Fifa World Cup groups, team & standings
We shall give you monthly updates on team rankings by FIFA as well as keep track on managers of teams who made it to the world cup.
The big winners for team rankings include Italy (+11), Germany (+10), Argentina (+6) and England (+5) while the big losers were Mexico (-14) and USA (-11).
Below is the screenshot of the ranking I have prepared:
Part 1: Top 1 – 20
Are you satisfied with the Referees’ performance in the World Cup? Even the best referees like Markus Merks is being criticized on the outcome of Brazil – Australia game wherein free kick total was 25 – 9 in favor of the reigning champions. Help FIFA know who are the best performing and worst performing refs by logging in and casting your vote at Rate the Ref which gives you a way to get back at them and at the same time improve the officiating.
The much awaited FIFA World Cup is fast approaching and good news since Michael Ballack has declared fit to play for the game. Call it miracle or will of determination; this is going to be an exciting time for the host country and for Germany. The beers has flooded the country and with nearly 3 billion people glued to their set, this is the greatest sporting event in the World.
What a time to boost the German pride since I believe Costa Rica is not enough to get this team down its knees. If as if the fat lady has smiled down on Germany; the host country is going to get a much needed opening boost. With Michael Ballack, Lehmann and the Wizardry of Klinsmann intact, more beers is going to flood the game.
Gear Up! Football sports gear suited for you at Sporati.
Player Profile at Soccerati.
[tags]FIFA World Cup, World Cup, FIFA World Cup 2006, Germany, Costa Rica[/tags]
Image from Reuters/AP/Yahoo.
People are praying and wishing Wayne Rooney will make it in time for the FIFA World Cup
I for one would like to see Wayne Rooney because he simply is astounding and a player of his caliber deserve to represent his country in the field and not on casual uniform working as a cheerleader. If Luckott made the history books playing for his country, it is not fair to see Rooney on the bench. Life is not fair and so give us some break and get him there on the field.
Fair enough. His exciting and powerful timely kicks going to the net is needed by a team facing perhaps the strongest Brazil team we have seen in years.
Do you agree? If yes send out your healing message to Wayne Rooney over at Heal Rooney campaign.
C’mon guys, even if you don’t route for England it would be fitting to see your team win or lose against a player like Wayne Rooney. Go and send your healing messages.
More World Cup information (player focused) over at Soccerati.
[tags]FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup 2006, World Cup Germany, Soccer, Football, England World Cup[/tags]
This is a very interesting group that could prove many predictions wrong. Spain is the highest seeded team on this group at number 6, followed by reigning African champions Tunisia at 28th, Saudi Arabia 32nd and Ukraine at 40th but the progress shown by the last three seeded teams put them toe to toe with Spain.
Our gut instincts— Spain
Spain finesse and cohesive team play is going to encounter rough turbulence against Ukraine who is expected to come closest in beating the Spanish team.
The dominating African team is out to give Africa a respectable showing that will benefit their entire nation for 2010 World Cup hosted in their homeland.
Tunisia beating Australia 2-0 in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup has a lot of surprises coming that could eventually beat Spain or Ukraine. Together with Saudi Arabia, all these teams could have “win” columns on them.
The heart of this group relies on Spaniard Raul. His health and leadership could prove too much for other teams.
This group is about redemption and validation of Football status. France 5th, South Korea 29th, Switzerland 36th and Togo 56th will be up against each other to reach the second round. With France trying to avenge their disappointing 2002 showing, and South Korea trying to prove their past performance was no fluke expect a fiery battle up to the last game in this batch.
Our gut instincts— France
France is itching to get back on track after stumbling in the World Cup 2002 now that Zidane is leading the charge once again. Winners of World Cup 1998 with Zidane healthy give this squad more reason to feel confident and optimistic. Backed by Lilian Thuram and Claude Makelele; this have the artillery to get past this group.
South Korea who had an impressive run by reaching the semi-finals in 2002 is out to prove that their World Cup result was more than the power of the home crowd. They have a different environment playing in Europe for this year’s World Cup which could gain them more respect once they dispatch of their rivals. This won’t be an easy battle with France on the way but their fiery approach could prove enough to win.
