FIFA World Cup 2014: Group D
Teams:
Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy
Uruguay
11 FIFA World Cup Appearances
2 times Champions
6th in Current FIFA Rankings
Coach: Oscar Washington Tabarez
Players to watch out for: Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani, Diego Lugano, Fernando Muslera
The road to the FIFA World Cup 2014
Uruguay finished fourth in the last world cup and a year later they won Copa America as well but they could win only 2 points out of their first possible 18 points from the South American qualifying rounds. But they got their act to gather right on time and finished fifth and played in the intercontinental play-offs and won against Jordan by 5-0 and then a goalless draw at home made sure that they are going to Brazil.
Costa Rica
3 FIFA World Cup Appearances
0 times Champions – Best Round of 16 in 1990 (Italy)
34th in Current FIFA Rankings
Coach: Jorge Luis Pinto
Players to watch out for: Bryan Ruiz, Alvaro Saborio, Cristian Bolanos, Keilor Navas, Joel Campbell
The road to the FIFA World Cup 2014
Playing in the CONCACAF group, Costa Rica’s fortune changed after Luis Pinto joined the team as their coach. They were just behind the Mexico who were the toppers of the group. In the next six-team phase, they sealed their birth to Brazil with two games to spare and finished second behind the USA. In the final phase, Costa Rica won all their 5 games and conceded only 7 goals overall.
England
13 FIFA World Cup Appearances
1 times Champions
11th in Current FIFA Rankings
Coach: Roy Hodgson
Players to watch out for: Wayne Rooney, Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Andros Townsend, Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge
The road to the FIFA World Cup 2014
England is the top finishers of the European Group H and hence they have qualified for Brazil. But the road was not as smooth as it appears. They had two draws against Ukraine away and made their position in a bit of trouble, but win against Poland finally booked their tickets to Brazil.
Italy
17 FIFA World Cup Appearances
4 times Champions – 1934 (Italy), 1938 (France), 1982 (Spain) and 2006 (Germany)
9th in Current FIFA Rankings
Coach: Cesare Prandelli
Players to watch out for: Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo, Andrea Ranocchia, Marco Verratti, Stephan El Shaarawy, Giuseppe Rossi, Mario Balotelli, Pablo Osvaldo.
The road to the FIFA World Cup 2014
Unlike in the past where Italy always used to struggle to qualify, but then raise their performance to qualify at the last moment, this time Italy qualified for Brazil very comfortably despite having Denmark and the Czech Republic in their group.
