Big Question: What will be the Biggest First Round Upset?

Holland don’t get out of group play.

Paraguay defeats England and Sweden in the first round to win group B.

Posted from  United States

I would love to see Brazil getting kicked off. That would be such a huge blow to their ego. I mean Ronaldinho is already saying that it’s Brazil’s summer. I’m portuguese and I
m obviously going for them but I’ll be just as happy if they don’t make it but Brazil gets kicked off.

Posted from  Canada

i am surprised on how many think the Spceroos will hurt brasil i think that so but Brasil will pass ..so that being a big possible upset for a game i think that the real upset will be that Hollan will not go to 2nd round.

Posted from  United States

Iran’s gonna beat Mexico and Angola is gonna force Portugal to draw.

Holland’s defeat against S&M.

Posted from  Netherlands

Ya ego is definitely giong to have a death impact on Brazil meaning they will lose or tie once maybe twice(unlikely). Unless they can contain it. But honestly, how are you giong to have a forward line of Ronaldo and Adriano, both the biggest ballhogers in the world..no goals… Rivaldo won the whole thing for them 2002.

Posted from  Canada

There is no doubt that Ghana will surprise everyone at the worldcup by whooping ITaly 2-1. Drawing with the Czechs and U.S. as well. Remember they have better international players than the U.S.

Posted from  United States

Upsets in first round

Ivory Coast over Serbia & Montenegro

Ghana over the USA

Tunisia over the Ukraine

Posted from  Canada

to all of you saying that Iran will beat mexico……!!!!!

you’re right

Posted from  United States

Why is Tunisia over Ukraine and IVC over Serbia M. an upset?

Posted from  United Kingdom

the biggest *surprise* to me would be a result that i wouldn’t have expected. the biggest *upset* to me would be a result that pisses me off big time.

everything else is fair game, haha. but seriously, if the so-called favorites win the games, it will be a major surprise.

Posted from  Germany

Group A - No Suprises = Germany, Poland
Group B - No Suprises = England, Sweden
Group C - I can’t see Argentina coming out of this one for some reason, Ivory Coast is tough but just too many good squads in this group - Holland, Serbia & Montenegro
Group D - Portugal will draw or lose to Angola(too much history). Mexico is strong despite what all of you are saying. Iran is a nitty-gritty squad who will hold their own on the world stage, especially with the political turmoil. All pressure is on Portugal = Mexico, Iran
Group E - Italy and USA(goal differential with Czech)
Group F - This group will have surprizes. Austrailian Coach Hiddink is a bonafide winner(South Korea 2002) Japan Is Strong and Croatia plays nitty-gritty. Brazil will still win = Brazil, Australia
Group G - No Suprises, South Korea is not the same team 4 years ago = France, Switzerland
Group H - Tough to say, I don’t think Ukraine will recover from thier first game against Spain and the Saudi’s will want to save their face after the sham that was 2002, Tunisia MIGHT sneak in = Spain, Saudi Arabia

Posted from  Canada

Group F:

Croatia will come out firing with a win against a surprised and slow starting Brazil, going one step further than their friendly a mere couple of months ago, which they drew 1-1, Croatia leading most of the game. Australia and Guus will snatch a draw from Brazil and possibly Croatia and account for Japan. Croatia and Australia will go through to second round…..Watch this space. Should it materialise, I want a present!

Posted from  Australia

wait and see what TOGO will do. No doubt, Togo repeats the Senegal legacy of Korea-Japan thumping of France. Ivory Coast will surprise everyone by beating Argentina.

Posted from  Republic Of Korea

I agree, the first game, Costa Rica (who just lost big in a friendly) will draw with Germany.

Posted from  Canada

I’ll say Japan beats Brazil and wins Group F, and Spain doesn’t get through Group H.

Posted from  United States

Togo wins

Posted from  United States

For an upset we have to have a weaker team beat a stronger team. We cannot however say that the weakest team can beat the strongest. So I have no Faith whatsoever in Trinidad and Costa Rica. They deserve to lose all their matches and they probably will. Another team that I have no faith in is Saudi Arabia, There are some African Teams I think cannot come up with an upset. For example Togo will not upset anyone except their fans. So what upset can happen. Well I believe that Angola might be able to upset someone by beating Portugal. Angola is a weak team but they really hate the Portuguese. Kind of like Senegal beating France in the last world cup. Also Another upset can come from Switzerland beating France, but that is mainly because France is overrated. Another weaker team that can beat a Stronger one can be Serbia beating Argentina ot Holland, or croatia beating Brazil, but I have less faith in the latter. If USA beats Italy it will be an Upset but that will never happen in my lifetime. Ever. USA are another overrated crappy team. Interesting how it is overrated but only in the USA.

Posted from  Italy

Massimo, about Portugal and Angola, you can’t call all those reasons “hate”. The historical and not only the historical. There’s not a bad relationship or old hate between either the teams or the people. I agree, though, there is a strong desire to win.

Posted from  Netherlands

argentina again knock out from group stage

Posted from  Nepal

Iran 3-0 over Mexico. But Mexico still wins the group and gets to the semis.

Posted from  United States

A - At first, I thought Poland and all their hooligans would get sent packing after the first round, but then Costa Rica and Ecuador underlined how soft the hosts’ group is… 1- Germany, 2- Poland, no upsets

B - Paraguay might pull a draw, but once again, no upsets here… England/Sweden 1/2

C - Tough to say any upsets… I think the top 3 teams will beat IC and then beat each other, with 3 level on 6 points and goal difference being the deciding factor. Who has more firepower? I have seen (in person) both the Dutch and the Serbs run up BIG scores. Argentina goes home? Maybe it’s an upset, but I won’t be upset.

