La Tri

2026 FIFA World Cup – Group E Focus

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

You know, I went into a Walmart in Vancouver and I’ve already seen lots of memorabilia and collector’s items already being sold. It’s very exciting to see, but the items are quite expensive. That’s what happens with a World Cup. A lot of keepsakes at a big price.

Moving on, here’s my look at the teams of Group E of this year’s World Cup:

-Germany (10): For a long time, Die Mannschaft were one of the most feared teams in the world. One with an excellent record of consistency and performing well at major tournaments time and time again. Things changed right after their fourth World Cup win in 2014. The following World Cup, they failed to progress past the opening round for the first time in 80 years. Further disappointment came as they again missed qualifying for the knockout round in 2022 and in the last two Euros, the furthest they got was the quarterfinals. It appears like right now is the toughest era for German football.

The German team’s coaching staff is from a mix of European nations but their head coach is German: Julian Nagelsmann. Star players include legendary goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from Bayern Munich, defender Antonio Rudiger from Real Madrid, midfielder Joshua Kimmich also from Bayern Munich and striker Kai Havertz from Arsenal. In these past twelve months, the team had a terrible UEFA Nations League losing to Portugal, France and Slovakia. They would then come back with wins against Northern Ireland, Switzerland, Finland, Ghana and the United States. This World Cup is the arena where Germany can seize redemption in the world’s eyes.

-Curacao (83): One thing about this World Cup is that we will have teams the never previously had a chance in qualifying in the past make it this time. Increasing it to 48 teams really changes a lot. Curacao is one of four teams competing in its first-ever World Cup. Nicknamed The Blue Wave, Curacao competed as an independent nation after the Netherlands Antilles dissolved in 2010. They’ve qualified for three CONCACAF Gold Cups and won one Caribbean Cup back in 2017. Upon coming first in their qualifying CONCACAF group, Curacao, with a population of just over 155,000, became the smallest country to qualify for a World Cup! Part of the success may have to do with the fact all but one of the players were born in the Netherlands to Curacaoan parents. Only one player was born in Curacao.

Curacao is making sure they’re team will be ready for the World Cup. Their coaching staff is of mostly Dutch coaches and their head coach Dirk Advocaat will make his fifth World Cup appearance as head coach, for five different teams! Most of the players play for either MLS or the Netherlands’ Eredivisie. Top players include goalkeeper Eloy Room who plays for Miami FC, defender Jurien Gaari who plays for Saudi Arabia’s Abha, midfielder Leandro Bacuna who plays for Turkey’s Igdir and striker Kenji Forre who plays for Israel’s Maccabi Haifa. Their play in the last twelve months have included wins to Jamaica, Bermuda, Aruba and Haiti. They’ve drawn against Trinidad and Canada. They’ve also lost to Scotland, Australia and China. Whatever the result, the 2026 World Cup will take Curacao and its football to a whole new level.

-Ivory Coast (33): The Ivory Coast, or Cote d’Ivoire, have participated in three previous World Cups. All of them were consecutive from 2006 to 2014 and all of them were out in the Group Stage. In all three previous times, Les Elephants had their most heralded players: defender Didier Zokora and striker Dider Drogba. The team has struggled since those two players retired after World Cup 2014 but a new team has come of age and they have a win at the 2023 African Cup Of Nations to their credit.

The team has a mostly-Ivorian coaching staff. Head coach is Emerse Fae who has played in the 2006 and 2010 World Cup. The team plays for a mix of of European teams. Top players include goalkeeper Yahia Fofana who plays for Turkey’s Caykur Rizespor, defender Ghislain Konan who plays for Portugal’s Gil Vicente, midfielder and captain Franck Kessie who plays for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli, and striker Nicolas Pepe who plays for Villareal. Their play in the last twelve months tell a lot. They’ve had wins to non-African teams like South Korea, Scotland and France. They’ve had draws to Gabon, Cameroon and Canada. Their losses came to New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The World Cup can be the chance for the Ivory Coast to take their football to a new level.

-Ecuador (24): Hard to believe La Tricolor never participated in a World Cup in the 20th Century. This coming World Cup will be their fifth. Making a name for themselves has been a struggle. Their best-ever World Cup result in the Round of 16 and the best they ever did at the Copa America was a fourth-place finish. Proving themselves in the CONMEBOL is tough for them. Ecuador did prove themselves as a team ready to play well. They succeeded in qualifying for the World Cup despite a three-point deduction for player Byron Castillo having a passport with falsified information.

Their coaching staff is completely made up of Argentineans and their head coach Sebastian Beccacece is a former assistant with the 2018 Argentinean national team. Top players include goalkeeper Hernan Galindez who plays for Argentina’s Huracan, defender Angelo Preciado who plays for Brazil’s Atletico Mineiro, midfielder Moises Caicedo who plays for Chelsea, and striker and captain Enner Valencia who plays for Mexico’s Pachuca. In the past twelve months, they have not had a single loss! They have only had four wins: to New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Guatemala. They’ve had draws to the USA, Mexico, Canada and Brazil to name a few. If there’s one team that pull a surprise at the World Cup, it’s Ecuador.

