World Cup 2014 draw analysis: Which teams had it easy?

The draw for 2014 World Cup has taken place and we now know all the groups which will be taking place in Brazil next summer.

With little more than six months until the World Cup gets under way, fans all over the globe have a reason to start getting excited. Here, we analyse each and every group, have a look at the danger man from each team and predict the two qualifiers from each group.

Group A – Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon

Neymar of Brazil

The hosts, Brazil, will be very happy with the group as they have avoided any of the top European contenders in their hopes of of a record-extending sixth World Cup triumph on home soil next summer. Luiz Felipe Scolari has loads of talents at his disposal and will be hoping to emulate the success he had in 2002. The opener against Croatia will surely be an exciting fixture, but one the Samba boys will be confident of getting all three points. Mexico, inspired by the likes of Javier Hernandez, Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos, will be a tough opponent given their regular acquaintance with playing in American conditions, while Croatia could offer a surprise or two as they have enough quality within the squad with the talents of Luka Modric, Darijo Srna, Mario Mandzukic and Niko Kranjcar. Finally, Cameroon look like the team that are there just to make the numbers and should be easy prey given their unpredictability as they could very good or very bad on their.

Players to Watch - Neymar (Brazil), Luka Modric (Croatia), Javier Hernandez (Mexico), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon).Predictions - Brazil and Mexico.

Group B – Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia.

Spain

Undoubtedly one of the group of deaths. A group where every team will be fighting to top the group because second won’t be good enough as they face the prospect of facing Brazil in the next round. Defending champions Spain will be tested from the start, with their opening game against European giants Netherlands, a repeat of the 2010 World Cup final. For Vicente del Bosque’s men to retain the title and continue their world domination, they will need to get used to the conditions quickly and be at their very best to hit the ground running. Netherlands, led by Robin van Persie are a team in transition under a new coach and have the ability to be one of the contenders for the tournament, but only if they get the collective mentality right. Chile are sort of a wildcard, but with the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Matias Fernandez and Arturo Vidal in their ranks, they have the quality to upset the European sides and they demonstrated their potential against England in the recent friendly. Lastly, Australia face one of the most unlikely tasks of getting through to the knockout stages, look set to be back home very soon.

Players to Watch - Andres Iniesta (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Alexis Sanchez (Chile), Robbie Kruse (Australia).Predictions - Spain and Netherlands.

Group C – Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan.

Falcao of Colombia

One of the most open groups of all and one may even say one of the most difficult groups to predict. Colombia have immense firepower in the form of Radamel Falcao, Jackson Martinez and James Rodriguez, and had a very strong qualification to get them to Brazil. They have some issues, especially at the heart of the defence but they will try and outscore every team. Greece, on the other hand, made it through the play-offs and had one of the best defensive record in the qualification. They are very organised and disciplined at the back, and in Georgios Samaras and Kostas Mitroglou they have some match winners. Ivory Coast may not be as strong as they were in 2006 or 2010, but the Elephants are a threat for every team in this group. With Yaya Toure at his peak, Didier Drogba still very dangerous and Gervinho getting back to his best, this maybe their best chance to get to latter stages of the competition. Many people would see Japan as the weakest side in the group, but in the likes of Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda, they have a fine technical team and there is enough quality to suggest they won’t finish at the bottom.

Players to Watch - Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Georgios Samaras (Greece), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Keisuke Honda (Japan).Predictions - Colombia and Ivory Coast.

Group D – Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy.

England football team

This group may not contain any outright favourites for the trophy, but it certainly is one of the three group of deaths. In Italy, Uruguay and England they have a total of seven World Cups among them, and they will be the sides competing for the top two places, with Costa Rica capable of complicating affairs for one of them. England will be content with the draw as they avoided the likes of Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Germany, but will face some world-class talent in their bid to get through to the last 16. Roy Hodgson will need his boys to get used to the heat and humidity of Manaus, and also hope the likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Joe Hart are at their very best. Italy cruised through their qualifying and will be the favourites to finish top in the group. They may not be one of the favourites to win the tournament but they remain a very dangerous side. The Azzurri have a number of excellent attacking talents, such as Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy, but Andrea Pirlo will be key man in midfield. Uruguay may not be the side that enjoyed such a successful run over 2010 and 2011, but they certainly are capable of finding a route to the semi-finals, as they did in 2010. An attack featuring the likes of Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan certainly indicates that, but will they be backed up by the rest of the team, remains to be seen. Costa Rica, on the other hand, will be major underdogs and will be hoping to spoil the party for others with the likes of Celso Borges, Bryan Ruiz and Joel Campbell the men to watch.

Players to Watch - Luis Suarez (Uruguay), Bryan Ruiz (Costa Rica), Wayne Rooney (England), Andrea Pirlo (Italy).Predictions - Italy and England.

Group E – Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras.

