World Cup: USA Draws Germany, Portugal, Ghana
The World Cup draw Friday morning wasn't kind to the U.S.
By Nick Barbaro, 4:21PM, Fri. Dec. 6, 2013
The United States didn’t get the worst possible draw for World Cup 2014, as it unfolded Friday morning in a predictably overblown TV spectacular – but it was close to it.
Going purely by current world rankings, the United States’ Group G is easily the hardest group, with two of the top five teams in the world, Germany and Portugal, the strongest “Pot 3” team in the USA, and the strongest “minnow” in 24th-ranked Ghana (the team that has knocked the USA out of the last two World Cups).
Group D is the other “Group of Death” : Italy, England, and Uruguay all expect to be in the knockout round, but one of them is going home early; and if you’re Costa Rica … gulp.
On the other end of the spectrum, Group H features a “who’s that?” of international football, and co-favorite Argentina drew the easiest path to the final 16 in Group F.
WC2014 kicks off in Brazil on Thursday, June 12, and runs through the final on Sunday, July 13.
World Cup Groups
(with current world rankings and group totals)
Group G (45)
2 Germany
5 Portugal
14 USA
24 Ghana
Group D (57)
6 Uruguay
7 Italy
13 England
31 Costa Rica
Group B (84)
1 Spain
9 Netherlands
15 Chile
59 Australia
Group C (81)
4 Colombia
12 Greece
17 Ivory Coast
48 Japan
Group A (97)
10 Brazil
16 Croatia
20 Mexico
51 Cameroon
Group E (91)
8 Switzerland
23 Ecuador
19 France
41 Honduras
Group F (105)
3 Argentina
21 Bosnia-Herzegovina
36 Nigeria
45 Iran
Group H (113)
11 Belgium
26 Algeria
22 Russia
54 South Korea
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