Group A
Brazil have beaten all three group opponents to nil in all previous World Cup meetings and as a top tier team they are expected to top the group with ease. With Mexico and Cameroon not up to their usual standards then Croatia are expected to finish second, and their final match with Mexico could see a few goals as both teams like to play attacking football.
Brazil
The Brazilians are not just hoping to win the World Cup, they are expected to win it. The midfield is highly technical with natural skill, as fans of the Premier League should already be aware, as talent such as Ramires, Oscar, Paulinho, Fernandinho and Willian play for some of England's top clubs, and Spurs. Up front they have Neymar, Hulk and Fred, and they even have dangerous offensive players like David Luiz in their backline. Neymar has brought more controversy than success to Barcelona this term, though that is not really his fault, and he doesn't seem to let his club form affect his performances at international level, where he has been given to freedom to influence games as he sees fit.
Brazil weren't really too highly rated before blowing away all opposition in last year's Confederations Cup, including beating World Champions Spain a convincing 3-0 in the final. The bookies have them at 3/1 to win the tournament, and as the hosts it is hard to tip against them against anyone. They have no weaknesses, other than the potential for the big crowd to turn against them should they find themselves struggling in a game they should be winning. Scolari won Brazil the World Cup in 2002, and with the weapons at his disposal he mean well do so again in 2014.
Cameroon
Cameroon struggled to qualify, though when it mattered came up with a convincing victory over Tunisia. They failed to qualify for last year's Africa Cup of Nations after losing their qualifying tie with Cape Verde. Cameroon lost 5-1 to Portugal in a friendly back in March, and their two star players Eto'o and Song fell out in a major way at the last World Cup – where Cameroon lost all three group games. Eto'o has been the best of a bad bunch of strikers at Chelsea this season, but his quality is not in doubt as he is a three times Champions League winner. He retired from international football after claiming his teammates didn't pass to him enough but returned to the squad after the President of Cameroon pleaded with him to do so.
Coach Volker Finke had a 16 year reign at Freiburg where he won plaudits for his tactical nouse and use of African players, but Cameroonians are not too happy being coached by another white European as native Africans have again been overlooked for the position. All this unrest does not bode well for a successful campaign.
Croatia
Croatia face a brutal opening day fixture with hosts Brazil, and will then face tricky ties with Mexico and Cameroon. They needed to qualify through the play-offs after finishing nine points behind Belgium in their group, losing both games against Scotland during a collapse of discipline under deposed manager Igor Štimac. New boss Niko Kovač is very inexperienced, with his only previous managing experience being with the under-21s. He masterminded the play-off victory over Iceland without his star striker, but getting out of the group stages is a much tougher ask. At his disposal is a fairly talented young squad, particularly blessed with attacking talent, including Bayern's Mario Mandžukić.
The Croats key man though is Real Madrid's Luka Modric, who has the vision, ball control and passing ability to worry any team in the competition. Croatia have the ability to advance to the knockout stages, but will have to do so with an inexperienced squad in tougher climate conditions than they are used to.
Mexico
Mexico head to their 15th World Cup with no genuine hopes of bettering their best ever finish as quarter-finalists. Nothing if not consistent, they have exited at the Round of 16 for the last five consecutive World Cups. Three of the team have over 100 caps each, and strikers Giovani dos Santos and Javier Hernández have 51 international goals between them. Chicharito has had a poor season at Manchester United (who there hasn't?), but he won his move to Old Trafford in the first place due to his impressive performances at the last World Cup. The rest of the squad is largely Mexican based, and that is where coach Miguel Herrera made his name; Herrera is a good man to stabilize struggling teams, and he took charge of Mexico after his three predecessors lasted mere months in the role.
They were knocked out of last year's Gold Cup by Panama and their World Cup qualification campaign was hardly convincing, as they ended up having to beat New Zealand in an intercontinental play-off.
Group B
Spain are a top tier team and should top this group without too much drama. The Netherlands and Chile are not too far apart, though the Dutch have the better balanced steam. Australia are a poor team and could receive a hammering or two.
Australia
Head coach Angelos Postecoglou is probably the star of this outfit, having transformed the Brisbane Roar from a bunch of outsiders to the A-League title from 2010 to 2012 with his balanced tactics and good coaching. He has been tasked with giving the youth a chance as little is expected of a side that last year went on this run to see off his predecessor: Japan 2-3, China 3-4, Brazil, 0-6, France 0-6. They should lose all of their games, but a bit of a pride and fighting spirit will be enough to satisfy the low expectations held in the wake of those results.
