Group A: Germany (16), Costa Rica (21), Poland (23) and Ecuador (37)
Group B: England (9), Paraguay (30), Trinidad & Tobago (51) and Sweden (14)
Group C: Argentina (4), Cote D’Ivoir (41), Serbia and Montenegro (47) and Netherlands (3)
Group D: Mexico (7), Iran (19), Angola (62) and Portugal (10)
Group E: Italy (12), Ghana (50), United States (8) and Czech Republic (2)
Group F: Brazil (1), Croatia (20), Australia (49) and Japan (15)
Group G: France (5), Switzerland (36), Korea Republic (29) and Togo (56)
Group H: Spain (6), Ukraine (40), Tunisia (28) and Saudi Arabia (32)
The numbers after each country indicates their current FIFA world ranking (November 2005). Here are the average ranking for each group:
Group A: 24.25
Group B: 26.00
Group C: 23.75
Group D: 24.50
Group E: 18.00
Group F: 21.25
Group G: 31.50
Group H: 26.50
When watching the draw, I had assumed Group C as the Group of Death, with Argentina and Netherlands in the same group, but the other two teams are quite weak. In doing the math, it is obvious that Group E is the most difficult group, with three of its four members in the top 12 of the world rankings. Italy, the seeded team, pulled two teams ranked above them in the world rankings, while France and Spain don’t have a team ranked above 28 in their groups. In addition to Group E being the Group of Death, the second place team will most likely have to play Brazil in the round of 16.