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The most watched event in the world is about to start. The World Cup

We are starting a thread for the World Cup in the lounge area. If there is enough interest we'll create a separate forum.

32 teams are competing for the World Cup (countries and current rank below). The first game kicks off on the 9th of June following the opening ceremony and the final is on the 9th og July 64 matches later!

You can chat here about your favourite team, your predictions, those late nights (for those in Australia, New Zealand, Far east!!)

And just for fun, you can predict who will be the 2 finalists and the score and we'll give away a good prize for the correct entry. (Entries close on the 9th of June following the openning ceremony)

Also please note that the Poll above is sorted according the current world rankings (May 2006) and lists only the countries ranked in the top 20.

The full 2006 World Cup Schedule can be found here

The World Cup Group Standings can be found here

Here are the 32 teams and their current World Rankings (May 2006):

Angola - 57
Argentina - 9
Australia - 42
Brazil - 1
Costa Rica - 26
Cote d'Ivoire - 32
Croatia - 23
Czech Republic - 2
Ecuador - 39
England - 10
France - 8
Germany - 19
Ghana - 48
Iran - 23
Italy - 13
Japan - 18
Korea Republic - 29
Saudi Arabia - 34
Mexico - 4
Netherlands - 3
Paraguay - 33
Poland - 29
Portugal - 7
Serbia and Montenegro - 44
Spain - 5
Sweden - 16
Switzerland - 35
Togo - 61
Trinidad and Tobago - 47
Tunisia - 21
Ukraine - 45
USA - 5

Here's my prediction for the 2006 World Cup finals........

Mexico 2, France 1


But, the one team I definitely would love to see make it to the finals......

GO USA !!!!!

My finalists are: Germany 3 to beat Brazil 2. The refs seem to favour the home team.

You guys are in your own lil' dream world......

Finals will be:


Germany Vs Ukraine
1<------------------>2



I have to choose some one, I mean, after all, South Africa is too pathetic to make it into the world cup......

Nah Australia will win the lot hehehe, sorry can't keep a straight face when I say that.

Brazil will be hard to beat!

Final: Brazil - Spain (3-1)

I hope Australia does well too!

India qualified for football in 1954..but couldnt play cos the players didnt have proper shoes After that they've never qualified

But this doesnt hamper the enthusiasm of worldcup football in this cricket crazy,134th ranked in football, country.

Every region is this vast country have their own favourites,Brazil,England,Spain probably being the most popular.

But in the city I live in,i.e. Bombay/Mumbai,where the crowd is more cosmopolitan,the support varies from fan to fan,the fever varies from car to car,from pub to pub!!

I shall be supporting Netherland & England and my prediction for finals -

England 3 - Germany 2

I have never seen such anticipation for the World Cup in Australia before. I hope the Socceroos do well. Advancing to the second round would be an acheivement.

I also think Brazil is the most popular team in the world. They always have a great team.

Coulthard, Button and Webber were asked who'll they support in the World Cup:

Coulthard:

Honestly, I haven?t really got a big interest in football but as the British flag, British passport holder? the St George?s cross lies below the St Andrews flag, I guess England.

Button:

It?s quite an obvious one: England, I think, have got a fantastic team. Hopefully they can work well together and yeah, I think this could be a very good year for English football.

Webber:

I?ve lived in England for ten years and I?ve loved the English people and the comedy and all that sort of stuff. But when it comes to sport, I hope they get absolutely battered in the World Cup, so I?m going for Australia.

Q: Do you know where you?re going to watch Australia?s opening match?
Webber:

Australia? I don?t even know when they are playing first.

Q: That?s how much you follow them!
Webber:

Err. Well I?ll take some interest when? like all the other Aussies, only when they?re doing well.

Ed wrote:Coulthard, Button and Webber were asked who'll they support in the World Cup:

Coulthard:

Honestly, I haven?t really got a big interest in football but as the British flag, British passport holder? the St George?s cross lies below the St Andrews flag, I guess England.

Button:

It?s quite an obvious one: England, I think, have got a fantastic team. Hopefully they can work well together and yeah, I think this could be a very good year for English football.

Webber:

I?ve lived in England for ten years and I?ve loved the English people and the comedy and all that sort of stuff. But when it comes to sport, I hope they get absolutely battered in the World Cup, so I?m going for Australia.

Q: Do you know where you?re going to watch Australia?s opening match?
Webber:

Australia? I don?t even know when they are playing first.

Q: That?s how much you follow them!
Webber:

Err. Well I?ll take some interest when? like all the other Aussies, only when they?re doing well.

Many Aussies will suddenly become soccer freaks. I will be supporting the Aussies... even though I know nothing about the game. Bend it like Becks.

In a suprisingly high scoring game (for an opening match), Germany beat Costa Rica 4 - 2

It's good to see Germany play an expansive game. They need to fix up their defense before the later rounds. The off side trap didn't work for them. I can't see them losing to Poland in their next match.

It's hard to judge how good Ecuador were in their 2-0 win against Poland. Poland lacked a world class player that could stretch the defences ecuador.

My picks for tomorrow mornings matches.

England to beat Paraguay.
Sweden to beat Trinadad and Tobago.
Argentina to beat Ivory Coast.

Poland were certainly unlucky with those two shots hitting the goal posts but Ecuador's defence was very strong. If Germany play like they did against Costa Rica, Poland would score against them. Keep in mind that if Poland lose to Germany they are out of the World Cup. It will be an interesting match!

England vs Paraguay & Argentina vs Ivory Coast will be good matches to watch and won't be easy for England or Argentina IMHO

England beat Paraguay 1 - Nil but the game was below average. England needs to pick up their game if they are to be World Cup contenders!