Tim Cahill is the team's star man, and despite being a child of the 1970s and now seeing out his playing days in the MLS, the 34 year-old still carries the same aerial threat he showed at Everton. He netted twice against Ecuador in March, though the Socceroos still lost that game 4-3.
Chile
Chile will beat Australia, meaning that a surprise result again Spain or the Netherlands could take them into the knock-out stages. They finished third in qualifying, behind Argentina and Colombia, and in 2013 beat nine teams – including England at Wembley. That day we saw the dangerous attacking threat posed by Barcelona forward, who has the pace and ball control that worries defenders even of the highest quality. Sanchez has yet to hit the high standards expected of a striker by the Nou Camp faithful, though if he were at Chelsea or Arsenal he probably would be adored by their fans.
Coach Jorge Sampaoli is one of a number of Argentinians making a mark in management, and his 3-3-1-3 formation has given Chile a unique structure able to press teams and break with pace and flair. This is Chile's golden generation, and this squad is capable of providing tough opposition to any team in the competition.
Netherlands
The Netherlands will open their 2014 World Cup campaign with a rematch against the team that got the better of them in the 2010 World Cup final. Since trying to kick the Spanish off the park in that game the Dutch have gone downhill, falling at the group stage at Euro 2012 before dominating a very weak World Cup qualification group. Robin van Persie bagged 12 goals during qualifying, but has had a poor season at Manchester United. Their star player may turn out to be Arjen Robben, who was man of the match in last year's Champions League final as Bayern won the treble. Robben possesses pace in abundance, as well as an extremely accurate shot, and he is a team player despite being labelled as a selfish footballer.
Coach Louis van Gaal has won six league titles with four different clubs in three different countries, and has further enhanced his reputation during his spell in charge of the Netherlands, winning himself the vacant management job at Manchester United. As they are not up the Spain's standard they will likely finish second, giving them a mountain to climb in the Round of 16 where they will likely face Brazil.
Spain
Spain have won the last World Cup and the last two Euro tournaments, but will need to do a lot better than they did in last year's Confederations Cup, when they were beaten 3-0 by Brazil in Rio. However this was coach Vicente del Bosque's third competitive defeat in six years in charge of Spain. Spain boast some of the sport's best passers in Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas and David Silva, and now they have swiped Diego Costa from Brazil to give themselves a first-rate striker now that Fernando Torres has fallen out of the international class. Del Bosque pioneered the strikerless system, but with Costa and Negredo in form he shouldn't have to resort to this.
This team is filled to bursting point with stars, but we have chosen to highlight Andreas Iniesta because he is the complete footballer, able to attack and defend, to pass and to score. Together with Xavi the pair have an intuitive understanding that can unlock any defence in the world. Spain will be looking for their second successive World Cup triumph, a feat only accomplished previously by Brazil and Italy.
Group C
This group should be close, though Colombia should get through it with or without Falcao. The Greeks are defensively strong whilst the Japan's strength lies in going forward and the Ivoirians are physically powerful. Go for under goals for Greece and over for Japan in what should be a tactically interesting group.
Colombia
The question for Colombia is can Radamel Falcao recover in time to start the group games? The 28 year-old Monaco forward was born to score goals, he can score from any position with either foot or with his head, his shots and headers almost always being perfectly placed with just the right amount of power to give the goalkeeper as little chance of saving the ball as possible. Should he make it then club mate James Rodriguez should be able to feed him the half chances he needs to find the net, whilst centre-backs Luis Perea and Mario Yepes, 35 and 38 years old respectively, will be able to organize the defence to keep the opposition at bay. The Colombians had the best defensive record out of all the CONMEBOL teams.
Coach Jose Pekerman led Argentina to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2006, and if Falcao is fit then a similar achievement is possible with this Colombia squad.
