Group A

I can't really see past Germany and Poland for this one. Costa Rica and Ecuador might run them close in the games but I think that the European sides should see them off.

Germany

Poland

Ecuador

Costa Rica

Group B

England and Sweden from this group but not sure who will win it though. I expect both of them to win their first two games and it will come down to the final round on the 20th of June to see who wins the group. I think it will be settled on goal difference and England will just get through in 1st place.

England

Sweden

Paraguay

T & T

Group C

Obvious favourites to progress here would be Argentina and Holland but I wonder if Serbia & Montanegro will cause a wee upset and sneak through instead of one of them, perhaps Holland. Don't expect Ivory Coast to cause many problems.

Argentina

Holland

Serbia & Montanegro

Ivory Coast

Group D

Portugal and Mexico to get through this one for me though Iran might suprise a few with some decent performances. Angola are rubbish. Simple as.

Portugal

Mexico

Iran

Angola

Group E

I would expect the Czechs and Italy to win through in this one with USA finishing 3rd and Ghana in last.

Czech Rep.

Italy

USA

Ghana

Group F

Think this one is quite tricky to rpedict. Brazil are clear favourites to progress and I would expect them to do so. But it's the battle for 2nd that will be very interesting indeed. I would say it is between Japan and Australia myself and I think that Japan will just pip them to it. Croatia will also have a say in it as well and could get close themselves but I don't think they will have quite enough. I think this will be the most interesting group.

Brazil

Japan

Australia

Croatia

Group G

France to win this one and South Korea and Switzerland to do battle for 2nd spot. Really not sure who would win through in that one to be honest. Right now I shall take a stab at South Korea!

France

South Korea

Switzerland

Togo

Group H

Spain and Ukraine in this final group for me. Spain really should do so much better than they actually do do at these tournaments but they seem to excel in failure. Hopefully Torres will live up to the hype that surrounds his obvious talent and show us why Chelsea want to pay £40 million for him.

Spain

Ukraine

Saudi Arabia

Tunisia

Absolute sham, I doubt it was even a free kick, then he deliberately holds his face as though he was hit across the chops............poor show Henry, did not think you would stoop so low. Think this was some form of retribution for Puyol getting the better of Henry in cup final.

Fair enough he made the most of it....... but it was still a foul.... and I have seen far far worse than that in the tournament so far

Sorry Gaz, but for me it wasn't even a foul. They were running side by side then you see Hnery fall over clutching his face. Especially ironic after this comment he made after the CL final

"Maybe next time I'll learn how to dive. I expect the referee to do his job but I don't think he did."

Fair enough he made the most of it....... but it was still a foul.... and I have seen far far worse than that in the tournament so far

Sorry Gaz, but for me it wasn't even a foul. They were running side by side then you see Henry fall over clutching his face. Especially ironic after this comment he made after the CL final

"Maybe next time I'll learn how to dive. I expect the referee to do his job but I don't think he did."

Well maybe that was just revenge!! TBH I was cursing Torres and Ramos throughout the match for falling over with little or no contact at all.  I have watched the reply of the foul several times now and Puyol definitely impeded Henry but obviously Henry had no excuse for grabbing his face.  What I can't understand is why this is sparking a reaction?? The games I have  watched so far have had far worse theatrics and most of the time there has been no challenge

Henry cheated big time in front of probably 80 million viewers, went down a long way in my books.

The point of me posting, bit of a set to at the end of the Germany Argentina game.......what was that all about.

Oh Harry, did you forget to post your scores for the Germany game :015:

Can't believe Argentina are out  :010: :010: I'm shocked and amazed but the manager deserves it for having the arrogance to take off Riquelme and Crespo becasue he thought the game was won...idiot!!  They are both regular penalty takers BTW

I think Bierhoff came on and said something Heinze after Germany won that's why it all kicked off

We watched it and thought that Germany deserved to win. The match on just now is about as  interesting as watching paint dry...... which is why we are checking the web page out. :003: :003:

One of the Germans was giving the Argentines stick after he scored to make it 4 - 2 (Borowski) telling them to Shhhh! Then when Argie missed their penalty one of the Argies apparently trod on one of the Germans sitting down on the pitch as the Germans celebrated. Bierhoff got pissed off and tried to thump the Argie guy then it all kicked off.

