Uninformed World Cup question.

[dawgphd]

Compared to March Madness, what kind of seeds do we have in the Final Four?

 

[Sutterkane]

Germany, Argentina, and Brazil are 1 seeds. Netherlands is probably a 2.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

Historically speaking

Brazil 5
Germans 3
Argentina 2

Holds 10 of the 19 total WC Championships.
Just looking at some stats...

Otherwise, I know nothing.

 

[aTotal360]

I think only 8 countries have won the world cup. Add Italy to that list and you'll have the lion share of winners.

 

[rem101]

Brazil (5), Italy (4), England (1), Uruguay (2), France (1), Argentina (2), West Germany (3), Spain (1).

Netherlands is only chance to add another country this year.

 

[MSUDC11]

Brazil, Germany, and Argentina were probably the three favorites to win it going in. The Dutch are somewhat of a surprise, but they played in the Final in the last WC so there have been much bigger surprises.

With Neymar injured for Brazil, I would be pretty surprised if Germany doesn't win that semi. The other one could really go either way, but I think Argentina ends up advancing.

 

[patdog]

Germany's World Cup finishes have been ridiculous:

Year	Round	Position	GP	<abbr title="Matches won" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; cursor: help;">W</abbr>	<abbr title="Matches drawn" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; cursor: help;">D</abbr>*	<abbr title="Matches lost" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; cursor: help;">L</abbr>	<abbr title="Goals scored" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; cursor: help;">GS</abbr>	<abbr title="Goals against" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; cursor: help;">GA</abbr>	Squad
1930	Withdrew
1934	Third place	3	4	3	0	1	11	8	Squad
1938	1st round	10	2	0	1	1	3	5	Squad
1950	Banned
1954	Champions	1	6	5	0	1	25	14	Squad
1958	Fourth place	4	6	2	2	2	12	14	Squad
1962	Quarter-finals	7	4	2	1	1	4	2	Squad
1966	Runners-up	2	6	4	1	1	15	6	Squad
1970	Third place	3	6	5	0	1	17	10	Squad
1974	Champions	1	7	6	0	1	13	4	Squad
1978	2nd group stage	6	6	1	4	1	10	5	Squad
1982	Runners-up	2	7	3	2	2	12	10	Squad
1986	Runners-up	2	7	3	2	2	8	7	Squad
1990	Champions	1	7	5	2	0	15	5	Squad
1994	Quarter-finals	5	5	3	1	1	9	7	Squad
1998	Quarter-finals	7	5	3	1	1	8	6	Squad
2002	Runners-up	2	7	5	1	1	14	3	Squad
2006	Third place	3	7	5	1	1	14	6	Squad
2010	Third place	3	7	5	0	2	16	5	Squad
2014	Semi-Finals****		5	4	1	0	10	3	Squad
Total	18/20	3 Titles	99	60	*19	20	206	117

 

[af102]

The Dutch aren't a surprise as they should have been one of the seeded teams. FIFA's ranking system had them at 8, but Switzerland was somehow ahead of them at 7. The Dutch were #1 in the world for part of 2012 before a group stage exit at Euro 2012.

In their WC qualifying group in Europe, they went 9-0-1 with a +29 goal differential. Roben is one of the top 3 players in the world (with Messi and Ronaldo), and they have 2 top notch strikers in Van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

 

[KurtRambis4]

Yep.

I had them facing, and beating, Spain in the final. Who saw Spain crashing out as badly as they did? Crazy. Other than them, I had 3/4 of the semi-finalists correctly.

 

[seshomoru]

You have a Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Michigan type Final Four...

The Netherlands are Michigan because they've never managed to win the last game. Costa Rica would have been George Mason.

 

[Sutterkane]

That 66 championship game is a source of a lot of controversy too. Lookup "Wembley Goal".

 

[MSUDC11]

"Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win." - Gary Lineker

 

[EurekaDog]

Per FIFA's June 6 world rankings...Germany is ranked #2, Brazil is ranked #3, ..

...
Argentina is ranked #5
Netherlands is ranked #15 (I'm sorta surprised they're ranked so low)

so, in NCAA-mode...

Germany is a #1 seed
Brazil is a #1 seed
Argentina is a #2 seed
Netherlands is a #4 seed

USA is ranked at #13 in the world, which means, by reaching the "Sweet 16", we didn't underachieve.

Here's the link to FIFA's June 6 rankings: http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/

 

[patdog]

FIFA rankings can be ********. A better site is eloratings.net . Prior to the World Cup, they had:
1 - Brazil
2 - Spain
3 - Germany
4 - Argentina
5 - Netherlands

So, 3 #1 seeds and a #2 seed are left. Interestingly, they also have USA at #13.