Olivier Giroud of France

One of the weaker groups in the tournament, the European sides will be very happy to avoid some of the big names in the early phases of the competition. Switzerland, coached by Ottmar Hitzfeld, one of the most experienced coaches among the 32 finalist, had arguably the easiest route to qualification of all the European entrants. They have a number of very able players like Xhedran Shaqiri, Gokhan Inler, Granit Xhaka and Diego Benaglio that should help them qualify through this group. Ecuador have had a very rough year, struggling for form and mourning the tragic death of striker Christian Benitez, but they have made it through a tough South American qualifying process and have beaten the likes Colombia, Chile and Honduras and so shouldn’t be underestimated.France, the lowest rank European side, booked their place at the tournament via play-offs and Didier Deschamps couldn’t have asked for a better group. In Franck Ribery, Les Bleus possess a world-class wide man, while the likes of Karim Benzema, Yohan Cabaye and Mathieu Valbuena offer additional quality to the side. Honduras are a good footballing side but if they are able to make it to the last 16, then that will be a huge huge surprise. They could cause an upset, but will need to be at their very best.

Players to Watch - Xhedran Shaqiri (Switzerland), Antonio Valencia (Ecuador), Franck Ribery (France), Wilson Palacios (Honduras).Predictions - France and Switzerland.

Group F – Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria.

Lionel Messi of Argentina

This may not be one of the most eye-catching group, but it does promise to be one of the most competitive one. Argentina, undoubtedly one of the favourites to win the tournament, are the clear favourites to win the group. Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and co should have too much quality for the other three teams in the group, who will scrap out for second place.Bosnia-Herzegovina making their first appearance at World Cup, will fancy their chances of progressing to the last 16. They have a young side with plenty of attacking assets of their own and will enter the tournament without any fear. Iran will more likely be filling the group up, and the other three teams will be looking to get maximum points from them, but they can’t be underestimated as they finished top of their qualifying group containing South Korea and Uzbekistan. It’s been a year to remember for Nigeria and they have never been any stronger than this in many years. The Super Eagles will look to build on their 2013 Afican Cup of Nations success, and have a host of quality players that will look to get their side through to the knockout stages.

Players to Watch - Lionel Messi (Argentina), Edin Dzeko (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Javed Nekouman (Iran), Victor Moses (Nigeria).Predictions - Argentina and Nigeria.

Group G – Germany, Ghana, United States of America, Portugal.

Mesut Ozil of Germany

The most eagerly awaited, eagerly contested and certainly the undisputed group of death. It’s going to be Jurgen Klinsmann against Germany. U.S coach Klinsmann will take on his homeland, and his old assistant and successor, Joachim Low. What an emotional encounter that will be. While that grabs the headlines, don’t forget that even Ghana and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal are also in this group. It promises to be tough and things could get stemany in Group G. Germany will be many people’s favourites, not only to win the group but also for the tournament and are definitely the team to beat. The Germans are Europe’s best hope of bringing the trophy back from South America. Low’s side is filled with players steeped in top-level experience and this may be the time for Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger to make the final step at the international level. Ghana are arguably the strongest of all the African qualifiers and they have some quality players in their ranks, but it looks very difficult for them to emulate the success they had in South Africa 2010. United States have improved a lot since last World Cup in Brazil where they finished bottom of their group and under Klinsmann their play has become more expansive, but they are drawn in the wrong group and face an arduous task of progressing to the latter stages. Portugal have made a habit of making life difficult on themselves in qualifying, but tend to perform better than expectation once they qualify. The stage is set for Cristiano Ronaldo inspire his nation to glory. Their match against Germany should be a cracker.

Players to Watch - Mesut Ozil (Germany), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Clint Dempsey (United States), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal).Predictions - Germany and Portugal.

Group H – Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea.

Eden Hazard of Belgium

This may sound stupid, but this was the group many teams wanted to be in before the draw started. That’s because it’s the last to start, meaning more time to prepare and get use to the conditions, plus all the games will be played southeast of Brazil, where the weather is mild and low humidity. This group looks very open as any of the four sides could win it. Belgium will be the favourites to qualify from the group as they are a team bless with a golden generation which has made them a dark horse in many people’s eyes. In the likes of Thibaut Courtios, Vincent Kompany, Marouane Fellaini, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku there is immense of quality and there is no reason they can’t make the last four. Algeria are one of the weakest sides to have qualified for the World Cup, but can’t be underestimated as England did in 2010. Russia have a lot of talent in their squad and under the guidance of Fabio Capello they are formidable side to beat. Finally,South Korea will be no pushovers. They have some fine technicians in the midfield like Kim Bo-Kyung and Ki Sung-Yueng, and in Son Heung-Min they one of Asia’s most talented forward. It could well be between Russia and South Korea that seals the second place in the group.

Players to Watch - Eden Hazard (Belgium), Madjid Bougherra (Algeria), Alexander Kokorin (Russia), Son Heung-Min (South Korea).Predictions - Belgium and Russia.