The World Cup Group draft has been drawn and the next round of tickets for the 2006 FIFA World Cup games go on sale Dec. 12th. There are a few surprises and for the USA, as we were drafted into a very tough Group. Every Cup there is one group of the toughest teams, labeled “The Group of Death”. The soccer public is already labeling Group C with Argentina as this years toughest group, however, with the The USA drawn into Group E; up against two of the top European nations in Italy and the Czech Republic as well as one of the legitimate African nations to qualify in Ghana, this is out Group of Death.
Of these four teams in Group E, three are currently in the top 12 of FIFA’s World Rankings. The fourth, Ghana, has been a youth power for years and is finally realizing its potential. Italy has won the World Cup three times. Italy and the Czech Republic’s predecessors, Czechoslovakia, have combined for four World Cup final losses and 50 total World Cup victories. These two teams will have as close of a home field advantage as you can get, having the games based in Germany this year.
The US has failed misserably in European based World Cups, with a 0-6 record and only scoring just three goals in that span. They’ll need to do some extrodinary work to be cometitive this year.
Mark your 2006 Calendars. The U.S. opens the World Cup with a June 12 match against the Czech Republic in Dortmund. Five days later, the U.S. battle Italy in Kaiserslautern. Here is the rest of the draw:
GROUP A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador
GROUP B
England
Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden
GROUP C
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia and Montenegro
The Netherlands
GROUP D
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal
GROUP E
Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic
GROUP F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan
GROUP G
France
Switzerland
South Korea
Togo
GROUP H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia
Stay posted here:
Official FIFA World Cup 2006
Fediration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)