Brazil is the country to visit this summer and it is not because of their tropical climate, sandy beaches, beautiful girls or amazing nightlife. After sixty four years, Brazil will host and compete in the 20th edition of the world’s most popular sporting event scheduled to commence on the 12th of June and go on until July 13th 2014.
The tournament was inaugurated in 1930 in Uruguay where the hosts themselves won the title beating France 4-2 in the final. This year, 32 teams will compete for the coveted trophy in 8 groups of 4 with the top 2 teams from each group qualifying for the round of 16. The winner of each group plays against the runners up from another group in this round which leads to the quarterfinals. All matches from the last 16 stage are eliminatory and the result is obtained via extra time and penalties if normal time fails to produce a winner.
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Group A |
Group B |
Group C |
Group D |
Group E |
Group F |
Group G |
Group H |
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Brazil |
Spain |
Colombia |
Uruguay |
Switzerland |
Argentina |
Germany |
Belgium |
|
Croatia |
Netherlands |
Greece |
Costa Rica |
Ecuador |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Portugal |
Algeria |
|
Mexico |
Chile |
Ivory Coast |
England |
France |
Iran |
Ghana |
Russia |
|
Cameroon |
Australia |
Japan |
Italy |
Honduras |
Nigeria |
USA |
Korea Republic |
Group ‘A’ showcases hosts and favourites Brazil while group’ B’ is made interesting by fellow favourites Spain and certain contenders Netherlands. Group ‘C’ is more open while Group’ D’ is a difficult one with England, Italy and Uruguay all in the fray. Group ‘E’ has Switzerland and France with the former being ranked higher than the 1998 champions. Argentina find themselves in Group ‘F’ with not much competition. Group ‘G’ is arguably the best with Germany, Portugal, Ghana and the USA all fighting to progress. Group ‘H’ has the dark horses Belgium and a rejuvenated Russia.
Key clashes:
• Spain vs Netherlands
• Colombia vs Ivory Coast
• England vs Uruguay
• England vs Italy
• Uruguay vs Italy
• Switzerland vs France
• Germany vs Portugal
• Belgium vs Russia
The tournament kicks off on June 12th with Brazil taking on Croatia and the final group stage matches will be played on June 26th. Round of 16 starts on June 28th and the quarterfinals start on July 4th. Semi-finals will be on 8th and 9th July with the 3rd place playoff being played on July 12th. The final and grand spectacle will be on July 13th at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
The winner will receive 35 million USD in prize money while the runners up will receive 25 million USD with the teams placed 3rd and 4th receiving 20 million USD and 15 million USD respectively. Losers of the quarter-finals will get 14 million USD each while losers of the round of 16 will get 9 million USD apiece. Teams crashing out from the group stages will receive 8 million USD each. The participation fee for each team will be 1.5 million USD. Clubs whose players will be representing their nations at the world cup will receive a whopping 70 million USD. A total of 576 million USD will be paid out as prize money.
Awards:
• Golden Ball to the best player as voted by the media
• Golden boot to the top goal scorer
• Golden Glove to the best goalkeeper as decided by the FIFA technical committee
• Best Young Player Award to a player aged 21 or below as decided by the FIFA technical committee
• FIFA Fair Play Award to the team with the best record of fair play as per the guidelines of the FIFA Fair Play Committee
More than 600,000 tourists are expected for this year’s spectacle and the average attendance is very likely to set a new record with numbers easily exceeding 60,000 per game.
Final predictions:
• Brazil are most likely to win it!
• Spain, Netherlands, Portugal and Germany will all give a fight
• Belgium will surely be a handful for their opponents
• Switzerland are likely to justify their 6th place ranking
• England are very likely to underperform
