The last group for us to preview before the big kick off is that containing a real mixture of nations and it’s anyones guess who will be the two to qualify.
Belgium
Fifa ranking: 12
Belgium have a lot of fantastic young talent and they should be looking to really challenge some of the world’s best teams as they have one of the best squads in the entire competition. They could realistically be looking to walk this group with their only potential obstacle being Russia.
Players such as Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas have all had great seasons in the Premier League and will look to bring that to the world stage. Unfortunately Christian Benteke will miss out due to a knee ligament injury he picked up in April. Guided by manager Marc Willmot, they are competing in their first World Cup since 2002 after qualifying for six straight World Cup Finals from 1982 to 2002, reaching the knockout phase five times and coming fourth in 1986.
The Belgians qualified with relative ease, topping their group by nine points and unbeaten in the process. They won eight and drew two of their qualifiers and Croatia join them as runners up from a group that offered little in competition from Serbia, Wales, Scotland and Macedonia.
Key player – Eden Hazard. An undoubted key component of this Belgian side, he has pace, skill and bags of potential which he has exhibited in his short time at Chelsea. With the absence of Benteke, Hazard should hopefully be looking to contribute with a few goals to ease the pressure on Romelu Lukaku.
Dark horse – Axel Witsel. The 24 year old is currently applying his trade at Russian outfit Zenit St Petersburg and although playing as a central midfielder doesn’t often attract too much attention, a similar performance to liken Sami Khedira in the 2010 World Cup could see him head to the Premier League or La Liga with a good performance at this year’s competition.
- Belguim to win Group: 5/6 (1/4 to finish 2nd) heavy favourites to walk the group
- Belgium to win World Cup: 16/1 some bookies see them as a real dark horse
Algeria
Fifa ranking: 25
Algeria cannot be underestimated in this group. Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic took charge in July 2011 and the highly disciplined manager has overlooked several established players in favour of a young generation, many of whom represented France at youth level.
Brazil will be his first experience of the World Cup Finals as a coach having been sacked by Ivory Coast three months before the 2010 finals.
In 1982 Algeria became the first African nation to win two matches in the same finals but they failed to qualify from the group on goal difference. They have not won a game in their subsequent two finals – 1986 and 2010. No longer World Cup whipping boys, the ‘Desert Foxes’ have been boosted by a stronger professional league, improving standards at grassroots level and an influx of players with Algerian parents.
Algeria were the last of the African nations to qualify after beating African Cup of Nations finalists Burkina Faso 1-0 in the second leg of their play off to advance on away goals after a 3-2 first leg defeat. They won all but one game in the previous group stage.
Key Player – Sofiane Feghouli. Recently described by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger as exceptional and a physical beast. Feghouli was led Valencia in assists in all competitions and netting himself six times. He will provide a physical element in the final third which could prove difficult for younger defenders.
Dark Horse – Nabil Ghilas. Only first called up to Algeria’s full national team in March 2013 in a World Cup qualifier against Benin. Ghilas scored his first goal in the reverse fixture in the same competition and should provide an attacking threat for the Desert Foxes and will look to boost his chances for both club and country in Brazil.
- Algeria to win Group: 25/1 (11/1 to finish 2nd) underdogs of the group whom many will not expect to qualify.
- Algeria to win World Cup: 2000/1 grouped with Iran, Honduras and Costa Rica as the least favourites.
Korea DPR
Fifa Ranking: 55
South Korea and Japan were awarded the 2002 World Cup as co-hosts. It was with a view to provide better coaching, facilities and grass roots football for both countries and for Asian football as a whole.
They certainly embraced the gift given to them by FIFA. The Taeguk Warriors are seen as genuine challengers to qualify. This is their eighth consecutive World Cup finals appearance and they have progressed past the group stage in two of the last three finals (2002 & 2006).
South Korea only just edged Uzbekistan on goal difference to claim the second qualification spot, finishing just two points behind Iran. However, laboured performances including defeat at home to Iran and away to Lebanon prompted coach Choi Kang-hee to quit at the end of the campaign after feeling he would not be suited to lead the team to Brazil.
