I’m in, though I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing (you really don’t want to know how I made my selects).
So you can laugh and point, or be awed by my prescience, but mostly so I can figure out who would win and go on…
Group A:
South Africa 2 - Mexico 2 - I see emotion of the opener giving RSA just enough to stay in the game. Could even see them pull the upset here.
Uruguay 3 - France 1
South Africa 2 - Uruguay 3 - Again the home enthusiasm and maybe some dodgy calls keep the host country in it
France 1 - Mexico 2 - an uninspired French side lose to el Tri on a Chicharito header
Mexico 2 - Uruguay 2
France 1 - South Africa 1
Group A Standings
Uruguay - 7 points
Mexico - 5 points
France - 3 points
South Africa - 1 point
Group B:
Argentina 1 - Nigeria 1 - Argentina should win this and would with a real manager
South Korea 0 - Greece 0
Greece 0 - Nigeria 2 - Super Eagles strength and creativity get them past annoying Greek defense
Argentina 2 - South Korea 2 - Another shocking result
Nigeria 1 - South Korea 0
Greece 1 - Argentina 1
Group B Standings
Nigeria - 7 points
Argentina - 3 points
South Korea - 2 points
Greece - 2 points
**
Group C:**
England 3 - USA 1 - 3 Lions, 3 goals against shaky USA back line
Algeria 0 - Slovenia 2 - height, discipline and acclimation are all in Slovenia’s favor
Slovenia 0 - USA 1 - US wins on a dubious penalty
England 5 - Algeria 1 - UK press starts to become super obnoxious
Slovenia 2 - England 2 - UK press gnash their teeth
USA 3 - Algeria 2
Group C Standings
England - 7 points
USA - 6 points
Slovenia - 4 points
Algeria - 0 points
Group D:
Germany 2 - Australia 0
Serbia 1 - Ghana 0
Germany 1 - Serbia 2 - I could easily see this score line reversed
Ghana 1 - Australia 2 - Socceroos score the “upset”
Ghana 1 - Germany 2 - without Essien, the Black Stars crash out of the tourney
Australia 1 - Serbia 3
Group D Standings
Serbia - 9 points
Germany - 6 points
Australia - 3 points
Ghana - 0 points
Group E:
Netherlands 1 - Denmark 0 - will probably be higher scoring, but result should be the same
Japan 2 - Cameroon 3 - Africa wins by home continent advantage
Netherlands 3 - Japan 0
Cameroon 1 - Denmark 2
Cameroon 2 - Netherlands 2
Denmark 1 - Japan 0
Group E Standings
Netherlands - 7 points
Denmark - 6 points
Cameroon - 4 points
Japan - 0 points
**
Group F:**
Italy 0 - Paraguay 2 - one of two European powers where I see possible “fail” coming
New Zealand 0 - Slovakia 3 - This is the Kiwis best chance for a result
Slovakia 1 - Paraguay 2 - one team buoyed, the other sunk by earlier results
Italy 5 - New Zealand 0 - Even an old Italy are too much for the Kiwis
Slovakia 1 - Italy 3
Paraguay 6 - New Zealand 2
**
Group F Standings**
Paraguay - 9 points
Italy - 7 points
Slovakia - 3 points
New Zealand - 0 points
**
Group G:**
Cote d’Ivoire 2 - Portugal 2- Drogba and Nani already out, Portugal in recent shaky form, could go CIV’s way
Brazil 4 - North Korea 1 - could be much, much worse, but fear of the “Dear Leader” might give the DPRK a bit of a boost
Brazil 3 - Ivory Coast 1 - in a less than beautiful game, CIV miss Drogba too much
Portugal 1 - N Korea 0
Portugal 2 - Brazil 3
North Korea 2 - Ivory Coast 5
Group G Standings
Brazil - 9 points
Cote d’Ivoire - 4 points - Advance on goal difference
Portugal - 4 points
North Korea - 0 points, burnt at stake when they arrive back home
**
Group H:**
Honduras 2 - Chile 4 - Chile is my dark horse in this one
Spain 2 - Switzerland 0
Chile 3 - Swiss 2
Spain 5 - Honduras 1
Swiss 0 - Honduras 1
Chile 3 - Spain 3
Group H Standings
Spain - 7 points - win group on goal difference
Chile - 7 points
Honduras - 3 points
Swiss - 0 points
So you’re predicting an average of something approaching 3.5 goals per game? I’ve gone very cautious and predicted a lot of 1-1s and 1-0s. But I wouldn’t mind at all if you were right.
