World Cup 2006: The groups have been called...

[JayKeeley]

Group A:
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador

Group B:
England
Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden

Group C:
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia & Montenegro
Holland

Group D:
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

Group E:
Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic

Group F:
Brazil (fuck, do these cunts ever get a challenge in round 1?)
Croatia
Australia
Japan

Group G:
France
Switzerland
South Korea
Togo

Group H:
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia

This is going to be outstanding.

Presuming the top seeds win their groups in round 1, you're looking at matches like:

England v Germany
Brazil v Italy
Portugal v Argentina
Holland v Mexico
Spain v France

Haven't seen line ups like that since Spain 1982...WOW.

Don't think USA will make it past the first round unless there's a shock defeat over Czech Republic, but hey, it happens: remember 3-2 over Portugal in 2002.

 

[lurch70]

interesting matchups indeed. really looking forward to this world cup !!!

I see Romania did not qualify again, they had such a great team a few Cups ago ... Colombia is absent as well.

Who is TOGO???

And someone please remind me what is the qualification process for the World Cup again?

 

[Tranquillian]

We got England again, and Paraguay who always do well. Should be interesting. England will go DOWN.

 

[lurch70]

Interesting on the Czech Republic team, had no idea they are rated #2 in the world ... when did this happen?

those Czech girls ... they must be good cheerleaders.

 

[Tranquillian]

Interesting on the Czech Republic team, had no idea they are rated #2 in the world ... when did this happen?

those Czech girls ... they must be good cheerleaders.

They've been topranked since losing to germany in the european championship final in 1996. (Had to google the year).

 

[JayKeeley]

Who is TOGO???

African team.

See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/team_guides/4369094.stm

And someone please remind me what is the qualification process for the World Cup again?

Not sure what you mean....there are qualification groups established all around the world 2 years before the tournament, and then scheduled throughout the 2 years each team has to play each other twice (home and away). Groups are divided by continent by the way. Winner of each group goes through to the world cup. Runners up go into a play-off round.

Here are the seedings for the world cup:

SEEDINGS TABLE
Brazil 64
England 51
Spain 50
Germany 48
Mexico 47
France 46
Argentina 44
Italy 44

I imagine England were seeded second after beating Argentina recently 3-2.

 

[JayKeeley]

Interesting on the Czech Republic team, had no idea they are rated #2 in the world ... when did this happen?

those Czech girls ... they must be good cheerleaders.

Czech Republic and Holland are the two best (non-seeded) European teams.

 

[Tranquillian]

Czech Republic and Holland are the two best (non-seeded) European teams.

Sweden is better than both those teams.

 

[JayKeeley]

Czech Republic maybe. Holland, probably not.

The Dutch have one of the best strikers in the world right now: Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Watch him in this world cup, he's going to tear down defences.

 

[lurch70]

any channels on cable TV show Euro Soccer regularly?

 

[Tranquillian]

Czech Republic maybe. Holland, probably not.

The Dutch have one of the best strikers in the world right now: Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Watch him in this world cup, he's going to tear down defences.

Ever heard of Zlatan Ibrahimovic?

 

[Dick Sirloin]

soccer

 

[JayKeeley]

any channels on cable TV show Euro Soccer regularly?

Fox Soccer channel. (#142 on cablevision).

Ever heard of Zlatan Ibrahimovic?

I hadn't until tonight -- he's listed as 1 of 12 "strikers to watch" for next year at bbc.co.uk.

Which club does he play for?

 

[Eminor]

I'm bummed about the USA's draw. Italy and Czech Republic will be a bitch. I think only the Arg./Holl/Serb&Mont group is tougher. I wish we were playing Italy in the first game--they've got a bad habit of starting slowly. Oh well, you truly never know--maybe we'll grab second place...and end up getting Brazil in the next round. Ouch. I was starting to get optimistic that the US would end up in G or H (Spain, or France), as those groups look the lightest. England got a decent draw. T&T will pose no problem, and Paraguay are good but tend to fall apart. Sweden poses a threat but I don't think will make it past England into first place. Fuckin Mexico got a lucky draw--if the US had been awarded that seed I'd be happy w/ that group.

 

[Ellestin]

I'm pissed Germany got such a ridiculously easy draw yet again, after being the weakest team ever to reach a WC final in 2002...

France has been spared big names too, but after 2002's debacle and the hard time they had getting through a presumably safe qualifying group, I guess no opponent is easy enough for them

 

[snow2fall]

I'm pissed Germany got such a ridiculously easy draw yet again, after being the weakest team ever to reach a WC final in 2002...

.

 

[h_deniz]

shit what happened to turkey?!

 

[Tranquillian]

Fox Soccer channel. (#142 on cablevision).



I hadn't until tonight -- he's listed as 1 of 12 "strikers to watch" for next year at bbc.co.uk.

Which club does he play for?

Juventus.

 

[Henrik Main]

Interesting on the Czech Republic team, had no idea they are rated #2 in the world ... when did this happen?

Did you not watch last year's European Championship? They play truly brilliant football, both entertaining and effective. The Czech Republic is one of the very finest teams in Europe. They finished second in their WC 2006 qualifiers group, and then went on to beat Norway (who also finished second, behind Italy, in their qual. group) in the playoffs.

Sweden is better than both those teams.

I seriously hope you're joking.

shit what happened to turkey?!

Knocked out by Switzerland, thankfully.

 

[cthulufhtagn]

if i lived in a place where more people gave a shit it would make the world cup a lot more fun...i was in europe during the 2004 euro cup, now that was crazy