The Official sj.com World Cup '06 pool

Group A
Germany
Ecuador

Group B
England
Sweden

Group C
Netherlands
Ivory Coast

Group D
Portugal
Mexico

Group E
Czech
Italy

Group F
Brazil
Croatia

Group G
France
South Korea

Group H
Spain
Ukraine

Left side of bracket
GER over Sweden
NED over Mexico
CZE over Croatia
FRA over Ukraine


Right side of bracket
ENG over Ecuador
IVO over Portugal
BRA over Italy
KOR over Spain (see ya, Figo)

QUARTERFINALISTS
Left side
NED over Germany
CZE over France

Right side
ENG over Ivory Coast
BRA over Korea

SEMIFINALISTS
NED over Czech Republic
BRA over England

CHAMPION
Brasil, led by two goals from Adriano!

Tie breakers
1: 5 (BRA 3:2 NED)
2: 7 corners

GOLDEN BOOT goes to … Ruud Van Nistelrooy, NED (seven goals)

 

Group A
Germany
Poland

Group B
England
Sweden

Group C
Argentina
Holland

Group D
Mexico
Iran

Group E
Czech Republic
United States

Group F
Brazil
Australia

Group G
France
Switzerland

Group H
Ukraine
Spain

Left bracket
Germany over Sweden
Argentina over Iran
Czech Republic over Australia
Spain over France

Right bracket
England over Poland
Holland over Mexico
Brazil over United States
Ukraine over Switzerland

QUARTERS
LEFT SIDE
Argentina over Germany
Czech Republic over Spain

RIGHT SIDE
Holland over England
Brazil over Ukraine

SEMIFINALS
Argentina over Czech Republic
Brazil over Holland

FINAL
In a stunning turn of events, two South American teams play for the title on European soil. Brazil wins a 3-2 thriller.

Tiebreakers
1: Brazil 3, Argentina 2
2: 10 corners

Golden boot
Andrii Shevchenko, Ukraine. 6 goals.

 

A
Poland
Germany
B
Sweden
England
C
Argentina
Serbia
D
Portugal
Mexico
E
USA
Czech
F
Brazil
Croatia
G
France
Switzerland
H
Ukraine
Spain

England def. Poland
Argentina def. Mexico
USA def. Croatia
France def. Spain
Sweden def. Germany
Portugal def. Serbia
Czech def. Brazil
Ukraine def. Switzerland

QTRS: Argentina def. England, France def. USA, Portugal def. Sweden, Ukraine def. Czech

SEMIS: Argentina def. France, Portugal def. Ukraine

FINAL: Argentina def. Portugal

Total goals 3, corners 12

Golden boot: Messi (ARG) 8

 

Am I channeling my inner Billy Packer by thinking that Group H sucks out loud?

 

With an hour to spare... no surprises in my picks:


Group A
Germany
Costa Rica

Group B
England
Sweden

Group C
Netherlands
Ivory Coast

Group D
Mexico
Portugal

Group E
Czech
USA

Group F
Brazil
Croatia

Group G
France
Switzerland

Group H
Spain
Tunisia


LEFT BRACKET
Germany over Sweden
Netherlands over Portugal
Czech Republic over Croatia
France over Tunisia


RIGHT BRACKET
England over Costa Rica

Ivory Coast over Mexico
Brazil over United States
Switzerland over Spain


QUARTERFINALISTS
Left side
Germany over Netherlands
Czech Republic over France

Right side
Ivory Coast over England
Brazil over Switzerland

SEMIFINALISTS
Czech Republic over Germany
Brazil over Ivory Coast

CHAMPION
Brazil over Czech Republic

Tie breakers
1: three total goals
2: 12 total corner kicks

 

Trying to weasel it in late - couldn't post it last night because of the server crash...

Group A               
Germany               
Poland                       
   
Group B
England                 
Sweden                 

Group C                 
Netherlands                 
Argentina                 

Group D
Mexico
Portugal

Group E
Italy
Ghana

Group F
Brazil
Croatia

Group G
France
South Korea

Group H
Spain
Saudi Arabia

Left side of bracket

Germany def. Sweden
Netherlands def. Portugal
Italy def. Croatia
France def. Saudi Arabia


Right side of bracket

England def. Poland
Argentina def. Mexico
Brasil def. Ghana
South Korea def. Spain


QUARTERFINALISTS
Left side
Netherlands def. Germany
France def. Italy

Right side
Argentina def. England
Brasil def. South Korea

SEMIFINALISTS
Netherlands def. France
Brasil def. Argentina

CHAMPION
Netherlands def. Brasil

Tie breakers
1: Total goals in the title game - 3
2: Total corner kicks in the title game - 7
3: Most correctly picked finishes in group standings

 

I'll allow it. I couldn't get in either to say the polls were closed.

BTW, Germany and Costa Rica are kicking off in a minute. POLLS ARE CLOSED. NO MAS!

 

Some stats on the entries:

34 total brackets
Brazil is picked to reach the final in 27 of the brackets

Champions picked:
Brazil 19
England 4
Netherlands 4
Argentina 3
France 1
Czechs 1
Ghana 1
Germany 1
No love for the Azzurri ???

Runner-ups picked:
Brazil 7
Netherlands 6
Argentina 5
Czech 4
France 3
Italy 3
Portugal 2
USA 1
Germany 1
England 1
Ghana 1

Total goals in title match:
17 brackets said 3
Seven brackets said 4
Five brackets said 5
Three brackets said 1
Three brackets said 2

Corner kicks in title
Eight corners was the most popular pick with eight brackets picking that number. 12 was also a popular pick.
Six was the fewest by two brackets, 18 was the most by two brackets.
My two cents: Three might’ve been a really good number here. Unfortunately, I went with seven.

Germany, England, Brazil were the only unanimous choices to advance from the Group stage. France missed it by one vote (Hi Blitz!).



I hope to have an update after the group stages, then after each round.

 

Togo's already making noise in this "tornamint" (Bill Raftery reference) and they don't even play til Tuesday!

 

Ecuador over Poland! Holy S***!

 

Paraguay loses to England 1-0 because of an own goal! I elect Carlos Gamarra as the dumbass of the week.