FIFA 2014 World Cup Group Stage Draw – England Pitted Against Italy, Uruguay And Costa Rica In Group D

Chris Wright

6th, December 2013

21 Comments

By Chris Wright

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The balls of destiny have been plucked from the perspex pots of fate and, after an absolutely bloody age of incomprehensible FIFA-waffle (Fifaffle?), the draw for the World Cup groups has been completed in Costa do Sauipe.

It looks like this…

Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Cameroon, Mexico
Group B: Spain, Holland, 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

Well, that’s England coming home early (they’ll also play first against Italy in Manaus, which will no doubt please the mayor) though, who knows, maybe a tougher group will suit them? After all, there’s no shame in not making it through from that little lot.

For the record, England’s group opener against Italy will be played at 2:00am UK time in the early hours of a Sunday morning. Poifect!

Other noteworthy clashes: Jurgen Klinsmann’s US side against his native Germany in what is probably the ‘Group of Death-est’ group to be pulled from the pot and and Spain playing Holland in a replay of the bloodbath 2010 final (the ‘Nigel de Jong Final’ as it’s come to be known) in Group B.

Any thoughts, Pies fans?

Posted in International football, Newsnow, World Cup

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21 Comments

  1. Terry Shedingham says:

    Really not a bad draw, far better than to get drawn against mediocre teams, scrape through, and then think we can walk it just because we got out of the group. Now we’ll have to dig deep

  2. Dean says:

    What a joke.. Most if these groups are ridiculous..
    You just wonder if the selection is rigged.
    Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras
    Group F: Argentina, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria
    And
    Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea..

    Really??

  3. Paul says:

    Dean, could you explain where the problem lies with those groups?

  4. J says:

    @Dean: After Platini moved France’s place in the draw, are you surprised they’re on one of the supposedly easiest groups? FIFA and UEFA are dirty to the bones.

  5. Iko says:

    Oh yes Dean, completely rigged…

  6. João says:

    Yes, France just got lucky. They had the worst ranking so they should be in the 2nd pot, getting in what would have been the group of death, but they changed the rules days before the draw so the 4th pot had 9 teams and wouldn’t you know?! France got the shitiest group. Those lucky bastards!

  7. KingB3113 says:

    Getting to see that magnificent creature which stood next to Jerome Valke during the draw meant that enduring the “Fifaffle” was totally worth it in my opinion

  8. michael says:

    to cry for england is pathetic..a top footballing nation complaining about a tough group
    imagine being an australian hoping for the slightest chance to qualify for the final 16 then drawing a group like that!?!??! i died a little inside

  9. Steve-o says:

    I’m from Canada and I had to watch a stream of the group selections. It was a stream from Sky and it had 3 Englishmen and a Spaniard commenting about each selection.
    The three kept on saying, over and over, something to the effect of ‘ooooh, I hope we get that easy group X!’ or ‘fingers crossed for that weak group!’ etc.
    When England finally ended up where they did, the 3 went through the other teams and starting to make fun of each one. They called Pies’ beloved Pirlo ‘old’ and said ‘if he’s even at the world cup’ ‘he won’t leave the centre circle anyways’.
    Now, as said, I’m Canadian so I know a thing or two about sucking at ‘soccer’. I believe England will not make it to the knock-outs because they just aren’t good enough. I feel bad for you guys because I think your (mainstream) media (not you, lovely Pies) swells your expectations so badly that it hurts all the more when the blister is popped.
    Anyways, best of luck.

  10. TravisKOP says:

    Platini must be doing SOMETHING to get these things going in France’s favour i mean come on

  11. Amsterdamadrista says:

    To be honest i think england will get to the next round

    ITA-ENG 1-1
    URU-ENG 2-1
    COS-ENG 0-3

    I’m calling it right now

    • Uche says:

      Keep dreamin old man. Four points cant get u (england)outta dat group.assume Italy draws twice and wins once and Uruguay has d same result . I.e win england as u predict? Get a return flight ticket as u go pls

  12. Joshua says:

    Great draw for my 3 dark horse picks: South Korea, Japan, and Bosnia & Herzegovina

  13. jeneria says:

    Don’t underestimate Costa Rica. I think the biggest challenge facing England is a lack of creativity when faced with such diverse opponents. If England tries to approach every game the same way, they will falter.

  14. Cell says:

    You should do your world cup predictions like the ones you usually do in the beggining of every season but instead of making 10 you should make it for every group

  15. Cell says:

    You should do your world cup predictions group by group

  16. squiggle says:

    How does making France qualify against Spain fit into Platini’s Gallic masterplan?

  17. Elio says:

    To win any knockout competition, it’s inevitable you will have to play and be able to beat the best there is, if England struggle to overcome Uruguay and Costa Rica then they don’t even deserve to be there…

  18. Mark says:

    You should do your world cup predictions like the ones you usually do in the beggining of every season but instead of making 10 you should make it for every group

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