I'd Probably Just Ignore These . . .

World Cup predictions from an uneducated soccer fan . . .

Group A (Top 2 in each group advance)

Will Win: Germany. Host countries always thrive. Doesn't hurt that the group looks like it was divised by Helmut Kohl .
Will Advance: Poland. Star goalkeeper and Champions League hero Jerzy Dudek didn't make the team.
Will Compete: Ecuador. Managed to defeat Brazil and Argentina as they were qualifying.
Will Bottomfeed: Costa Rica. Despite beating the U.S. in the U.S. to qualify, a point would be a success.

Group B

Will Win: England. With Rooney or without, they still shouldn't break a sweat in this group.
Will Advance: Sweden. Won death-group in '02. Should advance here.
Will Compete: Paraguay. Usually a tough out in the World Cup, will give Sweden all they can handle.
Will Bottomfeed: Trinidad and Tobago. If this were the NCAA tournament, they'd be Fairleigh Dickinson.

Group C

Will Win: Cote d'Ivoire: Book it. Africa's best team has one of the world's best players in Didier Drogba. The supporting cast is better than you'd think as well. The Coast of Ivory is going to shock the world.
Will Advance: Argentina: A world power, but will they be able to recover when the aforementioned Elephants knock them off on Saturday?
Will Compete: The Netherlands. They just faced Australia at home, tied, and lost nearly a third of their team to injuries. Didn't qualify in 2002.
Will Bottomfeed: Serbia & Montenegro. Not as much of a bottom feeder as others in this year's tournament. Some people actually think they will advance. This is the best group of the bunch.

Group D

Will Win: Portugal. My sleeper to win the thing. Must bounce back from disappointing '02.
Will Advance: Mexico. Don't like them. Don't respect them. But they are better than the other two.
Will Compete, I guess: Angola. They are the reason Martins, Utaka, Enyeama and the rest of my favorite FIFA team, Nigeria, are sitting at home.
Will Bottomfeed: Iran. The match with Angola might be a barnburner.

Group E

Will Win: Italy. As long as they stay away from fixing matches, they should be OK. Group is difficult, though, and the pizzalovers were so-so in 2002.
Will Advance: United States. Being underrated by people here on our own soil. The FIFA rankings may be skewed, but you can't ignore the fifth ranked team in all the land.
Will Compete: Czech Republic. This is the second ranked team in the world. It will all come down to the first match with the U.S. I'm going with the home team.
Will Bottomfeed: Ghana.I believe in African soccer. I believe Ghana will scare someone. But, I believe they will finish last.

Group F

Will Win: Brazil. Are you surprised?
Will Advance: Australia. Sort of an upset pick, but I was impressed by the Netherlands draw and GK Cahill may be able to steal one.
Will Compete: Croatia. Randomly third in 1998.
Will Bottomfeed: Japan. Not the worst team in the field. Did advance to round of 16 in 2002. On home soil.

Group G

Will Win: France. Easy draw, lots of talent, and motivation after a pitiful showing in '02. They also avoid Senegal this year, which is a plus.
Will Advance: Switzerland. Almost by default.
Will Compete: Togo. Defeated Senegal to make it to the Cup. Watch out, France.
Will Bottomfeed: South Korea. Just lost handily to Ghana in a friendly. The magic of being hosts won't be with them this year.

Group H

Will Win: Ukraine: I just can't root for Spain. They better not take the Ukrainians lightly. They were lights out in qualifying lead by Slava Medvedenko. Er, Andriy Shevchenko.
Will Advance: Tunisia. Another African sleeper. A gut feeling tells me they find a way.
Will Compete, but ultimately embarass themselves: Spain. Lots of talent, but not enough chemistry. Will beat Saudi Arabia handily.
Will Bottomfeed: Saudi Arabia. File under "Happy to Be There. Again. Somehow."