Greece
Greece shocked Europe by winning Euro 2004, proving that despite all the in depth analysis and predictions one well organized group of underdogs are capable of great things. Again little is expected of them in 2014, and we would gladly eat humble pie once again if they make it anywhere near the final. Greece ran Bosnia close in qualification, but ended up having to overcome Romania in a play-off game despite losing just once (shockingly to Latvia) in qualifying. Over their 12 games they conceded four and scored 12 goals, so it is easy to see where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Portuguese head coach Fernando Santos continues with the traditional Greek defensive organizational philosophy that harks back to the ancient phalanx formation of the Spartans… or at least back to his predecessor Otto Rehhagel. One great success tends to enshrine a philosophy onto a footballing nation, and Santos has proven to be a worthy successor to Rehhagel, building his reputation in Greece as the four times Manager of the Year in the Super League.
Star striker Konstantinos Mitroglou will have be in form for the Greeks to do well in Brazil, though his strength and powerful shooting were not in evidence at Fulham following his £12 million move in January.
Ivory Coast
The Ivorians have some big names in their squad, and we don't mean Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro and Brice Dja Djédjé. In terms of midfield engines the Ivory Coast boast a Bugatti in Yaya Touré. Toure is one of the best midfielders in the world right now, able to break up opposition attacks or spearhead his own team's attacks, using his natural physical power and technical ability alongside his accurate passing. Going forward 36 year-old Didier Drogba will possibly be playing in his last tournament, with Bony, Kalou and Gervinho being of more use now that Drogba is well into his twilight years (as a player).
Disappointingly the Ivory Coast FA sacked their native Ivorian head coach after they lost the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 and replaced him with French TV pundit and rookie manager Sabri Lamouchi. Clearly they have not learned their lesson from the last World Cup when white European Sven-Göran Eriksson failed to take them past the group stages. Still, a weak group should allow them to advance this time around.
Japan
Japan has issues, defensive issues. Head coach Alberto Zaccheroni has got Japan playing in a fluid attacking style which has seen them carve open the toughest of international defences. However the defence is slow and vulnerable, and filled with Zaccheroni's pet favourites, such as Yasuyuki Konno, who has remained a mainstay at centre-back despite playing club football for a Japanese yo-yo club. Last November they beat Belgium and drew with the Netherlands, and though they lost all three of their Confederations Cup games they scored three past Italy in a 4-3 defeat which highlights both their offensive strengths and defensive frailties.
The team have a few useful players, though the most recognizable name will be Shinji Kagawa, who has only shown glimpses of his performances at Dortmund whilst with Manchester United. Kagawa has excellent technical and passing ability, as well great composure and an ability to ghost into the box to score goals. The Japanese are capable of reaching the knock-out stages, but only if they can either outscore their opponents or resolve their defensive issues.
Group D
Uruguay, Italy and England are all less fancied second tier teams, but the Uruguayan strike force and the Italian flair should be too much for an England team without any obvious strength. England have never beaten any of their rivals in the World Cup, but Costa Rica should exit with zero points.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica have been dealt a tough hand by being placed in a group with three former World Champions. Their friendly defeats to Australia, Chile and South Korea do not bode well, as especially as they filed to find the net during these games. Key players were absent for these games, particularly young Arsenal forward Joel Campbell. They came up with performances during qualification, losing only two of their ten games in the final group stage, though it is notable that they failed to win any of their five games outside of Costa Rica. They have never beaten any of their group opponents, though this will be the first time they have met England. At last year's Gold Cup they didn't really beat any team of note and exited the competition at the quarter-finals with a 1-0 defeat to Honduras.
Coach Jorge Luis Pinto is highly experienced but has moved from club to club generally upsetting people along the way with his abrasive manner. Their best player is Levante goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who has arguably been La Liga's best goalkeeper this season. Taken lightly they may upset one of their rivals but the knock-out stages seem to be an impossible task.
England
England made it through a potentially difficult qualifying group without losing a game and have a good blend of youth prospects (Lallana, Shaw, Sturrudge) and experienced veterans (Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney). Wayne Rooney will be a key player if England is going to progress in the tournament. He is England's fifth highest scorer and Manchester United's third highest scorer, but though he has five Premier titles and a Champions League winner's medal he has yet to really shine for the Three Lions, failing to score a single goal at the World Cup in two tournaments.
Coach Roy Hodgson has coached 16 teams in 38 years as a manager, and he will no doubt be realistic and see his best chance at a good legacy as being the manager who brought through England's young talent in 2014. The squad is not good enough to win the tournament, but England will be hard for other teams to compete with if confidence grows from getting out of the group stages for the new generation coming through - we can see England doing a little better than expected this time around... optimistic, of course, but why not?
