The FIFA World Cup in Russia is only a few months away and we need to figure out which group can be considered the Group of Death once and for all. For those that are not aware, the Group of Death pertains to that group during Group Play (first round in the World Cup) that is made up of the best teams. During Group Play there are 8 groups containing 4 National teams each. Each team plays the other 3 teams once and the two teams with the highest scores move on to the next round. The scoring system is as follows: a win counts for 3 points, a draw counts for 1 point, and a loss counts for 0 points. In the event of a tie, there are tie breakers including goal differences and goals scored. You can see the entire tie-breaking rules for the Russia World Cup at the following link: http://www.fifa.com/confederationscup/news/y=2017/m=6/news=tie-breakers-for-russia-2017-groups-2897745.html. The reason why a group can be considered the “Group of Death” is due to the fact that more than 2 of those teams has a very probable chance of proceeding to the next round. Below are my synopses of each group.
Group A
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Egypt
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Uruguay
According to FIFA, here are where this group stands in order of their rankings: Uruguay (22), Egypt (44), Russia (63), Saudi Arabia (69). On average, this group holds a ranking of 49.5. This group contains stars like Edison Cavani, Luis Suarez, Diego Godin, Fyodor Smolov, Aleksandr Kokorin, Nawaf Al Abed, Fahad Al-Muwallad, Mohamed Salah, and Mahmoud Hassan. This group lands 8th out of 8 groups when 1st place is the Group of Death and 8th place is the easiest of groups.
Prediction: Uruguay leads the group, with Egypt in second.
Group B
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Iran
Morocco
Portugal
Spain
According to FIFA, here are where this group stands in order of their rankings: Portugal (3), Spain (6), Iran (33), Morocco (42). On average, this groups holds a ranking of 21. This group contains stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Pepe, Ricardo Quaresma, Sergio Ramos, Andres Iniesta, Isco, Gerard Pique, Diego Costa, Sardar Azmoun, Mehdi Taremi, Hakim Ziyech, and Medhi Benatia. This group lands 3rd out of 8 groups when 1st place is the Group of Death and 8th place is the easiest of groups.
Prediction: Spain leads the group, with Portugal a very close second.
Group C
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Australia
Denmark
France
Peru
According to FIFA, here are where this group stands in order of their rankings: France (9), Peru (11), Denmark (12), Australia (37). On average, this group holds a ranking of 17.25. This group contains stars like Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud, Dimitri Payet, Ousmane Dembele, Paolo Guerrero, Jefferson Farfan, Edison Flores, Christian Cueva, Christian Eriksen, Andreas Christensen, Nicklas Bendtner, Tim Cahill, Mile Jedinak, and Mathew Leckie. This group lands 1st out of 8 groups when 1st place is the Group of Death and 8th place is the easiest of groups.
Prediction: France leads the group, with Peru in second.
Group D
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Argentina
Croatia
Iceland
Nigeria
According to FIFA, here are where this groups stands in order of their rankings: Argentina (4), Croatia (15), Iceland (18), Nigeria (52). On average, this group holds a ranking of 22.25. This group contains stars like Lionel Messi, Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria, Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Ivan Perisic, Gylfi Siguarosson, Aron Gunnarsson, Bjrkir Bjarnason, Victor Moses, John Obi Mikel, and Kelechi Iheanacho. This group lands 4th out of 8 groups when 1st place is the Group of Death and 8th place is the easiest of groups.
Prediction: Argentina leads the group, with Iceland in second.
Group E
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Brazil
Costa Rica
Switzerland
Serbia
According to FIFA, here are where this groups stands in order of their rankings: Brazil (2), Switzerland (8), Costa Rica (26), Serbia (34). On average, this group holds a ranking of 17.5. This group contains stars like Neymar, Philippe Coutinho, Gabriel Jesus, Marcelo Vieira, Oscar, Paulinho, Keylor Navas, Bryan Ruiz, Joel Campbell, Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Valon Behrami, Aleksander Mitrovic, and Sergej. This group lands 2nd out of 8 groups when 1st place is the Group of Death and 8th place is the easiest of groups.
Prediction: Brazil leads the group, with Switzerland in second.
Group F
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Germany
South Korea
Mexico
Sweden
According to FIFA, here are where this groups stands in order of their rankings: Germany (1), Mexico (17), Sweden (19), South Korea (59). On average, this group holds a ranking of 24. This group contains stars like Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze, Toni Kroos, Marco Reus, Javier Hernandez, Carlos Vela, Giovani Dos Santos, Miguel Layun, Andres Guardado, Andres Granqvist, John Guidetti, and Son Heung-min. This group lands 5th out of 8 groups when 1st place is the Group of Death and 8th place is the easiest of groups.
Prediction: Germany leads the group, with Mexico in second.
Group G
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Belgium
England
Panama
Tunisia
According to FIFA, here are where this groups stands in order of their rankings: Belgium (5), England (16), Tunisia (23), Panama (53). On average, this group holds a ranking of 24.25. This group contains stars like Eden Hazard, Remelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Radja Nainggolan, Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Daniel Sturridge, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli, Youssef Msakni, Ahmed Akaichi, Aymen Abdennour, Luis Tejada, Blas Perez, and Roman Torres. This group lands 6th out of 8 groups when 1st place is the Group of Death and 8th place is the easiest of groups.
Prediction: Belgium leads the group, with England in second.
Group H
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Colombia
Japan
Poland
Senegal
According to FIFA, here are where this groups stands in order of their rankings: Poland (6), Colombia (13), Senegal (27), Japan (55). On average, this group holds a ranking of 25.25. This group contains stars like Robert Lewandowski, Arkadiusz Milik, James Rodriguez, Radamel Falcao, Juan Cuadrado, Carlo Bacca, Sadio Sane, Kalidou Koulibaly, Keisuke Honda, and Shinji Kagawa. This group lands 7th out of 8 groups when 1st place is the Group of Death and 8th place is the easiest of groups.
Prediction: Colombia leads the group, with Poland in second.
After looking at all the groups, we can establish that Group C is the Group of Death. All the French stars will battle it out with a deep and solid Peruvian roster along with a disciplined and fast paced Denmark roster followed by a tall, physical and tough Australian roster. This star-studded group will most likely see France win the group, but the second position can easily be filled by any of the remaining 3 teams – this defines Group C as the definite Group of Death.