World Cup: Writer’s head on the chopping block
In the Corner Shop today: In two days, Qatar and Ecuador will open the World Cup and the excitement has gone to Savides’ head! He is sticking his neck out by predicting the group results.
There are 32 nations competing at Qatar, divided into eight groups of four, of which two in each group will go through to the Round of 16.
The format is a fair one, with each group basically comprising a league. In other words, each team plays all the others in their group, with three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss.
Each day, four group matches will be played, with the group stage thus completed over a hectic 12 days.
The interesting part usually comes in the last game of each group, when teams that already have the points needed to go through either play their second string or even do other teams a favour by not really trying.
I’m going to vote with my head as I decide which pair in each group will progress to the knockout stage (in brackets my 3rd and 4th positions). Of course, I am aware that anything I say will be used as evidence against me:
Group A – 1 Netherlands, 2 Senegal (Ecuador, Qatar)
Group B – 1 England, 2 USA (Wales, Iran)
Group C – 1 Argentina, 2 Mexico (Poland, Saudi Arabia)
Group D – 1 France, 2 Denmark (Australia, Tunisia)
Group E – 1 Germany, 2 Spain (Japan, Costa Rica)
Group F – 1 Belgium, 2 Croatia (Morocco, Canada)
Group G – 1 Brazil, 2 Cameroon (Serbia, Switzerland)
Group H – 1 Uruguay, 2 Ghana (Portugal, South Korea)