Italy
Italy are not the force they once were, their young talent is hot headed and unpredictable whilst their old talent are facing their last World Cup. Head coach Cesare Prandelli has done a terrific job by leading the Azzuri to the final of Euro 2012 and the semi-finals of last year's Confederations Cup, whilst ensuring they remained unbeaten in qualifying. Prandelli has also ensured that the typical Italian defensive catenaccio tactics are a thing of the past, making Italy a more exciting team to watch for the neutral.
The key man is Andrea Pirlo, who has earned the reputation as being one of the best technicians in recent history. Sitting deep in midfield his long-range passing is a joy to behold, and he has dominated Serie A at Juventus with his elegant and masterful style. Sitting in goal is Gigi Buffon, who will become only the third player to appear in five World Cups. The heat may prove to be too much for an Italian side that is filled with young hot heads and players beyond the peak of their powers.
Uruguay
Uruguay won the World Cup the last time Brazil hosted the competition, beating the Brazilians 2-1 at the Maracanã in 1950. They surprised many at the last World Cup by reaching the semi-finals, though their route to the semi-finals was not particularly taxing. In last year's Confederations Cup they lost 2-1 to Brazil and Spain, but as these are two of the favourites for the tournament it should give an indication of the threat Uruguay pose. In the third-place play-off they held Italy to a 2-2 draw so this would suggest their match with Italy should be a close run thing.
Less impressive was their qualification campaign for this tournament, finishing fifth in CONMEBOL (bear in mind Brazil had already qualified as hosts), they required a play-off game victory over Jordan to reach Brazil. Their squad though is mostly at the peak of its powers, with a Suarez and Cavani strike partnership as good as any in the competition. Suarez in particular is a world-class talent, his flair for the spectacular, deadly finishing and competitive spirit are up there with Messi and Ronaldo. Coach Oscar Tabarez is the longest serving and oldest manager in the tournament, and though he had a 16 year absence from the role he actually coached Uruguay at the 1990 World Cup! Besides Suarez the squad is experienced and capable and they should be considered a threat to any team in the world.
Group E
The weakest of the eight groups, Honduras will exit on zero points but the other three teams are harder to judge. Switzerland and France are well organized, whilst Ecuador are more a wild card option with the potential to score a fair few goals.
Ecuador
Ecuador are the true dark horses of this tournament, in that very little is known of their team. Head coach Reinaldo Rueda is a Colombian who never played the game professionally before having success in Colombia and leading the Colombian national side. His great achievement came when he led Honduras to the 2010 World Cup, and under his charge the minnows conceded just three goals, and two of these came against world champions Spain. The squad is spread across almost a dozen countries across the globe, with their most well-known export being Manchester United's Antonio Valencia.
Ecuador failed to beat Honduras and only narrowly defeated Australia in recent friendlies, and they only qualified due to other teams being unable to cope with the altitude of Ecuador. However they should still be able to hold their own against better European teams in the South American climate. They are not good enough to go too far, but they should be able to hold their own against better quality European teams and are capable of surprising a few people.
France
The French campaign at the last World Cup was a farce, with the players going out on strike in support of Nicolas Anelka, who was kicked out by a manager who picked his team based on the alignments of the stars. New head coach Didier Deschamps has instilled discipline and pride back into France, having won numerous honours at Marseille and Juventus as both a player and as a manager. He has moulded the French squad around Franck Ribéry, who is the nation's successor to Zinedine Zidane. Ribéry is one of Europe's top players, boasting pace, energy, skill, precise passing, and excellent ball control skills.
Deschamps has ensured that disharmony will not strike again this year by omitting Samir Nasri, who is not good enough to start for France but not man enough to accept his position on the bench with good grace. Deschamps plays Yohan Cabaye, Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi across the midfield with Mathieu Valbuena, Franck Ribery and Kareem Benzema attacking as a threesome. They should give anyone a game on their day, but they are not one of the favourites in Brazil and will probably fall early in the knock-out stages.
Honduras
It is a shame that Honduras head coach Luis Suárez cannot play for the team... oh wait, he is a different Suarez. These are the whipping boys, though if the French squad decide not to talk to each other again then who knows what may happen? Names familiar to English observers include Figueroa (Hull), Palacios (Stoke), García and Espinoza (Wigan), whilst Emilio Izaguirre and Arnold Peralta ply their trade for the two big Glasgow clubs. If they were to win a game that would be a great accomplishment for these boys.
