The Brazil World Cup in 2014 is already shaping up to be one of the most exciting in recent memory, as the past eight winners are all in the draw and after things were sorted out on Friday, there are a number of tough areas for teams to navigate and teams like Brazil, Spain and Portugal are in solid areas, but the United States and others will have a tough road if they wish to reach the knockout from the group stage.
The groups were broken up on Friday and the host nation in Brazil will be playing against Croatia for their first match, while the United States is in one of the toughest draws and they will have to open their Group of Death against Ghana, the team that eliminated them the past two times in the Cup. Spain is the defending champions and they will start off against the Netherlands in a rematch, while other teams like Mexico and Cameroon are with Brazil in Group A and Spain is off in Group B and in Group C there is a tough set as well with Colombia, Ivory Coast, Japan and Greece, while Uruguay along with Italy, Costa Rica and England make up another tough group.
The United States had an amazing year in 2013, but they likely will be home early with the schedule they have, as they will be set to travel nearly 9,000 miles for their games and getting into the knockout round from the group stage could be impossible with the group of death with Germany, Portugal and Ghana and is considered one of the toughest in the tournament draw. Cristiano Ronaldo and his nation will be playing against the Americans in the Amazon stadium in Brazil and that will take tons of travel and the team also has tough matchups with Ghana and Germany, who Jurgen Klinsmann used to coach. England has a tough start and draw with Italy and there are plenty of other tough roads teams will travel.
Check here for the group list, fixtures and schedule for the World Cup.
Here is the full list of groups, matches, draws and times at stadiums for each opening match from Reuters.com:
Group fixtures for the 2014 World Cup finals following the draw on Friday.
Group A
June 12
Brazil v Croatia, Sao Paulo (1700)
June 13
Mexico v Cameroon, Natal (1300)
June 17
Brazil v Mexico, Fortaleza (1600)
June 18
Cameroon v Croatia, Manaus (1500)
June 23
Cameroon v Brazil, Brasilia (1700)
Croatia v Mexico, Recife (1700)
- -
Group B
June 13
Spain v Netherlands, Salvador (1600)
Chile v Australia, Cuiaba (1800)
June 18
Spain v Chile, Rio De Janeiro (1900)
Australia v Netherlands, Porto Alegre (1300)
June 23
Australia v Spain, Curitiba (1300)
Netherlands v Chile, Sao Paulo (1300)
- -
Group C
June 14
Colombia v Greece, Belo Horizonte (1300)
Ivory Coast v Japan, Recife (1900)
June 19
Colombia v Ivory Coast, Brasilia (1300)
Japan v Greece, Natal (1900)
June 24
Japan v Colombia, Cuiaba (1600)
Greece v Ivory Coast, Fortaleza (1700)
- -
Group D
June 14
Uruguay v Costa Rica, Fortaleza (1600)
England v Italy, Manaus (2100)
June 19
Uruguay v England, Sao Paulo (1600)
June 20
Italy v Costa Rica, Recife (1300)
June 24
Italy v Uruguay, Natal (1300)
Costa Rica v England, Belo Horizonte (1300)
- -
Group E
June 15
Switzerland v Ecuador, Brasilia (1300)
France v Honduras, Porto Alegre (1600)
June 20
Switzerland v France, Salvador (1600)
Honduras v Ecuador, Curitiba (1900)
June 25
Honduras v Switzerland, Manaus (1600)
Ecuador v France, Rio De Janeiro (1700)
- -
Group F
June 15
Argentina v Bosnia, Rio De Janeiro (1900)
June 16
Iran v Nigeria, Curitiba (1600)
June 21
Argentina v Iran, Belo Horizonte (1300)
Nigeria v Bosnia, Cuiaba (1800)
June 25
Nigeria v Argentina, Porto Alegre (1300)
Bosnia v Iran, Salvador (1300)
- -
Group G
June 16
Germany v Portugal, Salvador (1300)
Ghana v United States, Natal (1900)
June 21
Germany v Ghana, Fortaleza (1600)
June 22
United States v Portugal, Manaus (1500)
June 26
United States v Germany, Recife (1300)
Portugal v Ghana, Brasilia (1300)
- -
Group H
June 17
Belgium v Algeria, Belo Horizonte (1300)
Russia v South Korea, Cuiaba (1800)
June 22
Belgium v Russia, Rio De Janeiro (1900)
South Korea v Algeria, Porto Alegre (1300)
June 26
South Korea v Belgium, Sao Paulo (1700)
Algeria v Russia, Curitiba (1700)
(Reuters)
