USA to open against England at 2010 World Cup
by Administrator on Dec.04, 2009, under Soccer
The United States will play England, Slovenia and Algeria in the first round of next year’s World Cup in what appears to be a relatively easy group.
The U.S. opens against England in Rustenburg on June 12, their first World Cup matchup since the Americans’ 1-0 upset victory at the 1950 tournament in Brazil.
The “Group of Death” for this year’s World Cup will be Group G, which includes Brazil, Portugal, the Ivory Coast and North Korea.
Brazil, Portugal and the Ivory Coast are all ranked in the top 16 in FIFA’s world rankings, while North Korea figures to have a tough time picking up any points.
Defending champions Italy received a favorable draw in Group F with Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia, while 2006 runners-up France were placed in Group A with host nation South Africa, Mexico and Uruguay.
Argentina will be heavy favorites to win Group B as they will play Nigeria, South Korea and Greece. Diego Maradona’s team struggled in qualifying but they were still seeded by FIFA and now look likely to advance to the knockout round.
Group D will be a difficult group as three of the four teams advanced to the last 16 in the 2006 World Cup. Germany enters as the top team, while Ghana and Australia were both second-round participants four years ago. Serbia lost all three of its group-stage matches in 2006, but they easily won their European qualification group, which included France and Romania.
European champions Spain will be happy with their draw in Group H as they will play Switzerland, Honduras and Chile, while Group E features the Netherlands, which is ranked third in the world by FIFA, as well as Denmark, Japan and Cameroon.