The main strength is the team spirit instilled in the young squad by Suarez. Star player Maynor Figueroa hasn't ended the season in the best of form but at the time of writing he met yet marshal the Hull defence to an unlikely FA Cup final victory over Arsenal.
Switzerland
The Swiss have a good squad this year, and may make a mockery of our group stage prediction. Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has won the Bundesliga seven times in a 30 year management career, experiencing the highs of a 2001 Champions League final victory over Valencia and the lows of a 1999 Champions League final defeat to Manchester United. Most of his squad are based in the top leagues of Europe, and three of his midfield are Napoli teammates: Blerim Dzemaili, Valon Behrami and Gokhan Inler. Inler is a delight to watch because of his good ball control skills, and because you never know when he might be tempted to attempt one of his powerful long range shots in the manner of a young Bobby Charlton. Bayern winger Xherdan Shaqiri is also a delight to watch, the little winger has scored a hat-trick against Bulgaria and at the age of 22 expect to see a lot more of this player in years to come.
Switzerland set a dubious record in 2006 for being the first team in World Cup history to exit the competition without conceding a goal, but this exciting young squad are capable of anything if they make it through the group stages.
Group F
Argentina are a top tier team and are too strong for their group opponents, and their strike force has the firepower to demolish Iran in particular. Bosnia should edge out Nigeria in a group of few surprises.
Argentina
Argentina have the strongest front-line in the competition: Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria. If these four men get going then it will take a very, very good team to knock them out – though as this is the World Cup then there will be a fair few of these lying in wait. They have exited at the quarter-final stage in three of the last four tournaments, where they should face the level of opposition that stand a decent chance of outscoring a Messi led attack. Coach Alejandro Sabella has tried to instil team spirit in the squad, and to help with this aim he has left out the disruptive influence of Carlos Tevez – few teams in world football could afford to abandon such a talent. Sabella managed Estudiantes to the Copa Libertadores title in 2009, and his pragmatic approach to the game could be the key to balancing the overpowered Argentinian front line.
Speaking of overpowered, Lionel Messi needs a World Cup medal to push himself ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and put his name alongside greats such as Pele and Maradonna. He should be fresh after missing a couple of the winter months nursing an injury, though he has had an indifferent end to the season at Barcelona. Argentina are one of the favourites for the competition, and are capable of reaching the final for the first time since 1990.
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for a major tournament for the first time after utilizing the talents of a golden generation that includes world class talent such as Stoke City's Asmir Begović, Manchester City's Edin Džeko and… well that's about it for world class talent. They do however have players at Roma (Pjanić), Lazio (Lulić) and Galatasaray (Hajrović). They had an easy qualification group, with their only slip up being a surprise defeat at home to Slovakia. In their recent friendlies they have lost to USA, Argentina and Egypt and we cannot see them getting too far here.
Džeko has fallen out with coach Safet Susic, but seems to have buried the hatchet. He is a striker able to form deadly partnerships with lesser talents, proving deadly at Wolfsburg with Grafite and equally deadly in qualifying with an 18 goal partnership with Vedad Ibisevic. Susic has talents such as Roma playmaker Miralem Pjanic, Lazio winger Senad Lulic and Hoffenheim's Sejad Salihovic at his disposal, and has told the press that his men are not in Rio for “a tourist expedition”. They will see a group stage exit as failure.
Iran
Iran qualified in an inconsistent manner, beating South Korea home and away whilst conspiring to lose at home to Uzbekistan and away to Lebanon. In March they played a friendly with Guinea in Teheran and managed to lose despite playing their best available players. Star man Ashkan Dejagah has got relegated this season with Fulham and we see no reason to suggest Iran will pick up any points in Brazil. Coach Carlos Queiroz has complained at the financial issues which have seen the team's build up to the tournament consisting of a defeat to Guinea and... thats it. The team looks past it, and Queiroz's latest press meetings have seen him use terms such as "learning experience" rather than talk of reaching the knock-out stages. Expect him to use negative defensive tactics, just as he did when in charge of Portugal.
The star man is undoubtedly Javad Nekounam, who serves as captain, playmaker and set-piece specialist. Nekounam will be the initiator of Iran's counter-attacks, using his solid passing skills to launch the ball forward after he has finished with his defensive duties.
