Teams to advance:
Group A
Uruguay
Mexico
Group B
Argentina
South Korea
Group C
England
USA
Group D
Serbia
Germany
Group E
Holland
Cameroon
Group F
Italy
Paraguay
Group G
Brazil
Ivory Coast
Group F
Spain
Chile
Groups B, D (sadly, but Serbia are looking very strong, and I just can't believe we could finish ahead of Germany), F, G and H I'm pretty confident about.
Anything could happen in Group A, USA look stronger than Slovenia and Algeria in Group C but had a pretty shocking loss the other day. And in Group E Japan, Cameroon and Denmark are difficult to predict, they're all capable of being very good or very bad. When the final lot of friendlies wrap up just before the tournament kicks off I will re-evaluate these three groups but the former five I doubt I will change my mind on unless there's some pretty big reversals of form in the remaining warm-up games.
Predictions for the knock-out rounds:
I reckon South Korea can get to the quarter-finals, assuming they finish second in their group, which they really ought to, they'll play the winner of Group A, which is a tough group to predict but really doesn't have any teams that Korea should fear.
I think Ivory Coast will perform the best of all African nations, but will still drop out in the Round of 16 at the hands of Spain, ending a disappointing tournament for the teams representing the host continent.
I see a Brazil vs Chile face-off in the Round of 16, potentially providing one of the tournament's big upsets, with the attacking Chilenos shocking a defensive-minded Brazil, with football the winner.
Then I guess the semi-finals might be Holland vs England and Argentina vs Spain, with Spain vs Holland the final.
These aren't the predictions I particularly want, I'd like to see more European teams crashing out early, Australia to make the second round of course and a dark horse or two to make the semis, but it's just what I think might happen.