Yeah Group F looks the toughest all round but Spain vs Portugal in Group B is the heavyweight clash of the group stage. Groups A and H look the weakest, Group A in particular. Both teams that qualify from Group A will stand very little chance of making it to the quarter finals.

Argentina & Nigeria being in the same group was destined to happen, Nigeria have been in 5 previous World Cup tournaments since their debut appearance in 1994 and they've been in the same group as Argentina on 4 of those occasions losing every single time.

 

Uruguay weak?

 

Group H is extremely well balanced in my opinion, could see any of those teams finishing in any order.

 

It has been pointed out on Haven that Russia have got the easiest draw possible. They have got the lowest-ranked team from each pot apart from Egypt who are one place above Iran. However, as Iran and Saudi Arabia couldn't be drawn in the same group, Egypt were the lowest possible team for them to get,

 

Not that I'm suggesting more Putin corruption of course.

Uruguay weak?

 

Group H is extremely well balanced in my opinion, could see any of those teams finishing in any order.

I meant the overall standard of Group A is the weakest in my opinion compared to the other groups though Uruguay should top that group without much difficulty. Poland are very lucky that they got drawn into Group H and into pot 1 in the first place.

I like that Group B has three countries who are about as close to each other geographically as you're going to get in a WC group, a true battle for Iberia (or IBria). In that the forerunners of Morocco used to own parts of Iberia and if one wants to stretch the analogy further, there's a bit of land in the Caucasus that used to be called Iberia that's a mere TWO countries away from Iran. Someone stop me.

indeed this was the first thing I thought of when they announced the draw too. Ha

England & Belgium should qualify quite easily, unless Panama do an Iceland on us :lol: that I love to see

 

I think the toughest group will be group B, but on paper all the groups look well placed, I can easily pick 2 countries from each group that will qualify for the next round.

The Spain-Iran and France-Australia (and something else, as well as one quarter final) matches take place in the city I live. I remember mild craziness from this year's summer championship (whatever that was) that happened here but this will surely be something else. I mean you don't even need a visa to enter Russia if you have a ticket.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-a...e-a8086536.html

 

Well, good news it's not really the 90's anymore but I guess there is still a lot of those happening. More risk since everyone will be working double-triple shifts to scam and rob tourists. The advise I would add is - don't trust/talk to anyone unless you have no choice.

2004 - Finals

2006 - Semifinals

2008 - Quarterfinals

2010 - Round 2

2012 - Semifinals

 

Sorry I really wasn't clear with my original post! I meant that they only qualified from their group because the format was expanded. in any other previous euros tournament finishing 3rd in the group stage would have meant elimination...

Group D is really interesting, certainly could see any of the 4 teams plausibly go through.

 

England got as kind of draw as they could have hoped for on paper really, but will be tough still.

Didn't want to start a new thread but here are the list of the pre-World Cup friendlies for all countries involved in the World Cup

 

Date - Venue - Matchup

 

5/9 - Cadiz - Algeria vs. Saudi Arabia

5/15 - Seville - Saudi Arabia vs. Greece

5/18 - Tehran - Iran vs. Uzbekistan

5/26 - Kuwait City - Kuwait vs. Egypt

5/28 - Tehran - Iran vs. Turkey

5/28 - Paris - France vs. Ireland

5/28 - Braga - Portugal vs. Tunisia

5/28 - St. Gallen - Italy vs. Saudi Arabia

5/28 - Abuja - Nigeria vs. Congo DR

5/29 - Lima - Peru - vs. Scotland

5/29 - Los Angeles - Mexico vs. Wales

5/29 - Buenos Aries - Argentina vs. Haiti

5/29 - Panama City - Panama vs. Northern Ireland

5/30 - Luxembourg - Luxembourg vs. Senegal

5/30 - Yokohama - Japan vs. Ghana

5/31 - Geneva - Morocco vs. Ukraine

6/1 - St. Polten - Czech Republic vs. Australia

6/1 - Nice - France vs. Italy

6/1 - Sion - Tunisia vs. Turkey

6/1 - Jeonju - South Korea vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina

6/2 - London - England vs. Nigeria

6/2 - Stockholm - Sweden vs. Denmark

6/2 - Reykjavik - Iceland vs. Norway

6/2 - Brussels - Belgium vs. Portugal

6/2 - Klagenfurt - Austria vs. Germany

6/2 - St. Gall - Saudi Arabia vs. Peru

6/3 - Mexico City - Mexico vs. Scotland

6/3 - Liverpool - Brazil vs. Croatia

6/3 - Villarreal - Spain vs. Switzerland

6/3 - San Jose - Costa Rica vs. Northern Ireland

6/4 - Geneva - Morocco vs. Slovakia

6/4 - Moscow - Russia vs. Turkey

6/6 - Brussels - Belgium vs. Egypt

6/6 - Oslo - Norway vs. Panama

6/6 - St. Polten - Czech Republic vs. Nigeria

6/7 - Leeds - England vs. Costa Rica

6/7 - Lisbon - Portugal vs. Algeria

6/7 - Reykjavik - Iceland vs. Ghana

6/7 - TBD - South Korea vs. Bolivia

6/8 - Lugano - Switzerland vs. Japan

6/8 - Leverkusen - Germany vs. Saudi Arabia

6/8 - Montevideo - Uruguay vs. Uzbekistan

6/8 - Osijek - Croatia vs. Senegal

6/8 - Tehran - Iran vs. Lithuania

6/8 - Lugano - Switzerland vs. Japan

6/8 - Poznan - Poland vs. Chile

6/9 - Gothenburg - Sweden vs. Peru

6/9 - Budapest - Hungary vs. Australia

6/9 - Brondby - Denmark vs. Mexico

6/9 - Lyon - France vs. USA

6/9 - Krasnodar - Spain vs. Tunisia

6/9 - Tallinn - Estonia vs. Morocco

6/10 - Vienna - Austria vs. Brazil

6/11 - TBD - South Korea vs. Senegal

6/12 - Innsbruck - Paraguay vs. Japan

6/12 - Warsaw - Poland vs. Lithuania