ClapThe 2022 FIFA World Cup is almost upon us with fans awaiting what is bound to be a pretty unusual winter edition of the tournament. In addition to the strange circumstances surrounding it, there’s also a layer of controversy regarding Qatar being the host nation – but today, we’re going to try our best to focus on the football, and hopefully, plenty of people will eventually pay for what has happened over the course of the last decade or so.
Our aim today is to run through all of the eight groups in the World Cup this year and figure out which, if any of them, can be deemed the Group of Death.
Group A – Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
This is an interesting one to get things started as three of these nations are unknown factors on the world stage, although Qatar and Senegal are both continental champions – with Ecuador having a lot of young, exciting talent.
The Dutch should be able to win the group but they’ve struggled at this level in recent times, and while this is an intriguing selection of teams to watch, we don’t think it warrants the GoD title.
Group B – England, Iran, USA, Wales
A politically entertaining group? Yes. A group that qualifies as a Group of Death? No, and we’d actually argue that it may be the weakest throughout all eight.
Iran are solid defensively, the Americans have improved substantially in the last five years, England are one of the favourites and the Welsh are gritty – but that’s about it, really.
Group C – Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
This is the sort of group that would seemingly have a clear and obvious winner but with regards to 2nd place, it’s harder to figure out who is going to be consistent enough to make it through.
Our instinct is to say Mexico to ensure they get their shot at finally breaking the ‘game five’ curse they’ve had for years, with Poland following closely behind them, and Saudi not being a factor.
Group D – France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia
It feels like all of these nations have played each other extensively at the elite level but either way, we’re here again, with a group that we expect to be fairly routine.
France and Denmark are the clear favourites in the top two race with Australia and Tunisia, all things considered, not really being up to scratch from a pure quality standpoint – and that’s the harsh truth.
Group E – Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan
If there’s going to be a Group of Death then we’d make the argument that this is one of the strongest contenders with all four probably thinking they stand a chance at qualification.
Spain and Germany will lead the charge but Costa Rica have proven themselves to be solid underdogs before, whereas Japan have a habit of getting out of the group and surprising people.
Group F – Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
It’s another case of the two European nations being favored here with Croatia finishing as runners-up in 2018 and Belgium always being contenders given their golden generation.
However, Morocco and Canada are fun additions with both being feasible options to finish 2nd, provided they can get off to a hot start in their first game.
Group G – Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
This is another case of ‘I swear we’ve seen this quartet before’ and another case of the two favourites being fairly obvious in the form of Brazil and Switzerland, two really strong sides on their best day.
Serbia are known for springing a surprise or two and the same can be said for Cameroon but in reality, there just isn’t a whole lot of entertainment value behind this group, and that’s the harsh truth.
Group H – Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea
In terms of star power this isn’t going to be seen as the Group of Death, but we’d argue all four of these nations have a similar level of quality within their ranks – and that could get tasty.
This is the one group that screams ‘don’t take your eye off of it’ because any of these four nations could beat any of the four others, and that really intrigues us.
Is there a Group of Death?
The answer is no, not in the traditional sense – but keep your eye on E, F and H for some potential surprises.
