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| Complete 2014 World Cup Draw Results are below:
Group A:
Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon
Group B:
Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia
Group C:
Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan
Group D:
Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy
Group E:
Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras
Group F:
Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria
Group G:
Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA
Group H:
Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea
2014 Brazil World Cup Draw Results Analysis
The U.S. Men's National Team really had some bad luck with their draw.
Group G has Portugal, led by superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and ranked as
number 5 by FIFA but unseeded, Germany, the number 2 ranked country in
the world, and Ghana, the team who has twice ended team USA's World Cup
hopes in past tournaments, including in South Africa in 2010.
Only two of those four countries can advance, giving the U.S. an incredibly tough mission.
Indeed, make no mistake about it, the U.S. is in the Group of Death.
That doesn't mean that all of the other groups are pushovers though. In
Group B, you have both Spain and the Netherlands, ensuring Australia and
Chile quick exits from the tournament. Group D has Italy, England and
Uruguay, and only two can make the cut.
While the dreaded Group
of Death is always a concern in the World Cup, this year global fretting
was enhanced even more than usual. The 32-team field has been cited as
one of the deepest in modern history, perhaps the deepest ever, thanks
in part to host country Brazil being one of the world's foremost powers,
as opposed to a walkover team with a free bid.
Fans of the U.S. Men's National Team were also concerned because the qualifying teams from CONCACAF were placed in a pot with Asia's qualifiers,
which meant that the U.S. couldn't share a World Cup group with any of
those teams, generally regarded as the weaker entrants, as opposed to
the remaining European or South American sides.
Additionally, by using only FIFA rankings
to create the eight seeded teams which head each group, several at
large powerhouses lurked in waiting, ready to instantly create a
worst-case scenario for a team looking for a relatively easy path. For
instance, Colombia and Switzerland were seeded teams, while the
Netherlands, Portugal and Italy were not.
Here were the four pots used to create the eight groups:
Pot 1 (Seeded Teams):
Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland, Uruguay
Pot 2 (Africa & South America):
Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Ecuador
Pot 3 (Asia, North & Central America):
United States, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea
Pot 4 (Europe):
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia
In a testament to how far U.S. soccer has come though, other countries across the world feared being paired with the United States, as the strongest team from the weakest pot.
Travel considerations were another major concern in advance of the 2014
World Cup draw. That's because the sites are spread across the brawling
countryside of Brazil, which could leave a Group Stage travel schedule of anywhere from 1,946 miles to 8,866 miles.
The U.S. Men's National Team was slotted as G4, which is unfortunately
the most dreadful travel schedule. For the Group Stage, the U.S. side
will need to go from Natal to Manaus to Recife, for 8,866 travel miles,
which is as bad as it gets.
So, not only does the U.S. men's
soccer team land in the Group of Death, with powerhouses Germany and
Portugal to go up against, along with rival Ghana, they also have the
most miserable travel schedule with nearly 9,000 miles to log in between
their opening three games.
This will not be an easy assignment
for Team USA, and if they're able to advance into the knockout stages,
it's going to be a fantastic achievement. |
