The United States Gets a Favorable World Cup Draw…On Paper

Beckham looks happy to draw the U.S.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Draw took place on Friday in South Africa, and the world now knows who plays who when the nations take the pitch in June.  As always, there was a so-called “Group of Death”, as Group G features No. 2 ranked Brazil, No. 5 ranked Portugal and No. 16 ranked Ivory Coast, the only group with two top 10 teams according to the FIFA World Rankings.

The United States, ranked No. 14, fared much better in the draw than they did in 2006 in their draw despite being selected into England’s Group C.  Along with the Three Lions, the U.S. will face Algeria and Slovenia.

Algeria is ranked No. 28 by FIFA, sixth of eight in Pot 3, which contained the unseeded African and South American nations.  Slovenia, who defeated Russia in the European playoffs to qualify, is the smallest nation in the cup with just over 2 million citizens.  Ranked No. 33 by FIFA, they were the second lowest rated in Pot 4, which contained the non-seeded European nations, just ahead of No. 34 Slovakia.

By drawing Algeria and Slovenia, the United States avoided the likes of the aforementioned Ivory Coast and Portugal, as well as difficult sides such as 2006 runner-up France, No. 11 ranked Cameroon, and 2004 European champion Greece.  On paper, this is great news for the United States, as they have a very good chance of advancing to the Round of 16 again after failing to do so last time out.

The U.S. shouldn’t look past their two lower ranked opponents though.  Slovenia will be tough to beat as they have rarely conceded goals as of late.  In 10 qualifying matches they allowed just 4 goals, and lost just once in Group play, a 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland.  Algeria is no slouch either, winning their group by beating No. 29 ranked Egypt twice, once in group play and once in a tiebreaker playoff.  They are tough to score against lately as well, allowing just 4 goals in 6 games.

This isn’t to say the U.S. won’t advance past these two teams, but on the heels of their victory over Spain and close loss to Brazil in last summer’s Confederation Cup, expectations for the U.S. in 2010 are as high as ever, and this favorable draw only compounds that.  That’s why if soccer enthusiasts in the U.S. want the game to catch on here at home, advancing past this group is a must.

The U.S. had no expectations in 2002 when grouped with Portugal, co-host South Korea and Poland, and was a long shot in the last cup as they were in the Group of Death with eventual champions Italy, Ghana and the Czech Republic.  This time out, the Americans are expected to advance, meaning all the pressure is squarely on them (and England of course).  An exit in the group stage would be massively disappointing for the Americans, and soccer’s popularity here at home could slide even farther, something it can’t afford to do.

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