Hong Myung-bo is a South Korea hero who captained the side in the 2002 World Cup and will be in charge for his first World Cup Finals. The new coach was part of Dutchman Guus Hiddink’s fourth placed finishers at the 2002 tournament
Key Player – Son Heung-min. Only recently joined Bayer Leverkusen from Hamburg last summer for a club record £8.5m fee. He found goals hard to come by at the BayArena in his first season, he scored ten goals in twenty-three appearances for Sami Hyppia’s side and is undoubtedly Korea’s biggest goal scoring threat.
Dark Horse – Yun Suk-Young. Made a handful of appearances for Queens Park Ranger’s after making his debut in the 2012/13 season in which they subsequently relegated for the Premier League. He made ten appearances on loan at Doncaster Rover’s last season. Not the most glamorous position at left back, Yun will look to make an impression to force his way into QPR’s first team since their promotion back to the premier league.
- South Korea to win group: 8/1 (3/1 to finish 2nd) lot of belief that they can beat Capello’s Russia to qualify for last 16.
- South Korea to win World Cup: 250/1 decent odds as an outside shot for a nation who finished fourth in 2002.
Russia
Fifa Ranking: 18
Former England Boss Fabio Capello has revitalised a side whom were so easily knocked out of the 2012 Euros.
The Italian was quick to drop familiar faces such as Andrei Arshavin and Alexander Anyukov and has based his squad on player’s who mainly play within Russia. CSKA Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg provide the main body of Capello’s squad with only three players playing outside of Russia making the final squad.
The USSR were semi finalists in 1966 and quarter-finalists in 1958, 1962 and 1970. But their achievements since the break up of the former Soviet Union have seen group stage exits in 1990, 1994 and 2002 highlight a once great footballing power in decline.
A mixed qualification campaign saw Russia suffer back to back defeats to Portugal and Northern Ireland and only just edged Portugal to win their group by a single point. However, in contrast they conceded just five times in the ten qualification games and scored twenty times.
Key Player – Igor Akinfeev. Once tipped to be a world star, two separate knee injuries have hampered his career. The veteran keeper has recently set a national record going over twelve hours without conceding a goal, a vital part of Capello’s side and will be pivotal in Russia’s campaign.
Dark Horse – Alan Dzagoev. A decent showing in Euro 2012 for the young playmaker despite a lacklustre team performance, finishing joint top goal scorer of the tournament with three goals scoring Russia’s first two of the competition. Another hotly tipped young prospect and another good international performance would most likely see a move in the summer to a top European side.
- Odds to Win Group: 12/5 (1/2 to finish 2nd) seen as favourites to qualify as runenrs up but Capello will look to pip Willmot’s men to top spot.
- Odds to win World Cup: 100/1 another outside shot with a string of decent results could see another potential dark horse.
Group Prediction
For me I’m with everyone else here to say Belgium ‘should’ take the group. Belgium have a serious point to prove in their first world cup since 2002 and have a brilliant young squad with a lot of talent so it is hard to see three wins out of three.
Russia I believe will take the second spot but it is a close call between them and South Korea. The winner of the fixture between the two sides could be the deciding factor. Algeria for me, after watching them in 2010 struggle against England, Slovenia and USA in an easier group, will end up finishing fourth.
- Belgium
- Russia
- Korea DPR
- Algeria
Group Fixtures
- 17 June 2014 – Belgium v Algeria, Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte, 17:00 (ITV)
- 17 June 2014 – Russia v South Korea, Arena Pantanal, Cuiaba, 23:00 (BBC)
- 22 June 2014 – Belgium v Russia, Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, 17:00 (BBC)
- 22 June 2014 – South Korea v Algeria, Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, 20:00 (ITV)
- 26 June 2014 – South Korea v Belgium, Arena de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, 21:00 (ITV)
- 26 June 2014 – Algeria v Russia, Arena da Baixada, Curitiba, 21:00 (ITV)