A win over Switzerland by either France or South Korea is going to be the clinchers in this round but don’t expect this team to think of beating both of them. This is the World Cup after all.
Togo on the other hand will provide the win column for all the other teams. Good luck on Togo.
This could bring in the biggest upset in the tournament in beating Brazil. Yes, this is the group that features the team ranked number 1 in the world. Croatia 20th, Australia 49th and Japan 15th are far behind than Brazil.
Our gut instincts— Brazil
Who could beat Brazil at this level of play? Unless a miraculous performance by any of their three rivals this should be a walk in the park for Brazil. With Ronaldo the greatest striker in the world competing with the South American squad is a giant mountain block toward the coveted prize. Add up today’s greatest player in Ronaldinho plus the rising superstar status of Kaka; a different team on a different level is disguised in the form of Brazil.
Croatia and Australia provide the closest game in this group having Japan as a sleeper that could win against both of them. The Asian team who made it in the last 16 during the 2002 World Cup could have a slim chance if anything remote happens to the Brazil team like having three of their players suspended? Well, that doesn’t seem likely to happen anyway.
Expect a strong finish by Brazil on the first round.
Similar to Group C, this group is a draw of death for Italy, Czech and the United States. For some reason each of these team have drawn the short end of the stick and is pitted against each other. They have the right to be in the second round but only one of them is possible to get there.
Our gut instincts— Czech Republic
Czech Republic has a slight advantage over Italy and is favorites to come of this group through their superb lineup and recent performances. Italy on the other hand may gain confidence along the way as they could pile up a quick win against the lowest seeded Ghana among the four of them.
We should not underestimate Ghana though, Radomir Dujkovic remains to be their fuel and is not about to get pushed that easily. Their qualifying is impressive conceding only four goals in their 12 qualifying matches. Italy has to remain focused, dispatch Ghana and build along the way in the hopes of getting a crack off Czech.
Czech on the other hand needs to do what it does best — Win. They could encounter a resilient team in Unites States who are on a higher level compared to their previous team in World Cup 2002. They now have a mixed talent of experienced and young players working in beautiful music altogether.
This is a predictable grouped with unpredictable surprises sneaking up fast.
This seem to be a strange mix of teams vying to kick out into the next round. We have Mexico as the most experience team with 12 previous appearances, the jinx team in Portugal who have not made it past the first round in the last 40 years, the last ranking team on the tournament — Angola, and an unpredictable but highly dangerous Iran.
Our gut instincts—Mexico
Mexico will remain steady throughout the entire group match given their exposure and experience. They are like the perennial playoff contenders that make it year after year. They may not be able to sweep this round and at the same time may lose a game against Portugal on the virtue of a collapse or lucky upset but would be enough to accomplish their second round expectations.
Portugal is the closest nightmare Mexico has; but in the end, they will be the bridesmaid that has graced the newspapers for so many years now. Luiz Felipe Scolari their Brazilian coach is the only hope Portugal has in making it to the next round.
Angola holding the lowest ranking record in the tournament will not have enough luck to reach the next round. Likewise, Iran, one of the underdogs will rely on Mehdi Mahdavikia being one of key players who played for German club football.
One of the toughest groups in the tournament boasting of teams Argentina ranked 4th and Netherlands 3rd in FIFA world rankings together with defensive specialist Serbia and Montenegro and Ivory Coast who relies on talent and enthusiasm will provide one of the most exciting group competitions in the World Cup.
Our gut instincts—Serbia and Montenegro
Argentina and Netherlands belong to higher rankings compared to Serbia and Montenegro and Ivory Coast; but it’s the suffocating defense of the Serbs that will matter the most in this tightly contested group.
Serbia and Montenegro have demonstrated to the world their impenetrable defense having conceding to one goal in 10 matches. Their defense coupled by the solid play of their Goalie reminds us of Germany and their Oliver Khan led finals appearance. As long as they keep their rivals check they should come away with a goal or two in every match to advance to the next round.
Argentina and Netherlands are expected though to have a solid run to emerge from this group and with Ivory Coast waiting in the wings for a possible upset.
