Note that teams aren't aligned alphabetically.

And guys and girls - please keep it serious

The seedings weren't totally realistic I feel. Lets take a look.

Brazil - Hot favourites to retain. With reason. Ronaldinho is hailed as a threat but with people like Robinho,Adriano et al floating around, you can't take your eye of them for a second. Gilberto as a holding midfielder will make a huge difference as Dunga did in 94.

Mexico - Little chance. Defense is too weak and aside from Borgetti, I don't rate most of their players.

Argentina - Very fractured, expecially after the Maradona fun and joy. Old fashioned British defense and their individualistic players make for a dangerous mix. Can be beaten though as their coach looks weak on quality substitutions after the starting 11. Too many European based players could be a drawback.

Italy - Not sure on these guys. Very defensive team under Trappatoni which is thier natural game. Strikers of old such as del Piero and Vieri have yet to reproduce form and thier replacements have yet to convince. Totti has got to sort it out at Roma as he could change the nature of a game and his absence would be missed.

Germany - No hopers. This team is worse then the one that got to Japan 02 final. Aside from Klose and Ballack, they have no quality. Lack of competitive games, the referee scandel and unrealistic pressure could be their undoing. Semi's would be a good result for them.

England - Have a chance although not as good as half of the top seeds. Defense is superb although midfield is class, often its a case of too many likeminded players. Either Gerrard stops attacking or he's dropped for Hargreaves/King. Beyond Owen and Rooney, atack is too lightweight. Crouch, Vassel and Hesky don't cut it and Smith is too volatile for a world cup.

France - Most successful team of the recent 8 years or so from Europe. Poor failing at the last WC, EC and making a mission for qualifiying from their group has led many to write them off. The possible dark horses. Team temper is suspect and failing to utilise Trezuguet or Henry places too much pressure on Midfield to score. I'm concerned a lot of them may suffer burnout.

Spain - Another close team to call. Not as individualistic as the Latin American countries and so called flair players have yet to impress, Torres aside. Unsure on thier prospects.

Serbia/Montenegro.

Seifer, you write like a pro Even the UEFA columnists can't do it the way you do. Congrats.

But why do you even count Mexico between the favourites? The clearly do not posses enough quality, both as a teams, and as players. Last month we defeated them 3:0 at their own ground. And that was with almost half of the first team missing from the game. In my opinion they will not get though to the 1/8 finals.

My personal favourite is Brazil. I'm not a big fan of Ronaldinho and company, but they've been present in every final match since 1994. And the quality they possess as a team is unquestionable. They managed to create that team atmosphere that has been missing with earlier generations and that should count for sth.

I also think there are going to be some surprises in Germany. With France's time as world dominator over, and very weak Germany and midiocre Italy, it will be teams like Sweden who will shine. I hope that teams like Serbia will contine the tradition of a balkan team in the final four.

As it happens, I am a fan of Ronaldinho and company. I think if they play anything like they did at the Confederations Cup they'll win the cup. I expect that the fact that Brazil had to qualify and the 18 competitive matches will help them in the tournament. I basically agree with Seifer on the seeded teams.

I think there could be a couple of surprises in the style of 2002 - most of the groups are absolute death. Not exactly the same, mind you, as I think the African field is weaker than it was in 2002.

Thanks Rabain, I don't personally count Mexico in the top 8 teams there but FIFA so I was taking a look at them from a neutral perspective. Borgetti is dangerous in cvertain scenarios and they've got a few defenders dotted across Europe so they may unearth an ace. Couple of promising guys at Barcelona like Messi..

Brazil's closest rival in thier immediate locale is Argentina, who in my estimation, have lost what made them special in the first place. I think this Brazillian team is one of the worst ones of the last 3 decades but they're not as bad as the team of the mid nineties I think.

There probably will be some surprises and personally I think they're going to come from the African teams again. Ivory Coast have a few established like Toure and Drogba but the others suffer from almost no match experience and very suspect tempers.

Expect most from Tunisia.

Holland will bean interesting case, mostly as this is the first time in ages they've not entered a build up with huge infighting on their backs. Van Basten has virtually no coaching experience, which can be detrimental to their cause. Mind, I support leaving out Kluivert.

Do you really think Italy have been medicore? I'd hazard that they're steady and unspectacular but its still questionable as to whether they should be written off. A lot of their team seems to be moving on "en masse" which does count against them a lot.

I'll make sure I get your thanks to Rabain, though I'm uncertain what for. Mexico has a very old team. Almost all of its starting team is over 30 which is a serious draw back. Messi is a talented, I agree, but he has no experience and he needs more first team football.

Tunisia are capable of bringing a surprise and should be a team tackled with caution.


Itally is really mediocre, especially compared to the team in the late 90s. They play as if they're trying to forget the Katenacho(feel free to correct me on the spelling here) but the don't know how to do it. They achieve victory with far more efforts than it is expected from one of football's leading nations. I still remember a defeat against Iceland, which happened last year - these guys were pathetic. Although I do hope they improve their performance on the World Cup.

Van Basten wanted to get Kluivert back in the team, but most of the players were oposed, so it is probably best if he's left out for good.

England lost ti Northern Ireland then beat Argentina a few months lata.
France lost to Senegal defending their crown then exited WC02 without scoring a goal.

Italy also lost to Wales I believe but the teams are still there. I don't think they should have been seeded but theycan be dangerous.

And that thanks thing, yeah..wasn't paying attention!

Without doubts, the biggest favorite for me is Brasil. Ronaldinho's performance is really excelent last year and it is not just about him - classic leaders Carlos, Cafu, Ronaldo and many others are still here (BTW Juninho from Lyon is great player as well). If there will be the discipline in Brasil team they have clear path to the trophy.

I have always great expectation on England team - the generation around Beckham, Lampard, Owen, Joe and Ashley Cole has its potential. I'm still looking forward to see their skills at the high level.

Netherlands looks very good too, however they have their weaknesses and can be defeated.

BTW don't forget to put Czech Republic in your counts

Well, Brazil or Italy would be a best choise but I'm afraid they are lack of luck... And who will be champ? Ukrainian of course. Anybody doubts?

Did Ukraine qualify via the playoff and is Rebrov still playing?

No, Ukraine is a group winner. Yes, Rebrov ia still playing

Where did he go after he left West Ham (England), he was brilliant at Kiev before he moved.

The BBC reports that he went back to Dinamo Kiev.

When this poll started 7 months ago, I was the only voter who voted fo Italy. I'm not Italian, but I love their football system. If there is any Italian reader around, accept my congratulations for the superb game vs. Germany.

So far the biggest favourites at the forum were thrown out of the tournament (Brazil and England). And with Argentina gone too, we appear to have a some kind of a European Semi-finals. Congrats to all Italians on the great last 2 minutes performance from their team! Otherwise that was a very bleak game. I was watching it on TV with a few friend and most of them decided to go home even before it was over.
I'll keep my thumbs up for Portugal. Not that I like them in particular, but Zidane is not a good enough reason to support France.

Heh. An Italian store chain decided to launch a promotion - you buy a $2000+ plasma television. If the Italy wins the WC, then you get it for free. I bet they didn't expect Italy to get this far in the WC (and, I'll admit, almost nobody did)

Haha, how many they sold?

No idea - only some 2000+$ units were under the promotion, so I don't think they are going to be losing too much anyway (if 200$ machines were elegible for that, I bet that one household out of ten would have tried their luck). Still, the marketing rep guys aren't living their best week right now

Hahahahahahahaha.

I can only assume Zidane bought one.

Thank goodness it's over.