I didn’t really take stuff like that into account, but at higher altitude and with a wonky ball, there could be a lot of goals. I hope there are not a lot of draws. Also didn’t factor in stuff like I have all African teams out of the Cup by the end of the second round, no host team has never not advanced, etc. I just worked out my next level matches, and if I pay too much attention to “history” it would drive me nuts.
Also, IMO, the groups are better distributed than ever before. I have Serbia going fairly deep, so hopefully they learned something from the last Cup, or I will have to make some corrections really early. My final 4 is surprising to me - I have a team I loathe placing third and Brazil knocked out in the second round. Probably wrong, but it’s fun to take some risks.
What is the best web site with world cup preview and prediction information?
If you look on that Yahoo site it will show you what the picks are (percent for each team, assume the difference between 100% and that is a draw). Some English sites probably have better coverage, but it’s probably slightly less biased on an American site. Of course everyone is biased some way or another.
The Times has pretty extensive group by group previews. Bleacher report has a nice quick preview section as well. Thats if you’re looking for something else to compare the yahoo and ESPN predictions to.
The BBC has a rather flashy (and Flash-y) predictor tool, linked from this page, where you can enter all the scores in the group match and choose winners through the knockout stages.
(I also think France will be out in the group stage, with Uruguay to win the group.)
I’m in!
Team BoltEater has joined the fray!
Not spot on, but so far, so good.
I’m a bit let down by Mexico on this one, but I guess that’s good for the tournament that South Africa is performing above my expectations.
My secret formula is to pick the team with either the sweetest looking jersy’s or super hot looking players. Failing that, if I have ever been to that country, did I get drunk there.
The Drunkness Factor has Germany winning everything.
The Hotness Factor is all over the place and needs further research.
Hmmph. I’m in last place with my Hotness Factor.
2 days, 5 games in and I’ve correctly predicted the outcome of every game, but gotten the score wrong… every… single… time.
So BoltEater, have you thought about a career as a football pundit? Or a professional gambler? Eight correct result predictions out of nine, that is impressive.
Too much work, since that involves more research than I’m interested in (plus, I’m a straight dude).
My picks: (a) Have I visited one of the countries? If so, pick that one to win. (b) If not, has my wife visited it? Pick that one to win. (c) If I’ve visited both, which country did I like better? (d) If neither me or my wife have visited, which one have we been closest to?
Ta Da! I’m going to assume it’s foolproof because I haven’t checked any of the standings yet… 
Whoop! Last place so far! If I keep this up, then I know my foolproof strategy–do the exact opposite of what I did this time! See you in 2014, suckas!!! 
9 out of 11 now, and the only one I really butchered was the Serbia/Ghana game (where I clearly put too much stock in the Black Stars having to play without Michael Essien).
I would never consider a career as a professional gambler, cause Vegas is scary good. But I probably should’ve mentioned when this started that I’m really good at predicting the World Cup. Back in 1998 I finished in the top 10 in ESPN’s World Cup Predictor game out of something like 150,000 or so. I actually nailed both teams in the Finals and the correct score before the tournament started. I was supposed to have won a soccer ball shaped barbecue for my efforts, but for some reason it never showed up.
Still, it’s very early. Brazil, Spain, The Ivory Coast and Portugal haven’t even played yet. Lots of games left to go.