World Cup Group E Preview
Group E is, in my opinion, likely to be the most interesting group in the tournament with three very closely matched sides in Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast. Curacao, as the fourth team in the group, couldn't have been given a tougher group at their first World Cup, and if they score, that is a great result against three of the better teams at this tournament
Group E fixtures (all kick-off times are in BST)
Germany vs Curacao 14th June 6pm
Ivory Coast vs Ecuador 15th June 12am
Germany vs Ivory Coast 20th June 9pm
Ecuador vs Curacao 21st June 1am
Curacao vs Ivory Coast 25th June 9pm
Ecuador vs Germany 25th June 9pm
Germany
Die Mannschaft have historically been the best European nation at World Cups with 4 wins, 4 second places and 4 third places and have only missed two tournaments, the first one in 1930 and the 1950 World Cup where they were banned because of WW2. But since they won in 2014, Germany have been nowhere near the level of the great teams of the past that brought Germany so much success; they got grouped in both 2018 and 2022, and there is a distinct possibility it happens for the third tournament in a row given their squad and the level of the other teams in this group.
While the squad as a whole is good, there are a few areas where they are not as strong as a team expecting to go deep should be. In goal, there was a question mark coming in, but Manuel Neuer coming out of retirement at age 40 to be the starter at his 5th World Cup means they should be fine in goal. The defence is solid if unspectacular: Antonio Rudiger, Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck are a great group of centre backs full back is a question if Joshua Kimmich is used in midfield; they could be in trouble with David Raum and Pascal Gross bang average and Nathaniel Brown largely untested at the elite level because there are only three full-backs without Kimmich; I'd expect him to start at right back. In midfield, Alexsander Pavlovic and Angelo Stiller are a great double pivot. The question marks are in attack, as their players have either had terrible seasons like Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala and Nick Woltemade or are untested at international level in Maximilian Beier, Denis Undav and Jamie Lewelling. The only attacker I'm willing to bet will have a good tournament is Kai Havertz, who, while he has his problems at club level, when he plays for Germany he is always good.
For Germany to go deep, one of Musiala or Wirtz needs to put their bad season behind them and get back to the level they've been known to play at previously, and they may have to unlock very good defensive teams in Ivory Coast and especially Ecuador, so one moment of brilliance might be required to get Germany through this group.
It's a terrible shame that 18-year-old Bayern Munich star Lennert Karl got injured in the training camp, as he has been one of the most exciting teenagers in Europe this season, scoring and assisting for fun as Bayern destroyed the Bundesliga and pushed PSG very close in the Champions League.
The problem for Germany is that their weaker attack in this group is a major problem, as Ecuador and Ivory Coast conceded 5 goals between them in 28 qualifying matches, so if they can't score, all it takes is one moment of brilliance from Ivory Coast's amazing wingers or Moise Caicedo, and then they lose 2 games and are relying on battering Curacao to get the goal difference up to make the knockouts as a best 3rd place team.
I think the floor is getting out the group because Curacao are so poor they should put at least 4 past them, and 3 points with a positive goal difference is likely to be enough. The ceiling is still high for this team, and there is a world where Musiala and Wirtz both dominate scoring and assisting for fun; then Germany can win the whole thing, but I think there is more chance they get grouped than win the whole thing despite having a great squad and one of the best managers at the tournament in Julian Nagelsmann.
Ecuador
The most popular dark horse shout at this World Cup, along with Norway and Japan, this Ecuador team are great; they finished second in World Cup qualifying only behind the reigning world champions Argentina ahead of Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil despite having a 3-point deduction while conceding just 5 goals in 18 games they're not fun to watch but what they are is effective and they know how to grind out a 1-0 win.
Ecuador have become somewhat of a World Cup staple in the 21st century. Having not made a World Cup until 2002, they have qualified for 5 of the 7 since then but have only got out of the groups once in 2006. That has to be the first aim, but I think this team should have much loftier ambitions beyond getting out of this albeit tough group; the change to let most third-place teams through gives this group a huge advantage given Curacao are probably the least talented team at the whole tournament.
It should go without saying this team's strength is in defence, boasting Willian Pacho and Piero Hincapie, who both started the Champions League final for PSG and Arsenal, respectively, plus former Brighton man Pervis Estupinan and Joel Ordonez, who plays for a Club Brugge side that have consistently performed very well in the Champions League over the past few seasons; those four are backed up by a group players who play in Brazil and Mexico probably two of the three best leagues in the Americas so the depth is also good should any of these players get injured and then in front of this elite backline one of the top 3 or 4 defensive midfielders in the world in Moise Caicedo will sweep up and mark elite attacking midfielders out the game.
