World Cup groups
… have been drawn. Gratifyingly, there are no weak groups: all are groups “of death.” Literal death.
Just kidding. These are not the groups. (Besides, the tournament has been expanded from 32 to 48 teams.)
(I should acknowledge that I didn’t create this image; I found it on the Internet.)
The actual groups are these:
Locations and times have been decided, too. Ecuador will play against: the Ivory Coast, in Philadelphia; then, Curaçao, in Kansas City; and lastly, Germany, in East Rutherford, New Jersey (in what will be Ecuador’s first World Cup rematch; the countries first played in 2006).
Our Aunt Linda in K.C. is keen to host any family members who wish to attend the Curaçao game. But tickets are rapaciously expensive. I can’t imagine I’ll attend (unless I win a sweepstakes out of a box of cereal).
Besides, if I travel to K.C., I’ll have to spend precious hours away from the television. I’ll miss Japan vs. Tunisia or some other partidazo.
A note on Curaçao, the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup. This hardly ever happens, but … I didn’t know where Curaçao is on the map . I knew Curaçao is one of the Dutch Antilles, but I would have grouped it among the islands southeast of Puerto Rico. Actually, it’s off the coast of Venezuela – practically in South America.
I am ashamed not to have known this. In my defense, Curaçao became a sovereign nation only in 2010.
Just kidding. These are not the groups. (Besides, the tournament has been expanded from 32 to 48 teams.)
(I should acknowledge that I didn’t create this image; I found it on the Internet.)
The actual groups are these:
Group A
Mexico
South Africa
South Korea
TBD: Czechia, Denmark, Ireland, or North Macedonia
Group B
Canada
TBD: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Italy, Northern Ireland, or Wales
Qatar
Switzerland
Group C
Brazil
Morocco
Haiti
Scotland
Group D
USA
Paraguay
Australia
TBD: Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey
Group E
Germany
Curaçao
Ivory Coast
ECUADOR
Group F
The Netherlands
Japan
TBD: Albania, Poland, Sweden, or Ukraine
Tunisia
Group G
Belgium
Egypt
Iran
New Zealand
Group H
Spain
Cape Verde
Saudi Arabia
Uruguay
Group I
France
Senegal
TBD: Bolivia, Iraq, or Suriname
Norway
Group J
Argentina
Algeria
Austria
Jordan
Group K
Portugal
TBD: DR Congo, Jamaica, or New Caledonia
Uzbekistan
Colombia
Group L
England
Croatia
Ghana
Panama
Locations and times have been decided, too. Ecuador will play against: the Ivory Coast, in Philadelphia; then, Curaçao, in Kansas City; and lastly, Germany, in East Rutherford, New Jersey (in what will be Ecuador’s first World Cup rematch; the countries first played in 2006).
Our Aunt Linda in K.C. is keen to host any family members who wish to attend the Curaçao game. But tickets are rapaciously expensive. I can’t imagine I’ll attend (unless I win a sweepstakes out of a box of cereal).
Besides, if I travel to K.C., I’ll have to spend precious hours away from the television. I’ll miss Japan vs. Tunisia or some other partidazo.
A note on Curaçao, the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup. This hardly ever happens, but … I didn’t know where Curaçao is on the map . I knew Curaçao is one of the Dutch Antilles, but I would have grouped it among the islands southeast of Puerto Rico. Actually, it’s off the coast of Venezuela – practically in South America.
I am ashamed not to have known this. In my defense, Curaçao became a sovereign nation only in 2010.