# Who will win the World Cup 2010? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 27, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533 "2010-04-27T16:20:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533/41 "2010-05-02T06:53:35Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I’m surprised that England has so few votes. Even Frenchman Michel Platini thinks they’re one of the 3 teams that can win. He said three teams. The other two are probably Brazil and Spain, who lead in votes here. England is tied for third (with Argentina), if you discount the homerism factor that has USA as 7 votes. Does it really surprise you that Brazil and Spain are considered favorites over England? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533/42 "2010-05-03T13:28:33Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > He said three teams. The other two are probably Brazil and Spain, who lead in votes here. England is tied for third (with Argentina), if you discount the homerism factor that has USA as 7 votes. Does it really surprise you that Brazil and Spain are considered favorites over England? I think that England only had 2 votes when I posted that. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533/43 "2010-05-03T15:24:39Z")
Germany will win. A professor at the Technical Univerity of Dortmund (Metin Tolan) actually proved this with a mathematical formula. Basically, Germany has a really strong showing every four or five World Cups, which can be descrribed by a cosine curve. Keeping in mind that the average placing for Germany is 3.7 and rounding the results to full numbers predicts wins for Germany in 1950, 1970, 1986 and 2006. In reality Germany lags one World Cup behind the predicted curve, so that means: Germany wins in 2010! ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533/44 "2010-05-03T17:12:20Z")
> [@Mycroft\_Holmes](#): > > Germany will win. A professor at the Technical Univerity of Dortmund (Metin Tolan) actually proved this with a mathematical formula. Basically, Germany has a really strong showing every four or five World Cups, which can be descrribed by a cosine curve. Keeping in mind that the average placing for Germany is 3.7 and rounding the results to full numbers predicts wins for Germany in 1950, 1970, 1986 and 2006. In reality Germany lags one World Cup behind the predicted curve, so that means: Germany wins in 2010! How’d he forget about the phase shift? Rookie. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533/45 "2010-05-05T20:24:27Z")
> [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](#): > > Argentina is coached by a clown, so Brazil is my choice. Suck me 🙂 (It was a joke, if anybody doesn’t understand it, please google Maradona + suck me). I voted for Argentina because I am a patriot and I believe in God… and if that fails we also have Messi. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533/46 "2010-05-05T20:48:44Z")
Can someone fill me in on why Maradona is considered a joke, apparently? Isn’t he still regarded as one of the top 2-3 players ever? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533/47 "2010-05-05T22:20:59Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Can someone fill me in on why Maradona is considered a joke, apparently? Isn’t he still regarded as one of the top 2-3 players ever? Well, you know, Keith Moon and Jimi Hendrix were fine musicians, but you wouldn’t have wanted either of them as your manager. Maradona has no great record as a coach, but for some reason he was put in charge of the national team. It’s quite difficult for one of the big South American football powers to fail to qualify for the World Cup , but he almost managed it, Argentina limping in in fourth place, behind powerhouses such as Chile and Paraguay. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533/48 "2010-05-05T22:26:16Z")
Argentina v England in the final. England win on penalties. ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533/49 "2010-05-06T09:32:58Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Argentina v England in the final. England win on penalties. Now you’re getting ridiculous, maybe they’ll win 12-1, but they’ll never win on penalties!!😉 It would be fun to have a penalty shoot out in the final between England and Holland, so many missed penalties… wait, did I say fun…let me rephrase that as unbearably painful adn taking years of my life. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533/50 "2010-05-06T09:42:17Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#): > > Now you’re getting ridiculous, maybe they’ll win 12-1, but they’ll never win on penalties!!😉 > > It would be fun to have a penalty shoot out in the final between England and Holland, so many missed penalties… > > wait, did I say fun…let me rephrase that as unbearably painful adn taking years of my life. Still, being able to laugh about it the following day, despite having woken up and your side is still the loser, is one of life’s little lessons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010/537533.md?page=2)