D - Second softest group, after Group A. Both teams that qualify from here will lose their second round game to Holland and Serbia.

E - USA will get no points. Once again, this would not upset me.

F - If anyone takes points from Brzail, it would be an upset.

G - The other three teams, besides France, any of them could end up in second.

H - Third softest group, after groups A and D. After this past weekend’s friendlies, Ukraine has a shot at winning the group. They are in a no lose situation. The only first-time entry in this group, nothing to lose. Upsets? Likely not.

Posted from  Canada

I like Cicruj’s way of thinking and I’d love Australia to get through Group F. I wouldn’t mind seeing Brazil bomb out - not because I hate them, far from it, but just because a huge shock would add spice to the WC.

But Brazil haven’t failed in the first round since 1966 (I think?) and 40 years of history means it’s highly, highly unlikely this will happen.

In light of the Serie A scandal, I could see Italy having a shocker and going home early.

Posted from  Australia

There’s bound to be at least one surprise. I just hope it doesn’t happen to the Czechs, the Poles, the Ukrainians or the Serbs.

It would be lovely if it were to happen to the Brazilians or the Argentines. Maybe even to the Sapnish and the French too.

But seriously speaking, from what I can see on paper (and it’s only on paper, mind), most minor teams (and by minor I do mean ALL teams not from Europe and South America) don’t look too good, or have very tough draws. Most of the other teams, including Mexico, will not create a major upset, whomever they might happen to beat.

Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana are the best of Africa, but are in the two toughest groups of the World Cup. I can imagine either of them causing an upset, especially CIV (they could conceivably do a Cameroon 90), but I’m not going to bet any money on it.

Togo and Angola are completely unknown quantities, but they don’t seem quite ready to take the world at their stride just yet. Especially Togo, who have the look of thrashing boys all around, even in one of the weakest groups in the finals. Angola could just about do something to Mexico, a team doesn’t look very convincing, and which doesn’t have all that good a World Cup finals record anyway (they even lost to the bloody US last time).

Tunisia look better than last time, they have qualified for three finals in a row, and have lots of players with experience of playing in Europe, but I do believe the Ukraine (especially) and Spain are much too good for them. Spain though are notorious underperformers at finals, and the Ukraine has never been tried at the highest level. All in all, I can’t honestly expect a surprise here either.

The Asian sides are rather over-rated. Japan certainly wouldn’t have made it past the second round last time if the World Cup was taking place anywhere else, and thery’re highly unlikely of progressing this time. If they do, now that would be a pretty major surprise. Brazil and Croatia should stuff them proper. Especially since they appear so inanely confident of doing well.

Korea have qualified often for the finals, but they’ve never really made their mark. Last time the World Cup was in Europe they were stuffed proper, except by the stunningly boring Belgians. No one can seriously believe they would have made it to the last four anywhere outseide Korea last time. This time they cannot reasonably hope to get past the French, or even the Swiss, who have a handy side, with a modicum of experience. They might be able to beat Togo.

Saudi Arabia was the worst team in the last world cup, and I can’t see why they are going to be much better this time. Nobody expects anything from them, except perhaps for the Saudi Royal Family. Their presence in the finals should convince everybody for the need for intercontinental play offs.

Iran seem the best of the Asian bunch, and they have been blessed with what (on paper) is the weakest group of all. Portugal, while hugely talented just seem to bottle it; these are the people who lost to Greece twice, in their own home country. Mexico doesn’t seem going anywhere in a hurry, and Angola are not, according to all accounts, among Africa’s finest.
Iran have a few things going for them, foremost among which is that many of their players have experience of playing at the highest level. They have the ability to qualify more than any other ‘third world’ team.

The CONCACAF teams don’t seem to be going anywhere in a hurry either. The US and Trinidad should finish bottom of their groups with nul points, the way CONCACAF teams are meant to do. England, Sweden and Paraguay are just the sort of teams that can expose weaker teams very badly, so Trinidad should concede a lot of goals too. Maybe more than 10, at a guess.

The United States are supposed to be better than in 1998, but they are nowhere near as good their FIFA ranking makes them out to be. I very much doubt if they would have qualified from a European group. Hence, I cannot see them beating any European team in Europe. I don’t think they can beat Ghana either, so I would expect them to finish bottom of their group, with no points.

Finally, Australia didn’t impress me at all in beating a very bored Greek team 1-0 in home territory. They did manage to knock Uruguay out, which was a surprise, but they seem very dull and artless. They reminded me of a poor Scnadinavian team, more than anything else. Lots of power, no skill wahtsoever. They have a lucky draw, in that they face Japan, but I can’t imagine them getting a point of Croatia.

So, all in all, although I find all except the first one highly unlikely:
Likeliest surprise: Iran go through, knocking out Mexico or Portugal
2nd likeliest: Ivory Coast go through, knocking out Holland (or conceivably Argentina even)
3d likeliest: Tunisia go through (knocking out Spain, or even the Ukraine)
4th likeliest: Ghana go through, knocking out the Czechs, or by a monstrous tretch of the imagination, Italy.

Posted from  Greece

u all are crazy saying portugal is going home so easily. they are being highly under estimated. Portugal will advance along with mexico no question.

Posted from  United States