So Who's Playing?

As mentioned earlier, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is a competition between thirty-two teams.  You could probably guess a good deal of the participants, but some are more surprising.  You know how the teams were selected through qualifying, but who made it?  

Here's a fun map of all the 2010 World Cup participants, from Wikipedia.   

Green= In World Cup, Red= failed to qualify, Purple= did not enter

After all 32 teams qualified for the World Cup, a draw was held in December to decide who would be in which group.  The host nation and the top seven ranked teams were put into one pot.  The other three pots were made up of certain regions, to prevent a group with four African teams, for example.  The random draw took place on December 4th, and as the world's soccer fans held their breath, one team from each pot was selected for each group.

I had class that morning, but nearly skipped it, as I knew how important the draw was.  While players and coaches like to believe they can advance from any group, the fact is so much depends on the draw- it's crucial.  If you get a good group (drawing South Africa, instead of one of the top seven, for example), your expectations and chances for the World Cup are greatly increased.  In contrast, for many of the weaker teams, a tough draw could cripple any hope or expectations.  If you draw two great teams, it's going to be very hard to advance.  

I grudgingly decided to go to class, but that didn't mean I wouldn't be following along.   I signed up with the US Soccer website to get text updates, and also deputized my brother to keep me informed.  I had my phone on vibrate, but it was buzzing constantly the entire lecture.  I have no idea what we talked about that day in class, but I got checked off on the attendance roster.  I'm not proud of it (maybe a little), but these things can't be missed.  More importantly,  it turned into a great and exciting day for US Soccer fans. 


Here are the groups:

• Group A: 

• South Africa
• Mexico
• Uruguay
• France

• Group B: 

• Argentina
• Nigeria
• Korea Republic
• Greece

• Group C: 

• England
• USA
• Algeria
• Slovenia

• Group D: 

• Germany
• Australia
• Serbia
• Ghana

• Group E: 

• Netherlands
• Denmark
• Japan
• Cameroon

• Group F: 

• Italy
• Paraguay
• New Zealand 
• Slovakia 

• Group G: 

• Brazil
• Korea DPR 
• Côte d'Ivoire 
• Portugal

• Group H: 

• Spain
• Switzerland
• Honduras
• Chile

Remember that two teams make it out of each group. Group G is most widely regarded as the "Group of Death", because Brazil, Ivory Coast, and Portugal are all very good teams.  I tend to agree with that, but I wouldn't be so quick to single out one group.  There are actually a few that are extremely strong and hard to predict.  I think Groups E and D will also be fiercely competitive, and Group A will also be very tough to call. 

Most analysts believe the U.S. team got a very favorable group, as England is the only team that should give them serious trouble.  The match-up with England, while tricky, was also a very exciting draw for American fans and players.  The Premier League (England's top-tier soccer league) is extremely popular amongst American fans, and is also the home of a handful of "Yanks Abroad" (American players that play for European club teams).  There are no "easy" match-ups in the World Cup, but the Americans got as good of a draw as they could have hoped for.

I'll make full predictions soon, including which two teams I think will advance from each group.  But it would be premature to make those predictions this early, as star players from many teams have been dropping like flies lately.