World Cup Excitement

Over 350 million people tonight will be watching a special event for a sport that most of the USA are probably not interested in, but is closely monitored by Europe, Asia/Pacific, and the rest of the Americas.

Today at 2120 Central European Time (2020 GMT), the first-round draw for the 2006 World Cup in Germany will take place.

It is also the day where the World Cup is six months away, starting with the opening match on June 9. Eight teams are currently seeded: Germany (hosts), Brazil, England, Spain, Mexico, France, Argentina, and Italy. With these and the rest of the 24 qualified teams, they will be placed in eight-first round groups of four teams. Those that are unseeded but are considered to be strong opposition are the Czech Republic and Netherlands, currently ranked second and third in the world (according to FIFA).

As usual Brazil is considered the favorite to win the 2006 World Cup, having won it back in 2002. England is currently ranked second in the competition (though ranked 9th in the world). USA just missed getting seeded (lost to Italy) despite its excellent record at this year's preliminaries but it did not do that well at the 2002 World Cup. The scoring makeup took into account USA's performance overall. They are currently ranked 8th in the world.

There is not much news about USA's chances. Perhaps it will get into the Final 16 or perhaps the Final 8, but it's very hard to compare USA with the likes of Brazil, England, France, or Argentina. It is highly doubtful USA will get into the finals this time.

Anyway, look forward to the growing excitement of World Cup Football in the next several months.