Group A
1) France
- Forwards Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka will look to avenge their 2006 World Cup defeat over Italy and win the country's first WC since 1998.
2) Mexico
- Mexico has advance in the second round in thier last four World Cup appearances, but have they have not advance out of the second round since 1986. 37-year old Cuauhtemoc Blanco will have to lead the charge with great young players Carlos Vela, Giovani dos Santos, and Efrain Juarez, who all played for the 2005 U-17 World Cup team.
3) Uruguay
- This will be their first WC appearance since 2002 and they haven't advance to the quarterfinals since 1970, when they finished fourth. Forwards Luis Suarez and Diego Floran will have to come up with big goals in the match in order to make the round of 16.
4) South Africa
- A host country has never failed to reach the second round, but I think South Africa will be the first. Steven Pinnear and Katlego Mphela will have to bring their European experience to this event.
Group B
1) Argentina
- Lionel Messi, world player of the year will try to lead Argentina to their first WC title since 1986. Coach Diego Maradona led the team to the WC in '86 and now must lead his country to the grand prize.
2) Nigeria
- Nigeria missed the World Cup in 2006. Obafemi Martins and Ayegbeni Yakubu will look to send Nigeria to the second round for the first time since 1998. This is the club's fourth WC appearance.
3) South Korea
- Park Ji-Sung and Ki Sung-Yong are looking to give South Korea the same success they had in the 2002, when they finished in the semifinals as the co-host of the WC.
4) Greece
- This is only the second WC appearance for this club. I don't think Georgios Samaras and Theofanis Gekas will have enough fire power to succed in this tourney.
Group C
1) England
- Losing captain Rio Ferdinand was a big lost for England, but I think Wayne Rooney will make it out of the quarterfinals for the first time since 1990, when they finished fourth in the WC.
2) USA
- Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey will look to avenge their terrible 2006 WC and make it back to the round of 16 like they did in 2002, when they made it to the quarterfinals.
3) Slovenia
- Goalkeeper Smir Handanovic and Slovenia's defense allowed only four goals in 10 games of the qualifying group. They haven't made the round of 16 since 1990, when they were Yugoslavia.
4) Algeria
- This is Algeria's third WC appearance and their first since 1986. Antar Yahia and Yazid Mansouri will not be enough for this team to advance.
Group D
1) Germany
- Michael Ballack is out of the WC, but forwards Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski will score enough goals to get out of this group and look to give Germany their first WC title since 1990, when they were East Germany.
2) Ghana
- Ghana made their WC debut in 2006 and advanced to the second round of the tourney. Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari will try to make this team become the first African to make it to the semifinals.
3) Serbia
- This will be Serbia's first WC as a seperate nation. Dejan Stankovic and Milan Jovanovic will look take this team to the second round for the first time since 1998.
4) Australia
- This will be Australia's third WC appearance. In 2006, they made it as far as the second round. I don't expect Tim Cahill and goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and help this team to get out of this tough group.
Group E
1) Netherlands
- Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben will look to give this country their first ever World Cup. They haven't advance out of the second round of the World Cup since 1998.
2) Cameroon
- Cameroon hasn't made it to the second round since 1990. Samuel Eto'o and company are looking to make a great run after missing the WC in 2006.
3) Denmark
- This will be Denmark's fourth WC appearance and their first since 2002. Denmark has always made it out of the first round but I think Nicklas Bendtner and Denmark will miss the first round for the first time.
4) Japan
- Japan has made it to the World Cup three times since 1998. Shinji Okazaki and company will not advance in the second round like they did in 2002.
Group F
1) Italy
- The defending WC champs will play well in this group. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and midfielder Andrea Pirlo will keep this team in line for another WC title.
2) Paraguay
- Paraguay has never made it past the second round of the WC. Oscar Cardozo and Roque Santa Cruz will help this team advance to the second round, but will they advance to the quarterfinals is the big question.
3) Slovakia
- This will be Slovakia's first WC since 1990 and their first as an independant country. Robert Vittek will look to give this team the first WC title but they won't get pass Paraguay.
4) New Zealand
- This will be New Zealand's first WC appearance since they made their debut in 1982. Ryan Nelsen and Shane Smeltz will look to give their country something to watch but it won't last.
Group G
1) Brazil
- Brazil is the only team to play in every World Cup. Kaka and Luis Fabiano will look to give Brazil their first WC since 2002. I hope they play better then they did in 2006, when they lost in the quarterfinals.
2) Portugal
- Cristiano Ronaldo will look to give Portugal their first World Cup title. They finished fourth in the 2006 WC.
3) Ivory Coast
- Didier Drogba's broken arm will hurt the Ivory Coast's chances in this tourney. I don't see them playing well without him in their second WC appearance.
4) North Korea
- This is North Korea's second World Cup and their first since 1966. Hong Yong-Jo and his squad don't stand a chance.
Group H
1) Spain
- David Villa and Fernando Torres will look to win Spain their first WC. They should have no problem getting out of this group.
2) Switzerland
- Switzerland has made it to the second round five times but hasn't made the quarterfinals since 1954. Tranquillo Barnetta and Alexander Frei will pass Chile and make it to their third straight second round appearance.
3) Chile
- This will be Chile's first World Cup since 1998. Alexis Sanchez and Matias Fernandez will not be enough to get pass Switzerland and move to the next round.
4) Honduras
- This is only Honduras's second WC appearance and their first since 1982. Carlos Pavon and David Suazo will not be enough to get pass this group.
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