Brazil

Trading places with Spain at the top of the world rankings, Brazil are one of the favourites to win the world cup this year. An excellent qualifying campaign later, Dunga may have been rubbing his hands, waiting in eager anticipation for the draw. But the results may have left him somewhat dismayed as Brazil find themselves in, clearly, the "Group of Death".

North Korea must be wondering what they did wrong as they were piled into a group with one of the strongest teams in Africa, one of the strongest teams in Europe and one of the strongest teams in South America & easily the world. They will probably end their campaign at the bottom of the group with their "Goals Against" column looking like a cricket scorecard. Brazil will breeze through them for sure.

Portugal are a threat! They may have barely qualified for the World Cup but that can be attributed to their group and performances, rather than the quality of their team. Capable of beating anyone on their day, they will be a match for the Brazilian flair and skill, countering it with their own. Also, they have a certain CR9 in their lineup. Brazil can claim to counter that with their own midfield fireball in Kaka. But Brazil just might have too much quality to beat these Europeans in a battle of skill and wits.

The toughest opponents in the group for all the rest, Cote d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast will be the ones to watch out for. Strong, quick, extremely good in the air, prolific scorers and tactically strong, the Ivorians have everything it takes to win the whole thing, including Didier Drogba. They are definite favourites for the World Cup and if Brazil manage to get anything out of this game, I will be pleasantly surprised.

From the looks of things in South America, the happiest people out there would be the ones who struggled to qualify. Argentina and Paraguay will have fought hard in qualifying but their World Cup groups are certainly easier than they would have expected. Uruguay and Chile can say the same however the favourites to win the title, Brazil may find it difficult to make it out of their group, let alone win the NFL jerseys whole thing.