Going forward, this team is definitely weaker than it is at the back, still starting 36-year-old Enner Valencia, who, while he has faded into obscurity in the club game, when he puts an Ecuador shirt on, he rolls back the years and still performs at a very high level and is the nation's top goalscorer ever with 49. My main question is who gets the ball from Caicedo deep to Enner Valencia in the box. Estupinan will help, as he is a very attacking left back with great delivery, but Ecuador are relying on one of Alan Franco, Gonzalo Plata or Kendry Paez going above and beyond the level they have shown at club level. Franco and Plata are both high-level wingers playing at some of the biggest teams in the Brazilian league in Flamengo and Atletico Mineiro; they are both good, but one of them will need to be able to go toe to toe with the other elite attackers in this group. Paez is a different story; he has been known as one of the next world beaters, as shown by the fact he has 26 caps already, and he is only 19. He is owned by Chelsea and has been on loan at Strasbourg and River Plate this season with very mixed success, but he has been touted as the best Ecuadorian prospect ever since he was 15; at some point, he needs to kick on and show he has what it takes to be a World-Class attacker and what better time to do it than at the World Cup.
The floor of this team is getting 4 points. I think they will draw one of the games against Ivory Coast or Germany 0-0 and should be comfortable vs Curacao, then losing in the round of 32 with a bad draw, and the ceiling is probably a semi-final berth. The lack of elite attackers, I think, will cost them in the latter stages of this tournament, but I'd be shocked if they don't make at least the round of 16.
Ivory Coast
For a country that produced some of the world's best players in Didier Drogba and the Toure brothers, Ivory Coast's World Cup history is really poor; this is only their 4th tournament, and they have never gotten out of the group despite winning a game at 2006, 2010 and 2014. That surely changes this time, as despite not having the elite names like Drogba and Yaya Toure, the overall squad is much deeper and the floor of this team is so much higher than those previous teams.
The attack is where this team shines, with Amad Diallo, Simon Adingra and the breakout star of this season, Yan Diomande, behind Elye Wahi or Evann Guessand; this is a group of players who all play in top European leagues, with Amad Diallo being a key player in Man United's turnaround under Michael Carrick and Yan Diomande starring for RB Leipzig with 20 goal contributions in 33 Bundesliga games and now linked with a £100 million transfer.
In Midfield, the guys they have are not very creative, but Franck Kessie, Ibrahim Sangare, Seko Fofana and Jean Michael Seri are all over 28, have been in top European leagues forever and know their role, which is win the ball back and give it to Amad or Diomande and let them create something and the backline which conceded 0 goals in qualifying despite being in a group with a very strong Gabon team led by Roma's Evan Ndicka but hes not the only player playing for one of Europes better club sides with Ousmane Diomande playing for Sporting, Odilon Kossounou playing for a very strong Atalanta side that made the knockouts of the champions league and Guela Doue playing for Strasbourg who went deep in the conference league. The only positions this team is lacking a player playing in one of the better European leagues is left back and goalkeeper. Left back shouldn't be a problem with Ghislain Konan, who plays in Portugal but has been in the French league for years previously. Goalkeeper should also not be a major issue, with Yahia Fofana and Alban Lafont both good options without being standouts.
The squad is great; they have two bordering on world-class wingers. In the run-up to the tournament, they have beaten South Korea 4-0, Scotland 1-0, and France 2-1 in friendlies, so are in great form despite going out of AFCON in January fairly early at the quarter-final stage. This, along with Morocco, is the best squad an African team has ever had going into a World Cup.
The floor is the first knockout appearance in Ivorian history and the ceiling is reaching the semi-finals and potentially even further if the midfield can hang with the best midfields at the tournament.
Curacao
The smallest nation to ever qualify for a World Cup, with a population of roughly 158,000, some of the uninitiated have suggested 'they only qualified cause their whole team is Dutch' even if this is slightly true; if you include every single person on the planet that is of Curacaoan descent, that number only increases to roughly 300,000 people which is still a smaller population than Iceland who previously held the record for smallest nation at a world cup and i dont think there is a current nation with even a semi-realistic chance of ever breaking this record currently. Just getting here is a ridiculous achievement, knocking Jamaica, an Island roughly 18 times more populous than Curacao.
Obviously the squad isnt great, and FIFA haven't helped them out with the group draw, which is probably the hardest group for any pot 4 team alongside Group I, but Curacao aren't completely irrelevant talent-wise; they have plenty of guys who play in Good European leagues like Turkey, and obviously the Netherlands. Armando Obispo plays regularly for PSV, Riechedly Bazoer plays for Konyaspor and Tahith Chong, while currently playing for Sheffield United, was seen as the next big thing when coming up through the Man United academy and on his day is still a very good footballer. Obviously, the depth isnt great and the overall level can't stack up to Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast, but Curacao are not definitely the worst team at this tournament; they can compete with your New Zealands, Iraqs, Panamas and Jordans of the world
The ceiling of this team is getting a 0-0 draw to Ecuador and losing the other two, and the floor is losing every game 3 or 4-nil and not scoring a goal, but that shouldn't matter; the Blue Wave will bring a great atmosphere and every neutral should be rooting for Curacao to score a goal at some point as if that happens the joy from the players and manager Dick Advocaat will be infectious.
Predictions
In my predictions, Germany progresses as one of the 8 best third-place teams
Comments
Post a Comment