England should be good enough to top World Cup Group C

England would have been very pleased to land in a group that contains USA, Algeria and Slovenia when other potential opponents included Portugal and Ivory Coast. England’s World Cup 2010 odds make them third favourites to win the tournament, but the other three sides in Group C will all fancy their chances of causing an upset.

England

An impressive qualifying campaign which saw the Three Lions top the scoring charts and lose just once suggests Fabio Capello has got the team on the right course again after their disastrous attempt to get to Euro 2008. With standout individuals like Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerard and Frank Lampard, they should have enough quality to top this group. The big question remains how much further they will progress. Prediction: Group winners.

USA

A run to the final of last year’s Confederations Cup was proof the USA are no longer here to make up the numbers. The fact this is their sixth straight World Cup is further evidence of their increasing prowess and many view them as dark horses in the football odds. They have stand out individuals such as Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard so should have enough to pick up points against Algeria and Slovenia. They could also give England a run for their money. Prediction: Second.

Algeria

It is true that the World Cup draw could have given England tougher opponents than Algeria but to dismiss them as cannon fodder would be naive. The Desert Foxes put on an impressive showing in the African Cup of Nations, making it as far as the semi-finals. By that time they had already qualified for the World Cup with a play-off victory over Egypt – the eventual winners of this year’s ACON. That said, I still don’t think Algeria have enough quality to make it through the group stage, but could pick up some scalps along the way. Prediction: Third.

Slovenia

Even though many saw Slovenia’s World Cup play-off win over Russia as something of a surprise, the country does have something of a football pedigree – this will be their third major tournament in ten years. However, they lost all of their World Cup matches in Germany last time out and I can’t see them improving enough to make an impression this time. Prediction: Fourth.

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2. June 23: USA, England and amazing prawns
3. Back Germany to cruise through Group D
4. June 18: Nelson Mandela Square, a USA comeback and England, WTF?
5. England in the World Cup 2010