World Cup Group H

World Cup Group H

Chile

Honduras

Spain

Switzerland

Who will win?

Spain

Interesting story line number one....

In Honduras' first World Cup appearance in 1982 they played Spain to a 1-1 draw, which was something of an upset.

Interesting story line number two....

This group has the most decorated coaches in the tournament, easily.

How they'll finish -

4. Honduras - I think this group and can be divided in the middle easily, with Honduras and Switzerland being at the bottom. I think either of those teams could finish at the bottom of the group. I am going with Honduras though because of the style of soccer they play. They play an extremely defensive style, especially when away from home. They usually have only one attacker and keep everyone else at the back of the pitch. Teams who play like that rarely do well in the World Cup.

3. Switzerland - As I said, the Swiss are definitely in the bottom of this group. I am giving them the edge over Honduras because of coaching. Their coach, German Ottmat Hitzfeld, has won on every level and has just too many trophies and championships to list individually. This team as also played more games against teams in this tournament than any other squad. They were on 6-8-2 in those matches, but their experience will help them a little and they should finish higher than Honduras.

2. Chile - Chile is part of one of the toughest qualifying groups in the world, the CONMEBOL. They finished one point behind Brazil and beat Argentina in qualifying. This squad is no joke. The Chileans don't usually play well away from home, but they should fare better in South Africa. South Africa's climate and altitude are things the Chileans should be used too. They lost to each of the teams in this group in friendlies, but should do much better in the Cup because each of those matches were away from home. They should have momentum from their qualifying campaign and will take that into the tournament.

1. Spain - They won the Euro 2008. Undefeated in qualifying. Untied in qualifying. Ranked 2nd in offense in the world. Ranked 2nd on defense in the world. Ranked 2nd overall in the world (behind Brazil in all categories, which is mostly a product of Brazil being 10-0-0 in their last ten matches compared to Spain's 8-1-1.) That's a hell of a resume. More interestingly, they are one of the most cohesive units in the tournament. They don't have big stars but play a great team game. They are the 2004 Detroit Pistons of this year's World Cup. They will have no trouble breezing through this group and beyond.