Fifa has just completed the seeded draw for the group phase of World Cup 2006 in Germany. Picks and commentary follow below with expected qualifiers in bold and wildcards in italics:

GROUP A

• Germany
• Costa Rica
• Poland
• Ecuador

Germany, being the home nation and a team with strong (if not quite sensational) squad should go through to the knock-out round of the tournament. Jurgen Klinsmann has reimagined the formerly industrious but dour Germany side as an attack-minded but leaky side. This is actually a totally different team from the German side that plodded its way into the last World Cup Final game, and no one has a good idea what they are capable of once they advance to the second round.

Ecuador maybe one of the teams best set to emerge/over achieve during this world cup. Alex Aguinaga is retired, and this is a team that is riding the last few years of international success with none of the usual baggage that comes from transitioning to a new generation of players. They really have nothing to lose and are likely to upset Poland by taking the second qualifying spot Group A

Poland, are a good but uninspired team that can rely on the skills of a handful of experience players and the eternal blessing of a former Pope. Unfortunately, no amount of the latter will turn the former into championship quality footballers. Poland has a chance at finishing second in Group A, but that would probably require John-Paul II to excercise a lot of pull with the supreme being.

Costa Rica would be ecstatic to break into the last sixteen. They won’t, but they do offer enough flashes of brilliance to possibly take a dull team like Poland by surprise.

GROUP B

• England
• Paraguay
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Sweden

England always manage to underperform in one way or another eventually. Howver, this group is probably the softest challange the three lions could have hoped for. For England not to qualify would be a cockup of massive proportions.

Though a minor power on the international scene, Sweden has always managed to produce enough stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic to put in a decent tournament run. Barring the startling meltdown that always seems to loom over England,

Paraguay excelled in France ‘98, bowing out to the eventual champions in the second round. That’s quite unlikely at this World Cup as Paraguay just aren’t at the same level yet as England and Sweden. They enter this tournament without their former lunatic goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert, which probably means they’ll be more consistent but the fans will be less amused.

Trinidad & Tobago are used to playing such powerhouses as Canada and Guatemala. Germans may want to label them the Uber-Minnows of this World Cup. They probably won’t even score, unless of course you count Dwight Yorke’s taking advantage of Germany’s sex huts.

GROUP C

• Argentina
• Ivory Coast
• Serbia & Montenegro
• Holland

Every tornament has a group of death, and Group C may just fill the bill for World Cup 2006. Argentina should manage to finish in the top half of the group, but anyone of the remaining three teams has a viable chance of qualifying. Juan Ramon Riquleme may be good, but a team like Argentina should be able to offer a more consistently brilliant playmaker to propel them deep into the final rounds.

Holland is a profoundly strong team that has the skills to win the tournament, but also the ability to implode in a long standing tradition of chronic underachievement. The Dutch are one of the more classy European teams to watch when they are at the top of the game, but it’s entirely possible they might be the first big scalps of the tournament.

The team from the Ivory Coast is not to be underestimated with a strong core of players seasoned by European club football. This is the best of the African teams and major threat to Argentinian and Dutch hopes of qualifying. The Ivorians should atleast contest strongly for the second spot in Group C and could very well succeed in the second round as well.

Serbia & Montenegro are the biggest wild cards to qualify from Europe with advantage of surprise as nobody really knows what to expect from the minnows that pipped Spain to the top of their World Cup Qualifying Group. They’re not good enough to realisitcally progess to the next round, but they certainly are capable of scalping any of their group mates and turning the Group of Death into a free for all.

GROUP D

• Mexico
• Iran
• Angola
• Portugal

Portugal’s heralded Golden Generation (Figo, Rui Costa, etc.) are largely past their primeb but the talents of a wonderkid like Cristiano Ronaldo—and the embarrassments of World Cup 2002, will probably help propel this team to the top of the group.

Mexico probably has the third strongest domestic club football league in the Western hemisphere after Brazil and Argentina. Few Mexican footballers have ventured abroad due to the large contracts available to them in their homeland and this anonymity will likely help the Central American power cruise into the second round behind Portugal.

