So called “Group of death” of the world cup

Picture courtesy : Google images

Almost every FIFA World Cup do consist a group in the opening round which is considered to be a group of death. It is that group where all the four teams have more or less equal potential.

The upcoming FIFA World Cup, consisting of 48 teams, have no such group that can be termed as group of death.

Group L, that consists of teams like England, Croatia, Ghana and Panama, can be called a group of death. Here’s why ?

England

Their only success came way back in 1966 when they were crowned the world champions on their home soil. But the team appears to be in full form in the recent past when they finished runners up in the last two UEFA European Cups. In 2021 they lost to Italy in the Penalty shootouts whereas in 2024 they ended up losing to Spain in the Grand Finale. They have also reached the semi finals of the FIFA World Cup 2018.

Those success came under the tutelage of Gareth Southgate who relinquished his post after the loss in the Euro finals to Spain.

Southgate was succeeded by a German coach Thomas Tuchel. Under the guidance of Tuchel, England didn’t concede a single goal in the World Cup qualifiers.

England have a habit of impressing their fans today and disappointing them the next day. So nothing can be ruled out as far as this team is concerned.

Croatia

Statistics say that eversince this nation gained independence from Yougoslavia they have the ability to deliver when it comes to FIFA World Cup.

They first qualified for the mega event of the beautiful game way back in 1998.

They stunned every football lovers accross the world by reaching the semi finals where they lost to the eventual Champions and host nation France.

In the last world cup Croatia went on to reach the last four after stunning five times winners Brazil in the quarter finals.

In the 2018 edition of the world cup Croatia went on to reach the Grand Finale.

Luca Modric will be the player to watch out for. He is young even in his 40s. He was awarded the Ballon D’or – football’s greatest honour – in 2018 for guiding his team to the grand finale of the world cup.

Panama

This will be the second time that this nation will be featuring in the world cup. 2018 was the last time that Panama played the world cup.

They finished as the group topper in the world cup qualifying rounds. They have reached the finals of the Gold cup in 2023 and CONCACAF nation’s league in 2025.

Thomas Christiansen is the head coach of the team and it was he who guided the nation to the world cup.

Ghana

One will be committing a serious blunder if he/she take Ghana lightly. One should be aware of the fact that this nation reached the quarter finals of the world cup in 2010. Only to be ousted by former champions Uruguay in the tie breakers.

That quarter final match vs Uruguay was filled with climax. In the dieing moment of the extra time Uruguay forward Luis Suarez cleared Dominic Adiyah’s header by his hands over the goal line. Suarez was rightly sent off and Ghana was awarded a penalty. Asamoah Gyan failed to convert that into a goal. The result? Tie breakers were applied and Uruguay emerged triumphant.

Other than 2010 the African side didn’t went past the first round group stages.

Ghana qualified for the world cup but failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations

Semenyo will be the player to watch out for.

Carlos Queiroz has been appointed the coach replacing Otto Addo who was dismissed following the team’s poor performance.