This is undoubtedly the weakest group. For Argentina, the group stage should be nothing more than a formality, as they should have no problem collecting nine points. The second most talented team in the group, Nigeria, is inconsistent and unreliable. Iran has never had World Cup success, while Bosnia is a first time participant with low expectations.
With Switzerland being the seeded team, there isn't a whole lot of power in this group. France may actually be the best team, and they barely qualified for the tournament. Ecuador and Honduras aren't exactly accustomed to World Cup success, and while they may have a chance this time around, that doesn't speak well about the strength of the group.
Believe it or not, Belgium is the power source in this group, which is part of the problem. South Korea is a solid team too, and Russia has some potential, but Algeria is a long shot to do anything substantial, which brings the strength of the group way down.
Brazil is obviously a powerful force, but other than that, this group leaves a lot to be desired. Having Mexico in the group helps a little, but not that much considering how awful they were during qualifying and how lucky they are just to have qualified. Cameroon isn't even a top-tier African team, while Croatia is one of the lesser European sides in the tournament.
This group isn't overwhelmingly strong, but it's balanced with all four teams being capable of advancing to the second round. Colombia is an intriguing South American side while the Ivory Coast has a tantalizing amount of talent if they can finally put it all together at a major tournament. There is also Japan, a solid side that's perfectly capable of making the knockout stage.
This is where the groups finally start to get good. Uruguay and Italy were both semi-finalists last summer in the 2013 Confederations Cup, so both have recent success on the big stage against tough competition, and it's not hard to envision both making the semi-finals of this tournament under the right circumstances. England is at a big disadvantage in this group, but for a team that's projected to finish third in their group, they have a lot of talent.
It doesn't get much better than the reigning world champions, Spain, and the team they beat in the finals to claim that title, the Netherlands. It's a little unfair to put those two teams together, but it makes for one heck of a group. The addition of Chile takes the group to another level, as they could prove to be a difficult opponent for both Spain and Holland, and could end up stealing one of the top two spots in the group. Australia is decent and should play hard, but this group will be too much for them.
There should be no debate that this is the infamous "group of death" and the best group from top to bottom in the 2014 World Cup. Not only are all four teams capable of advancing to the knockout stage, but all four teams should be considered capable of winning at least one, if not more, match once they get past the group stage. Germany is one the tournament's favorites, Ghana is a dark horse to go deep in the tournament, the USA has never been better, and Portugal has one of the best players in the world. This may be the best group we've seen in the last several world cups and it should be fascinating to watch it unfold.