Angola already surprised everyone by qualifying ahead of Nigeria for this World Cup, they will likely find it quite hard to compete at this level.

Iran has a promising a future with some of their core players now playing in the German Bundesliga—they’ll still get creamed though.

GROUP E

• Italy
• Ghana
• USA
• Czech Republic

This is perhaps the next most competitive group after Group, however, anything less then a berth in he finals for Italy is a dissapointment. Italy Manager Marcelo Lippi though seems to have a great asset at his disposal that none of his recent predecessors have seemed capable of: the guts to pick eleven players who complement each other as a team rather than an array of talented but ill-matched superstars.

The Czech Republic is a team of superstars and emerging talents with the reputation of an underdog power in European soccer. They’re not. In fact, they may be one of the handful of teams well-rounded enough to get to the final. A team with a ton of talent and little trouble in terms of pressure is the dream of most nation’s vying for the World Cup.

Ghana are unlikely to qualify for the second round, but they offer enough of threat to possibly upset one of the other three nations and thereby really turn the heat up on this tight group.

Americans always find soccer confusing, largely because they can’t wrap their mind around how their team can’t hold a candle to the squads of the great football nations. Even if each player receiveing the best training and performance enhancing drugs that money can buy (just like Dolph Rundgren in Rocky III), the USA is unlikely to get out of this group with a win, let alone qualify for the round of sixteen.

GROUP F

• Brazil
• Croatia
• Australia
• Japan

Brazil, land of Cathedrals, sunshine and the most fancy futebol to every grace the world’s stage. The Brazilian’s can be slow starters, but once any player with a name beginning with ‘R’ gets hot, it’s lights out time for the opposition. Unless Brazil encounter a talented counter-attacking side, they should sweep aside all challangers, including their moderately talented group opponents.

It’s been a long time since the dark horse Croatian team led by Davor Suker’s golden boot claimed third place in France ‘98. The team missed out on the last World Cup and seems to have largely lost its status as a potential giant-killer Still, Croatia is a solid team with a better shot at finishing a distant second to Brazil than either Japan or Australia.

Australia is a team that has an aging core of players that are good enough to qualify but probably not destined to ever amount to much more. Ironically, it’s perhaps generational problem for the Aussies, as this is a team that needs to outgrow and replace inconsistent stars like Harry Kewell with a squad that’s capable of competing for knockout phase berth then next time around.

Despite home crowd advantage at the last World Cup, Japan has never provided much spark on the international stage and this tournament seems to be no exception.

GROUP G

• France
• Switzerland
• South Korea
• Togo

France probably have the easiest group phase match ups. This is probably a good thing as the geriatric French side may need a few scares to allow more fresh faces to take the reigns in the knockout rounds.

Switzerland are probably the best of a weak bunch for second in Group G. The Swiss are a very young side that will probably sneak to the second round as easy pickings for stronger teams.

South Korea should be pulverized without the benefit of either Guus Hiddink, home field advantage or bad officiating this time around.

Despite beating out Senegal to a Worlc Cup spot, Togo will likely be the weakest member of Group G and return to life as a value-labelled store brand for the Hudson’s Bay Company.

GROUP H

• Spain
• Ukraine
• Tunisia
• Saudi Arabia

Despite limping into the World Cup finals after having to endure a qualifying playoff, Spain is a powerhouse of a team. This a team that has so much talent that one is likely to worry that it may collapse under the pressure of expectation just like so many Spanish teams have in the past. They probably will, but they should demolish their group opponents before subcoming to their fate in later rounds.

Andrie Shevchenko is perhaps the finest striker of his generation to never play in a World Cup. That changes this time as he provides a moderately talented Ukraine team with a goal scoring threat that is the envy of most nations. The Ukrainians are unlikely to go very far, but they should be able to rely on Shevchenko to lead them into the knockout phase.

Tunisia are the only African side in this tournament that played in the last World Cup in Japan and South Korea. It’s quite an achievement, but they still have a very poor chance of advancing out of the group.

Last World Cup, Saudi Arabia were absolutely demolished by Germany. This time, they will likely be soundly defeated by Spain.