Worst World Cup Teams [R]

[simont]

With just a week to go until kick off, I have beendoing a lot of reading on the lesser known teams. It got me thinking - who will be the worst national team in the World Cup? Could it be Equador, who do not play well at lower altitudes? Angola, who, according to World Soccer, has a very questionable mid-field and defense? One of their strikers likes to live on the "wild side".How about Togo? SaudiaArabia? Tunisia?

My pick is Angola. I don't think a team with problems like theirs has a chance of being a "Cinderella Team." I think that when they play Prtugal it coul;d be a little bit on the embarrasing side.

Simon T

[Holla at ya boy]

I think Trinidad Tobago because at least Angola has Mantorras of Benfica Trinidad Tobago has no one yorke is too old to be good

[Colm]

Angola, maybe Togo.

[BSjanitor]

T&T - no points and likely to lose one or two games by 3+ goals
Angola will not be a rollover (tight losses), but they will not get any points, either.
Costa Rica and Ecuador (Poland in group A is not doing well, either)
Saudi Arabia
Tunisia

[BPBlueSox]

I give it around a page or so until I see USA or Mexico on this list. :p

[Grell]

No I can't see any sane person putting the USA or Mexico on the list.

Regards,

Grell

[BPBlueSox]

No I can't see any sane person putting the USA or Mexico on the list.

Regards,

Grell
Exactly, which is why I give it a page or so...

[Grell]

Exactly, which is why I give it a page or so...
LOL! Well let's hope clear heads will prevail in this topic!

Regards,

Grell

[SankaCofie]

the USA or Mexico.


























I'm CRaaAaAAAAAAAaAaAaAaaZZZZY!

[Grell]

LOL! Okay SC you just had to do it now didn't you?

Regards,

Grell

[ster]

S. Arabia!

[BPBlueSox]

Yeah, I'm going to go for Angola, too.

[jared9999]

saudi arabia

[ShaRule]

Togo,Trinidad,Arabia..

Angola is stronger than them based on their games vs. Argantina and Turkey

[vancity eagle]

the worst team without a doubt in my mind is Trinidad & T

it is NOT

1)S arabia did not look bad against Czech, lost by single goal to Turkey, they will be better than 2002, but not by much
2) Angola put in credible performance against Turkey, proved their worth by taking out Nigeria. Have certain players like Mantorras, Akwa who are dangerous.
3) Togo at least have a quality player like Adebayor, overcame Senegal and defeated Liechenstein in front of their home fans, something Portugal and slovakia could not do. I also saw them completelly outplay the Saudis in the game they lost.
4) Ecuador at least has credible results against strong S American opposition
5) Tunisia - I can't even believe someone had the nerve to put them down. they were 2004 African champs, are a very strong side. Beat Belarus 3-0(team that beat England) tied Uruguay

Mark my words Trinidad is by far the worst team in this world cup, the only reason they qualified is because concacaf has it way too easy to qualify, and have too many spots for such a weak confederation.

[simont]

I give it around a page or so until I see USA or Mexico on this list. :p
I can't believe you put the USA and Mexico on this list! I've beenwatching a couple of mexico matches, and the looked pretty good against The Netherlands, and decent against France. Mexico is good enough for the quarter finals. USA might be good enough for the second round. They are definitley not going to have a '98 showing.

Simon T

[BPBlueSox]

I can't believe you put the USA and Mexico on this list! I've beenwatching a couple of mexico matches, and the looked pretty good against The Netherlands, and decent against France. Mexico is good enough for the quarter finals. USA might be good enough for the second round. They are definitley not going to have a '98 showing.

Simon T
Damn, some of you people are either:

a: pretty thick

or

b: need to hang around bigsoccer longer and you will know what i'm talking about

[MinPuentes]

I agree that T & T is the weakest. They beat only Panama, Guatemala, and an uninspired Mexico (who had already qualified) to qualify. Then they squeaked past Barhain. Their games against England and Sweden could be uglier than Germany - Saudi Arabia in '02.