Nigeria
Nigeria have often shouldered the burden of being Africa's greatest hopes of World Cup success, and have sometimes let this expectation weigh heavily and detract from their performances. They go into this tournament again as Africa's champions but without some of the exciting talents of previous campaigns. John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses are good players but not good enough to hold down regular places at Chelsea and Liverpool respectively. The team has pace in abundance but lack a clinical finisher and are defensively suspect.
Obi Mikel would probably be shot by Mourinho if he advanced too far forward at Stamford Bridge, but Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi allows him the freedom to use his power and technical ability to help make the Nigerian attack tick. Nigeria should challenge Bosnia to second place but are not strong enough to venture far into the knock-out stages.
Group G
A group of death, the Germans are a top tier team and always turn up so should top the group. Portugal have a good team and the world's best player so should clinch second place over a solid USA and Ghana.
Germany
The German's World Cup record is the envy of Europe. A nation of ridiculous consistency, the last time they failed to reach the quarter-finals was in 1978. They have finished in the top four in the last two World Cups and Euro tournaments, and the German people now expect glory as this squad of promising talents reaches the zenith of its powers. If Group G is the Group of Death then Germany will play the part of the Grim Reaper.
Lahm and Schweinsteiger will anchor the midfield, and Joachim Loew is particularly spoilt for choice in this department with Ozil, Khedira, Kroos, Gotze... the list goes on and on. Defensively the choice is less bedazzling, especially with recent injuries, and Loew named two uncapped young defenders in his 30 man provisional squad. Regardless of such issues Germany are one of the favourites for the tournament and should be considered top four material.
Ghana
Ghana blew the chance to become the first African side to reach a World Cup semi-final after missing an extra-time penalty against Uruguay in South Africa. At that tournament they defeated this year's group opponents United States and also ran Germany close to a 1-0 loss. Ghana have a strong midfield with Kwadwo Asamoah, Sulley Muntari, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Michael Essien, and up front is Asamoah Gyan, but they are suspect at the back. The ‘Group of Death' may mean they exit at the group stages this time around, but should they make it through to the knock-out stages then they will be a dangerous opponent to face. Probably the best balanced African side in the competition, they reached the semi-finals of last year's Africa Cup of Nations before losing to surprise package Burkina Faso in a penalty shoot-out.
They sealed their passage to Brazil with a convincing 7–3 aggregate victory over Egypt, and with head coach Kwesi Appiah in charge we can see how well a black African can do in charge of a team largely based in Europe. We hope they do well as African nations have too frequently overlooked their own candidates and instead hired white European managers, but Germany and Portugal should be too strong for Ghana in Brazil.
Portugal
Portugal have the world's best player in Cristiano Ronaldo, but their qualifying draws to Israel and Northern Ireland show that they are not the world's best team and in fact are prone to occasional collapses. Ronaldo pulled Portugal through the play-offs with all four goals against Sweden, showing that the 29-year old may this year cap his Ballon d'Or triumph by performing in the big games at international level rather than simply destroying weaker outfits with his unstoppable runs. Head coach Paulo Bento has abandoned the ultra-defensive philosophy that has dogged the Portuguese game and has allowed his team to be freer flowing to better exploit the phenomenal ability of the talismanic Ronaldo.
Under previous manager Carlos Queiroz Portugal exited the 2010 World Cup after failing to score in three of the four games. The squad is experienced and the first team is impressive, from passionate centre-backs Pepe and Bruno Alves to dangerous full-backs Pereira and Coentrao, with Joao Moutinho in the centre harrying the opposition and feeding Ronaldo. Their one weakness is at centre-forward: Postiga, Almeida and Varela being bench warmers rather than World Cup winners in the making. Overall Portugal are a second tier team in the competition, capable of greatness but only if all parts of the squad are at their best.
USA
The US look solid but unspectacular this year, though have overtaken Mexico as the most dangerous North/Central American side around. In recent years they have beaten Germany, Italy and Spain in friendly encounters and coach Juergen Klinsmann has proved to be a good fit for the States, leading the nation to Gold Cup success last year. Klinsmann has re-assigned Michael Bradley from defensive midfielder to star playmaker, where his technical nous and technical ability has been put to better use. The 26 year-old has experience in the top leagues at Holland, Germany, England and Italy, but typically embodies the USA's consistent but ordinary talent.
Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore and Jermaine Jones are good players, but no American could really be said to be one of the top five players in Group G. USA are capable of beating Portugal and Ghana to second place but they may prove to be the weakest outfit in the Group of Death.
Group H
Belgium should gain some momentum for the knock-out stages by dominating this group, whilst Russia should advance ahead of South Korea and Algeria, two of the tournament's weaker sides. Russian games should be low scorer with Capello in charge of an unadventurous team, whilst Hazard could rip apart Algeria in particular.
Algeria
Algeria has made three World Cup appearances but have yet to reach the knock-out stages. They have been placed in a weak group this time around though, so despite being one of the weaker teams in the tournaments they actually have a chance of progressing, though head coach Vahid Halilhodzic has stated that the first aim is to win a game. Algeria have recently targeted young players of Algerian descent in the French youth system, such as Nabil Bentaleb (now at Spurs), Ryad Boudebouz and Saphir Taïder, who have all switched allegiances. Bentaleb seems now to be an inspired acquisition, as he has been highly impressive at Tottenham, displaying both flair and strength after Tim Sherwood lifted him out of the youth development squad.
Algeria exited last year's Africa Cup of Nations at the First Round, finishing bottom of a group consisting of Ivory Coast, Togo and Tunisia. They needed a play-off game to qualify, and then they upset the odds by beating Egypt. If they were in a stronger group they would be cannon fodder, but they are capable of picking up points against Russia and South Korea.
Belgium
Belgium won eight and drew two games in qualifying, and should be a force to be reckoned with at the next few tournaments as a golden generation has emerged only recently after failure to qualify for the last five major tournaments. Thibaut Courtois (22), Kevin De Bruyne (22), Adnan Januzaj (19), Eden Hazard (23) and Romelu Lukaku (21) all have the potential to be amongst the best in their respective positions, with players like Vincent Kompany, Mousa Dembélé and Marouane Fellaini (ahem) boasting experience and relative youth. Outside of the four favourites (Spain, Germany, Brazil and Argentina) Belgium are the leading the pack of dark horses.
Marc Wilmots captained Belgium in their last World cup appearance, and now manages the squad, ensuring the young team play with confidence, patience and fluidity. He has all the attributes a world-class central defender needs, namely the intelligence to sense opposition threats and the physical strength to combat them. Despite all this their form has been worrying, draws with Wales and the Ivory Coast and defeats to Japan and Colombia, and the Belgians will need to return to the solid form they displayed in qualifying if they are to do themselves justice in the tournament itself.
Russia
Coach Fabio Capello has a point to prove after a disappointing time in charge of England. Like at England, he has won initial acclaim with Russia in his early stages, leading the nation to the World Cup ahead of Portugal in the qualification group. The Russian squad is entirely Russian based, and they will be going from a Russian winter to a Brazilian summer – this will prove to be a shock to the system! Capello has made the Russian defence solid, and they have conceded just five goals in qualifying. On this basis we have selected their star man as goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev. Akinfeev was voted Russian Player of the season in 2012-13 as CSKA Moscow won the division with only 25 goals conceded in 30 games. In front of him are club mates Sergey Ignashevich and the Berezutskiy twins. In truth the whole squad is a fairly cohesive unit and there are no stars.
Dynamo's Igor Denisov is the heart of the midfield, allowing Roman Shirokov (Krasnodar) and Denis Glushakov (Spartak) license to get forward. Russia's only success since the dissolution of the Soviet Union has been a semi-final appearance at Euro 2008, though this weak group represents a decent chance of progression.
South Korea
South Korea head to Brazil for their eighth successive World Cup appearance with little hope of advancing far this time around. They made a meal of qualification and head coach Choi Kang-Hee left his job after a defeat to Iran that nearly proved costly. New boss Hong Myung-Bo may have found a winning formula just in time as they recorded a notable 2-1 win over Switzerland by controlling the game with modern possessive play. He selected some formidable opposition for his World Cup build up (Brazil, Croatia, Switzerland and Russia) so his men will at least go into the tournament with some experience of tough games.
Three of the squad ply their trade in the Championship and Ki Sung-Yueng is with Sunderland, but the real talent is Bayer Leverkusen's Son Heung-Min – the 21 year-old scored ten Bundesliga goals this term and has pace to burn to go with his technical ability. South Korea should beat Algeria and a good result against Russia will see them into the knock-out stages – though this is easier said than done.
