World Cup

So there we have it! All the excitement and tension is over-the draw has been made!
Much to fans relief England were seeded in the same pot as threats such as Brazil, and Argentina, however many people were still tense about the odds of drawing Portugal or France.
Luckily, in my opinion, we have avoided any major threat, drawing America, Algeria and Slovenia in our group.
My personal opinion is that we will get through the group stage, along with America, but our dreams will be dashed by Germany or Australia in the first round of the knockout stage.
I hope this is not the case, as the battle for 3rd place will take place on my birthday, with the final being the next day, and it would be nice to celebrate alongside the rest of the country if England are victorious!
Other teams however, were not so lucky. Group G dubbed "The Group of Death" consists of Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea, which will provide some very competitive and enjoyable football. Again, my prediction is for Brazil and Portugal to progress to the further stages of the tournament.
Hosts South Africa were also not quite so lucky, drawing France, Mexico and Uruguay, and unfortunately I must say I can see France and Mexico going through, leaving our hosts bitterly disappointed.
Group B is made up of Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria and Greece, with my personal opinion being that Argentina and Greece will proceed to the knockout stages.
Group D consists of Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana. No guesses whose going through in that group!
Group E is the Netherlands, Japan, Cameroon and Denmark. I think that Denmark will be top of the group, but the fight for the remaining qualifying place will be tough.
Group F is Italy, New Zealand, Paraquay and Slovakia, and again, I believe Italy will be top of the group, but any of the other teams have the ability to beat the others to the qualifying place.
The final group, H, is made up of Spain, Honduras, Chile and Switzerland. My guess is that Spain and Switzerland will go onto the knockout stages.

To clarify, my personal World Cup predictions are that the following teams will get through the group stage and fight it out for a place in the quarter finals:
England, America, Brazil, Portugal, France, Mexico, Argentina, Greece, Germany, Australia, Denmark, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Switzerland with the last remaining place going to either New Zealand, Paraguay or Slovakia.

The groups have been paired up for the next round, A playing B, C playing D etc.

Therefore, going by my predictions, it will be:

France and Mexico vs Argentina and Greece
England and USA vs Germany and Australia
Denmark and Netherlands vs Italy and ?
Brazil and Portugal vs Spain and Switzerland

Focusing on Englands group (C), if we do get through the group stage, we go on to face Germany or Australia, which is where I fear our World Cup dreams will be dashed, and our hopes will be put to rest for another 4 years.
However, I'm not psychic, and believe that anything can happen when those players step onto the pitch.
Time will tell.