[grandinquisitor28]

Mark my words Trinidad is by far the worst team in this world cup, the only reason they qualified is because concacaf has it way too easy to qualify, and have too many spots for such a weak confederation.

.....and they were paired with Asia, and Asia hasn't really proven anything whatsoever outside of Korea/Japan '02. If T&T could oust the fifth best team from Asia, that should embarrass the AFC, then again the UzBeks's were absolutely screwed over so the result might have gone a bit differently if T&T had gotten them instead (though I doubt it). AFC screwed themselves over by failing to advance their fourth or fifth best side in China to the final qualifying round just as Concacaf really hurt itself by failing to advance Honduras and Jamaica (probably the third or fourth, and the fourth or fifth best teams in the region respectively) and then was doubly hurt when Guatemala imploded down the stretch and T&T nabbed the fourth slot instead (Guatemala isn't great but would show much better in losing at a World Cup than T&T would or will, in my view, Honduras definitely would).

As for the worst sides:

T&T: As previously mentioned, this just isn't a good side. I have them ranked between 5th and 7th for concacaf, probably 7th behind USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica and Guatemala.

Angola: Probably not as bad as T&T and they need this, but the world really would have preferred to see Nigeria advance here.

Togo: Horrid in the ANC, until recently they had no results whatsoever to suggest they'd accomplish anything at all in group play other than getting trounced. Still, gotta love their nickname.

S. Arabia: Not nearly as bad as that lost to Germany suggests, this is a team that will get pounded by good, clinical teams, but more by the 3-0/4-0 scoreline than 8-0. They are 3 and out, and one point max, but Tunisia is way better so I expect them to win.

Teams that could end up with 0 points or 1 point but are better squads than that:

Serbia and Montenegro: I could really see them getting a draw and two losses, or three losses, but they'd qualify out of A, and G for sure, and would have a coin flip's chance of advancing out of B, D, F and H as well. They could disappear quickly but it won't be there fault if they do, the group is murderous.

Ivory Coast: Same deal as Montenegro, except I think if switched with a side in A, B, D, F, G or H they'd advance for sure.

Iran: Tough draw in a lot of ways. Portugal is a very nice squad and Mexico has advanced from the group stage every single time in memory. Iran could get a point, or 3, but it's more likely they'll go home, and I think they could have potentially advanced from a group like A, or F, or G.

Ghana: Really really tough draw. Their speed and athleticism could put a scare into a lot of teams and they could be the shock team if Ivory Coast isn't. But I could just as easily see them losing 3 straight or simply managing 1 point tops. I'd have them advancing out of A, and G for sure, and a fifty-fifty chance in groups like B, D, F, and H.

USA: Awful draw. Once seedings were announced and the draw unfolded the US was essentially assured of being drawn into A, B, E, F, G or H. While teams like Costa Rica, T&T, S. Korea, and Saudi Arabia lucked out with wonderful or at least decent draws, the US drew the worst case scenario of the six highly likely options (I think there was only a 6% chance or something tiny like that of getting in C). Easily could go home with just 0, 1, 2 or 3 points in this cycle but in my view would advance for sure out of A, D, and G, and would have a good shot in B, F and H. Alas it wasn't to be and it will take a monumental effort to really come out with some points let alone advance.

Australia: Very nice side, great coach, potentially very tough group if Croatia and Japan show as well as they can and have done in recent years at times.

Tunisia: A very nice side that always seems to get results of late, but they match up with a team that can be a powerhouse when its on (Spain), and a team that is hitting on all cylinders in Ukraine. Tough to come out with more than 3 points in this group.

[Kinsport]

LOL! Well let's hope clear heads will prevail in this topic!

Regards,

Grell
The usual suspect Saudis, Ecuador, and Tunisia but at least they will better than T&T this team will be going for the wrong records they might let in more than 8 goals against Sweden, 6 against England and 4+ against Paraquay. Anglola will loose all game but by small margins as for Togo they are a one man team Adebayour cant do it own his own. They will going Saudis on the wep boys least. I am still annoyed that Anglola and Togo went when teams like Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal lost out. The USA if they are not careful might join this group of no hopers the horney moon of 2002 is over.