{"id":26010,"date":"2022-11-23T17:07:29","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T16:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1743895"},"modified":"2022-11-24T10:48:15","modified_gmt":"2022-11-24T09:48:15","slug":"world-cup-group-of-death-the-toughest-group-will-surprise-you","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/world-cup-group-of-death-the-toughest-group-will-surprise-you\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup Group of Death: The toughest group will surprise you"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\"><\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By Michael Potts\n                \t\t<\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Wednesday, 23 November 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p><hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/><?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body> <p>The Group of Death is a key part of any major football tournament, but Qatar 2022 may have defied conventions.<\/p>\n<p>The definition for a Group of Death is simple, and they\u2019re usually easy to spot.<\/p>\n<p>The term simply describes a group that boasts a collection of very strong teams, usually more than two, meaning one will miss out on progressing from that group.<\/p>\n<p>Euro 2020 boasted one of the all-time greatest Group of Death candidates. Group F saw France, Germany and Portugal drawn together with Hungary.<\/p>\n<p>Compare the strength of that list with Group C which held Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria and North Macedonia and you get a sense of the perils of that Group of Death mentioned above.<\/p>\n<p>The World Cup has already witnessed some major shocks in the opening games during the group stages, but there doesn\u2019t appear to be one particular Group of Death \u2013 or so it seems.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/radiotimes.com\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\">RadioTimes.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"&quot;font-weight:\"> lists three contenders for the World Cup Group of Death in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>For more World Cup features check out: <a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/sport\/football\/world-cup-2022-tv-schedule\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\">World Cup 2022 TV schedule<\/a> |\u00a0<a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/sport\/football\/world-cup-2022-kits-ranked-comment\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\">World Cup 2022 kits ranked<\/a> | <a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/sport\/football\/qatar-world-cup-stadiums-2022\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\">World Cup 2022 stadiums<\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/sport\/football\/best-football-players-world\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\">Best players at the World Cup<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>World Cup Group of Death 2022<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Contender #1 \u2013 Group E<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Germany, Spain, Japan, Costa Rica<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Two World Cup champions in one group could be enough to constitute a very tough group indeed. Neither Spain or Germany are at the peak of their powers this tournament, while Japan and Costa Rica were not particularly fearsome contenders prior to the tournament starting.<\/p>\n<p>However, Japan\u2019s stunning victory over Germany has thrown a litter of cats among the pigeons already, turning Group E into a chaotic mess.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Contender #2 \u2013 Group G<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Cameroon<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t quite have Group of Death vibes, but Group G is a challenging one indeed. Brazil were the tournament favourites going into the World Cup, Switzerland have qualified for the knockout rounds in the last four major international tournaments, Serbia boast Aleksandar Mitrovic and Cameroon boast Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting among their ranks.<\/p>\n<p>If Brazil drop points against Serbia in their opener, this could be a fascinating group to watch develop.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Contender #3 \u2013 Group B<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>England, USA, Wales, Iran<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Officially, Group B is THE toughest group in the World Cup this time around. This is the only foursome where every team is ranked inside the top 20 according to FIFA\u2019s official World Rankings. England (No.5), USA (No.16), Wales (No.19) and Iran (No.20) are all pitted against one another in Group B, whereas other groups typically boast a far greater spread.<\/p>\n<p>USA\u2019s impressive performances in the CONCACAF region, combined with Iran\u2019s displays in the AFC region, mean they\u2019re both officially deemed stronger opposition than they\u2019re perhaps given credit for.<\/p>\n<p>Despite what the official rankings would lead you to believe, ironically, the group you\u2019d have wanted England to land in as No.1 seed would probably be this exact one.<\/p>\n<p>Is 2022 the death of the Group of Death?<\/p> <p><strong>Check out our <a href=\"\/\/radiotimes.com\/tv\/sport\/world-cup-2022&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\">World Cup<\/a> hub for all the latest from Qatar 2022, including match previews, predictions and analysis.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"&quot;p11&quot;\"><b>If you\u2019re looking for something else to watch, check out our\u00a0<\/b><a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/tv-listings&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\"><b>TV Guide<\/b><\/a> <b>or <strong><a title=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/streaming-guide\/&quot;\" href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/streaming-guide\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\"><span class=\"&quot;searchHighlight&quot;\">Streaming<\/span> <span class=\"&quot;searchHighlight&quot;\">Guide<\/span><\/a><\/strong>, or visit our <\/b><a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/sport\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener&quot; noopener noreferrer\"><b>Sport<\/b><\/a><b> hub.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong>The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is released on sale now \u2013 <a href=\"\/\/radiotimes.com\/magazine-subscription?utm_term=evergreen-article&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener noopener noreferrer\" noreferrer=\"\" data-auth=\"&quot;NotApplicable&quot;\" data-linkindex=\"&quot;0&quot;\">subscribe now<\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the <a title=\"&quot;https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/audio\/podcasts\/&quot;\" href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/audio\/podcasts\/&quot;\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\" rel=\"&quot;noopener noopener noreferrer\" noreferrer=\"\" data-auth=\"&quot;NotApplicable&quot;\" data-safelink=\"&quot;true&quot;\" data-linkindex=\"&quot;1&quot;\">Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Michael Potts Published: Wednesday, 23 November 2022 at 12:00 am The Group of Death is a key part of any major football tournament, but Qatar 2022 may have defied conventions. The definition for a Group of Death is simple, and they\u2019re usually easy to spot. The term simply describes a group that boasts a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":26011,"template":"","categories":[1,7,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/world-cup-group-of-death-the-toughest-group-will-surprise-you-scaled.jpg",2560,1706,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/world-cup-group-of-death-the-toughest-group-will-surprise-you-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/world-cup-group-of-death-the-toughest-group-will-surprise-you-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/world-cup-group-of-death-the-toughest-group-will-surprise-you-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/world-cup-group-of-death-the-toughest-group-will-surprise-you-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/world-cup-group-of-death-the-toughest-group-will-surprise-you-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/world-cup-group-of-death-the-toughest-group-will-surprise-you-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Michael Potts Published: Wednesday, 23 November 2022 at 12:00 am The Group of Death is a key part of any major football tournament, but Qatar 2022 may have defied conventions. The definition for a Group of Death is simple, and they\u2019re usually easy to spot. The term simply describes a group that boasts a&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/26010"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}