WC Draw

[keniget]

I'm glad England got a decent group. This time we won't have to endure scraping through a bunch of sub par performances against boring teams in the group as we wait to get outclassed by the first decent team we come up against.

I have no expectations of England success so my primary motivating factor is wanting to watch interesting football matches. Anything more than that is a bonus.

 

[Frogfish]

Thanks. It's just frustrating to see a good team with momentum get stuck there while Mexico gets rewarded for being awful.

Germany, Portugal, U.S. and Ghana (the whole of Group G): Not only is this an archetypical group of death in which all four countries believe, with reason, that they have a legitimate shot at a last 16 spot, they'll also have to endure more than a few matches in extreme conditions. For instance, the U.S. will play their matches in Natal (7 p.m.), Manaus (6 p.m.; moved by FIFA from 3 p.m.) and Recife (1 p.m.), probably the toughest schedule of all 32 teams in terms of distance and weather. Depending on where they chose to stay, the Americans could travel more than 10,000 kilometers. Portugal will also have to cope with a 1 p.m. match in Salvador and a 6 p.m. one in Manaus, and Germany, another team entitled to whine (even if it's not their style), will have to play at 1 p.m. in Salvador, 4 p.m. in Fortaleza and 1 p.m. in Recife. A brutal schedule.