1. Germany VS Brazil
Germany
Team Name: Die Mannschaft (The Team)
Best World Cup performance: Winners 1954, 1974, 1990
Strength: The team always works together
Weakness: Will be without their injured captain and talisman Michael Ballack.
Fun Fact: Striker Miroslav Klose is the only player to have scored five goals in consecutive World Cups. Look for him to score another in this year’s Cup.
Brazil
Team Name: Canarinho (Little Canary)
Best World Cup performance: Winners 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002
Strength: They play the most beautiful football in the world
Weakness: Defensive teams like Italy and Germany are effective when counterattacking them.
Fun Fact: Brazil will host the next World Cup in 2014
2. France VS Italy
France
Team Name: Les Bleus (The Blues)
Best World Cup performance: Winners 1998
Strength: Young and skillful wingers, Florent Malouda and Franck Ribery
Weakness: Erratic and unpredictable at the back.
Fun fact: The symbol of France is the Gallic Rooster. It is a pun in Latin on Gallus (an inhabitant of ancient France) and gallus (rooster or cockerel).
Italy
Team Name: le Azzurri (The Blues)
Best World Cup performance: Winners 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006
Strength: An impenetrable defense led by the dashing Fabio Cannavaro.
Weakness: An aging squad and few scoring options.
Fun Fact: The chant “Forza Italia” is used by Italian fans. It literally means “Power Italy!”
3. Spain VS Portugal
Spain
Team Name: La Furia Roja (The Red Fury)
Best World Cup performance: Fourth place, 1950
Strength: The best midfield and strikers in the world will combine for lots of goals.
Weakness: Their defense is weak, and they are known as the World Cup’s cursed underachievers.
Fun Fact: The Spanish fans must wear both yellow and red because the “soul is split between the two”.
Portugal
Team Name: Seleccao das Quinas (National Team of the Five)
Best World Cup performance: Third place, 1966
Strength: Rock-solid at the back with marauding winger
Weakness: No reliable striker and an over-reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo.
Fun Fact: Portugal has never won a major tournament. The team is regularly called “the best side never to lift a cup.”
4. England VS Argentina
England
Team Name: The Three Lion
Best World Cup performance: Winners 1966
Strength: Talented midfield and red-hot striker
Weakness: Even though England has the best league in the world, the Premier League, the team often chokes in big tournaments.
Fun Fact: England’s fans can be bad-tempered and are sometimes called hooligans.
Argentina
Team Name: La Albiceleste (The White and Sky Blue)
Best World Cup performance: Winners 1978, 1986
Strength: The best player in the world and pure talent all over the pitch.
Weakness: Erratic coaching from Diego Maradona.
Fun Fact: Argentina’s biggest club side is called Boca Juniors, and the team’s stadium is called La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box).