiss found a way to scrape through.
Now that both teams have plane tickets booked to Brazil, it does not matter that their qualifying fates were reversed from common thought.
France certainly has the names to make it through to the knock-out rounds.
Ballon d’Or finalist Franck Ribéry and Real Madrid frontman Karim Benzema will likely get most of the attention, but France has a few talented players flying under the radar.
First, the Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has proven to be a lights-out shot stopper. Unfortunately, his season at Spurs has seen some very ugly games.
If the old Lloris comes back, it could prove very tough to get the ball in the back of the French net, especially if 20-year-old rising star Raphaël Varane can hold down the fort in the center of France’s defense.
Paul Pogba, another French 20-year-old, is one of my favorite players to watch. He is cruising with the Italian team Juventus on its way to a second-straight scudetto atop Serie A and appears to have limitless range to score. Look him up.
It is crucial to remember how the French blew up at the last World Cup and how they came very close to not qualifying this year. They are a wild card to succeed past the first knockout stage at best.
Argentina, who I see having as clear a path to the championship as anyone, should breeze through Group F. Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Ángel di María and Gonzalo Higuaín—that is all.
Bosnia-Herzegovina will pose more of a threat than people are expecting, but not enough to trouble the Argentines. Having a proven goal scorer in Edin Džeko and goalkeeper in Asmir Begovic can keep hopes alive for any team.
With ambitions higher than they have been in a long time, last Dec. 6 saw a lot of United States soccer fans sulk down in their seats. Being drawn into a group with Germany, Portugal and Ghana will do that.
The only reason the United States still has any hope of making it to the second round is because they have yet to play the games. It may sound obvious, but there is a reason they play the game.
Other than that sliver of hope, the United States has not continued its run from last winter, spring and summer into 2014.
Players like Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley had everyone gleaming after their transfers to Tottenham, Sunderland and Roma, respectively, over the past few years.
Very poor performances from each of the players have cultivated into returns to Major League Soccer for Dempsey and Bradley and a trip to the bench for Altidore.
The bad form is not exactly what we thought would happen and not what anyone wants looking ahead to this summer.
Germany is Germany. Portugal has the most complete player on the planet. Ghana has knocked the U.S. out of two straight World Cups.
It would take considerable more momentum for the Americans to have positive outlooks going to Brazil.
Belgium has gone from the team no one was talking about to the team everyone is talking about.
That being said, they are loaded. Eden Hazard is one of the best players in the world on the flanks.
Vincent Kompany is as solid as a defender as any in Europe. Thibaut Courtois will surely be one of the world’s top three goalkeepers in six to nine years.
There are still many questions remaining three months before the World Cup. Some will get answered before, some will be answered during and some questions surrounding player form, team chemistry or coaching decisions will stay unanswered.
What questions do you have about the World Cup? Send Jonah long, rambling emails about how excited and ready you are for June to show up by emailing jonah.beleckis@dailycardinal.com.