Thanks for that info I didn't see what had started the handbags at dawn moment. I wonder if any of the Germans will be banned from the next round because of it.

That's not 100%. Some sources are saying that Bierhoff was trying to calm things down. All very confusing!

Italy deserved winners.... I think we, Scotland would be more than capable of giving Ukraine a game but Italy looked excellent tonight

I am a very very proud Scotsman but I have to say England more than deserve a place in the Semis after their performance so far with 10 men!

sssssshhhh don't tell anyone though!! :004: :016:

I am not supporting England - however, I want them to win this match.

Rooney's red card was - although technically correct - a bit harsh, considering some of the other fouls in this game. I also do not like the whining, moaning and diving that (especially) Ronaldo and others are doing.

Penalties about to start ..............

I am a very very proud Scotsman but I have to say England more than deserve a place in the Semis after their performance so far with 10 men!

sssssshhhh don't tell anyone though!! :004: :016:

aah well it's only England :015: :015: :015:

They're Going Home - They're Going Home......u know the rest  :015:

You would think that England would learn to take penalties .... especially given their history of never having won a world cup penalty shootout .... their only scorer was a feckin Canadian :004:

Very ironic that it was Ronaldo who scored the winning penalty to take Portugal through - cheating fecker always looks like a deer caught in the headlights.

Guess the victory parade will need to be cancelled now  :004:

As I e-mailed my five aside team after their "so what group are scotland in?"

"So... who are Ingerland playing in the semis ;) "  :clapping04:

Even Alan Hansen's almost in tears :006:

That last penalty was easily a ploy by Ricardo so he could see where Carragher was going to hit the ball

I dunno if I've ever seen a player hit a retaken penalty at the same side..... SCHOOL BOY ERROR!!

I don't understand. World Cup Winners England appear to have lost  :010:

:clapping04: :clapping04: :clapping04: :clapping04:

:015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015: :015:

There was even a small buzz round centre court as they did it again  :015: :015: :015: :015: :015:

Cant wait to download the highlights  :003: :003: :003:

Oh my heavens that Richardo should be knighted tomorrow SIR RICHARDO !!

Can't say I'm sorry that the Rooney hype over the last few weeks burst with a bang.  England looked far better with Crouch up front.  In my opinion Rooney always seems to be a 'sending off waiting to happen', and so it proved.  England can have no complaints.  They never seemed like a World Cup winning side to me in any of their pre cup build up matches, or in Germany.

If anyone is looking for a team to win the cup with outside odds... I just stuck a tenner on France at 25-1 :010: :010:

They'll probably get gubbed tonight though but you never know!

GET IN!!!!

What a game France were like silk..... easily the best performance I have seen from any team in the tournament (including Argentina)

Zi Zou please oh please reconsider retirement.....WOW!

Yes France were a well-oiled machine tonight. I thought England brought nothing to the tournament. There's teams that you look forward to watching then there's the rest, like Switzerland, Australia, Croatia, USA, Iran, Sweden etc. England were no better than any of them and were very lucky with the draw to get to the last 8.

Spot on. And once again they demonstrated that despite their media tag of world champions in waiting, they are unable to beat any teams ranked in the top 32.

TBH I think on paper they could more than match any team in the tournament but Sven was definately the weakest link

First Mistake.... not taking Defoe because the choice of bringing Walcott was obviously worth while :017:

2nd.... pick your best formation and stick to it

3rd...... play your best player in their best position i.e. Rooney

4th..... show some enthusiasim towards the way your team are playing instead sitting on the bench like a sour faced ****

5th.... Don't let your players pick the team

Sven mission completed come back to base for further instructions :016: