Luck of the Draw

Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
Group B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden
Group C: Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Netherlands
Group D: Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
Group E: Italy, Ghana, USA, Czech Republic
Group F: Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
Group G: France, Switzerland, South Korea, Togo
Group H: Spain, Tunisia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia

The eight groups then pair off in chrono/alpha order for the second round of 16. Winner of A plays the runner-up of B, Winner of D plays the runner-up of C, etc.

Just looking at the draw it thows up some fascinating potential second round matches: Germany v England, Brazil v Italy, France v Spain.

Of course, that’s not ’supposed’ to happen, but the World Cup always throws a spanner in the works of the traditional big guns. I, for one, would love to see Tunisia play Togo for a spot in the quarter-finals.