Your tips for the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Background:

The 2006 FIFA World Cup (officially titled 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany, sometimes referred to as the Football World Cup or just The World Cup) finals are scheduled to take place in Germany between 9 June and 9 July 2006. Qualification for the tournament is now complete, with all 32 competing teams confirmed. The 2006 finals are the 18th to be contested. In June 2000, Germany won the right to host the event beating the bids of South Africa (who will be the hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup), England, Brazil, and Morocco.

The Teams:

The number in brackets is the country's seeding for the tournament

Africa

Angola [31] (first time qualifier)
Côte d'Ivoire [27] (first time qualifier)
Ghana [30] (first time qualifier)
Togo [32] (first time qualifier)
Tunisia [21]

Asia

Iran [22]
Japan [18]
South Korea [29]
Saudi Arabia [34]

Oceania

Australia [28]

South America

Argentina [7]
Brazil [1]
Ecuador [23]
Paraguay [15]

Europe

Croatia [14]
Czech Republic [16] (first time qualifier as Czech Republic)
England [2]
France [6]
Germany [4] (host)
Italy [8]
Netherlands [10]
Poland [20]
Portugal [17]
Serbia-Montenegro [24] (first time qualifier as Serbia and Montenegro)
Spain [3]
Switzerland [25]
Sweden [13]
Ukraine [26] (first time qualifier)

North America, Central America & Caribbean

Costa Rica [18]
Mexico [5]
Trinidad and Tobago [29] (first time qualifier)
United States [9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_World_Cup_2006

Source:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

--> So, The FIFA World Cup is just around the corner, what country are you tipping to Win the World Cup and why?

I would like to see Japan, South Korea or even the Aussies do well but think that Spain may take the cup home

Interesting to see that the US is seeded 9th :?

The Official FIFA World Cup Site

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/

Available in 9 languages but not available in Thai

On paper Spain should do much better in competition than they do. They have some fantastic players, a strong home league, yet when it comes to international matches they seem to run out of steam for some reason.

I wouldn`t discount France who have some great players based in England. Italy too, and I`d like to think England has a chance. But, without Wayne Rooney who was injured in the last domestic game of the season, and Michael Owen not fully fit......! :cry:

Of course the favourites have to be, once again, Brazil. Always strong, always packed with talent.

But, as someone once famously, said `football`s a funny old game,` so anything can happen, (though Australia or the US winning it IS stretching things a bit far.)