ENGLAND'S GROUP OF DEATH
StrumSolo > 06/06/2014, 11:24
We've all been thinking it, but now it's official. Our group is a bastard, in fact the toughest of them all.
FIFA have just released their latest world rankings and England have moved up one place to 10th. That makes Group D, with Uruguay ranked 7th and Italy 9th, the only one with three teams inside the top ten. Even Costa Rica (28th) are a relatively strong for a 'whipping boy'.
At the other end of the scale, Argentina could probably play the corpses of Che Guevara and Evita Duarte PerĂ³n at centre half and still walk Group F. Unfair.
In full (rankings in brackets):
Group A: Brazil (3), Cameroon (56), Croatia (18), Mexico (20). Total 97.
Group B: Australia (62), Chile (14), Netherlands (15), Spain (1). Total 92.
Group C: Colombia (8), Greece (12), Ivory Coast (23), Japan (46). Total 89.
Group D: Costa Rica (28), England (10), Italy (9), Uruguay (7). Total 54.
Group E: Ecuador (26), France (17), Honduras (33), Switzerland (6). Total 82.
Group F: Argentina (5), Bosnia-Herzegovina (21), Iran (43), Nigeria (44). Total 113.
Group G: Germany (2), Ghana (37), Portugal (4), USA (13). Total 56.
Group H: Algeria (22), Belgium (11), Russia (19), South Korea (57). Total 109.
So if we do go out, and some hilarious Scot (Outlaw) decides to start taking the piss, keep this in mind.