Groups (In Predicted Order of Finish)

Group A
Uruguay
France
Mexico
South Africa

Group B
Argentina
Nigeria
Greece
South Korea

Group C
England
Slovenia
USA
Algeria

Group D
Germany
Ghana
Australia
Serbia

Group E
Netherlands
Cameroon
Japan
Denmark

Group F
Paraguay
Italy
Slovakia
New Zealand

Group G
Brazil
Portugal
Cote d’ Ivoire
North Korea

Group H
Spain
Chile
Honduras
Switzerland

Knockout Stage
Round 1 (Winners in Parenthesis)

England vs Ghana (England)
Uruguay vs. Nigeria (Nigeria)

Brazil vs. Chile (Brazil)
Netherlands vs. Italy (Netherlands)

Argentina vs. France (Argentina)
Germany vs. Slovenia (Germany)

Spain vs. Portugal (Portugal)
Paraguay vs. Cameroon (Cameroon)

Round 2

England vs. Nigeria (Nigeria)
Brazil vs. Netherlands (Netherlands)

Argentina vs. Germany (Argentina)
Portugal vs. Cameroon (Portugal)

Semi-Finals

Nigeria vs. Netherlands (Netherlands)
Argentina vs. Portugal (Argentina)

3rd Place Game

Nigeria vs. Portugal (Portugal)

Finals

Netherlands vs. Argentina (Argentina)

This would be a dream final in terms of exciting soccer. I’m not sure that it would sell soccer to Americans because I’m not sure that as many would watch here as did in 2006 when France and Italy played each other. I also don’t really think soccer will ever catch on as a prime sport in America and that’s fine.

I have Argentina winning it all because I don’t want to count out Diego Maradona like everyone else. The man has likely died 39 times, but he’s a fighter. He (well, Messi and Carlos Tevez) will prove the doubters wrong. Argentina struggled a bit during qualifying. I’m not scared. They are going to outscore everyone they play. Including the Dutch, who will, as they always do, capture the hearts of the American fans once the USA is eliminated in group play. And on that subject…

I’m not trying to be contrary. I would actually really like for the US to win their group. But with the expectations set so high because of such an easy draw, and because of the laid back nature of this team and Bob Bradley, I don’t see the fire. I have the Slovenians advancing because of their qualifying run and the motivation for a team that hasn’t been there before. I hope I’m wrong.

My last explanation involves the Nigerians, who I know nothing about except that they’re the most fundamentally sound of the African teams and they get an easy draw should my predictions hold true (facing Uruguay and England, who is highly overrated and could struggle with the Ghanians attack in the first round of the knockout round). Also, it would be nice for an African team to make the semis. And yes, I’m concerned with things being “nice.”

This should be a gamechanging World Cup. As I said, soccer will never be the sport du jour here. But I really see this World Cup brining soccer to a level where we could have a major network (NBC would be smart) airing weekly UEFA matchups, ESPN featuring more soccer talk in addition to their increased level of coverage of MLS, EPL, Primera, etc, and who knows, maybe even an improved MLS product. The excitement for this World Cup is like nothing I’ve seen in my life, though that is likely attributed to the fact that I live in a great city filled with cultural diversity and not Taunton, Massachusetts (PORTUGAL!). There should be some epic games. And with that, I leave you with my 5 can’t miss (England v. USA not included) first round matchups (all times reflect the Eastern Time Zone)

Argentina vs. Nigeria- June 12 10:00 AM
Netherlands vs. Cameroon- June 24 2:30 PM
Uruguay vs. France- June 11 2:30 PM
Germany vs. Ghana- June 23 2:30 PM
USA vs. Slovenia- June 18 10:00 AM

(Also, in Group G)
Brazil vs. Ivory Coast- June 20 2:30 PM
Portugal vs. Ivory Coast- June 15 10:00 AM
Brazil vs. Portugal- June 25 10:00 AM

Enjoy. Viva Futbol!