My Qualifier Predictions: Sometimes you think you know who will qualify. Sometimes it’s all a shocker. I predict Germany will top the group with Ecuador second. I think my third-place pick Ivory Coast will qualify.

And that completes my look at Group E of this year’s World Cup. Sometimes I wonder how I’m able to do all this typing and have it all completed before the first game begins!

2024 Copa America: Group B Focus

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

With all this confusion, it’s unclear whether the Copa America will continue to be a sixteen-team tournament or go back to being a twelve-team tournament in 2028. The only times it’s ever been a twelve-team tournament is when the US hosts. In the meantime, let’s enjoy the excitement. Moving along, here’s my review of the Group B teams. Interesting is that none of the teams in this group have ever won the Copa:

-Mexico (14): El Tri or El Tricolor have historically been seen as the top team of the CONCACAF. Over time, people have often seen Mexico as a team that is capable of achieving more than they have. They’ve been runner-up twice at the Copa America and their best World Cup finish is the quarterfinals. At Qatar 2022, they failed to make it to the knockout round for the first time since 1978. They’ve been wanting to recover from that disappointment since.

For less than a year, Mexico has been managed by Jaime Lozano. Most of the players play for teams in Mexico’s Liga MX with some playing in teams from European leagues. Many are under 25 years of age. Top players include midfielders Edson Alvarez and Orbelin Pineda. Since World Cup 2022, They’ve achieved wins against Panama, Costa Rica and Bolivia. They’ve had a win and a draw against Jamaica as well as draws against Australia, Germany and Cameroon. They also had a draw and a loss to the US and losses to Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil and Qatar. Here at the Copa America, Mexico has another chance to prove themselves and they could do magic.

-Ecuador (31): La Tri or La Tricolor have had their biggest success in the 21st Century. They qualified for their first World Cup in 2002 and have qualified for three more since. At the Copa America, Ecuador have never finished in the Top 3 and the best they’ve done in this century is finishes in the quarterfinals. No doubt that they want this to be their best Copa ever.

Ecuador is managed by Spain’s Felix Sanchez who coached Qatar’s team for the 2022 World Cup. The irony being Ecuador played Qatar in the opening game of that World Cup! The players play for a mix of teams in European and South American leagues and half are under 25 years old. Top players include midfielders Angel Mena and Carlos Gruezo and forward Enner Valencia who is Ecuador’s greatest goal scorer ever and scored both goals in the opening game of the World Cup! Since that World Cup, they’ve had wins to Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay, draws to Colombia and Venezuela, and losses to Argentina, Australia and Italy. The stage is set in the US and Ecuador could have what it takes to deliver their best-ever performance in a Copa America.

-Venezuela (54): You may think every South American nation has been to at least one World Cup. Wrong! Venezuela is the one team from the CONMEBOL that has never qualified for a World Cup. Like Ecuador, they’ve never had a Top 3 finish at the Copa America either. Despite that, La Vinotinto has qualified for the Copa’s quarterfinals more often than the 20th Century.

Since last year, Venezuela has been coached by Argentinian Fernando Bautista. Some of the players play for European teams but most play for teams in South American leagues or Mexico’s Liga MX. Top players include defender Alexander Gonzalez, midfielder Tomas Rincon and forward Salomon Rondon. The team has achieved wins against Chile, Paraguay and Saudi Arabia. They’ve had draws to Brazil, Peru and Ecuador and endured losses to Colombia and Italy. Anything can happen in football and Venezuela could just blow past many people’s low expectations.

-Jamaica (55): One thing you should not do is you should not underestimate the Reggae Boyz. They’ve been to one World Cup, back in 1998. For the CONCACAF Gold Cup, they’ve been runners-up twice in 2015 and 2017 and have been in two previous Copas. They also finished 3rd in this year’s CONCACAF Nation’s League. With the World Cup expanding to 48 teams in an attempt to get more teams from Asia, Central America and the Caribbean into the tournament, you can bet Jamaica wants to seize that chance!

Jamaica is one of few teams at this Copa managed by a European coach. The coach is Iceland’s Heimir Hallgrimson who helped coach Iceland to the Euro.2016 quarterfinals and their first World Cup qualification. Top players include defender Damion Lowe, forward Shamar Nicholson and goalkeeper Andre Blake. In the past year and a half, they’ve had wins against Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras and Canada. They’ve had a win and a loss against Canada and endured a draw and a loss to both Mexico and the United States and a loss to Qatar. This Copa America is another chance for Jamaica to show how good they are and even go further than most anticipated.

My Prediction: It’s a bit hard to side with the statistics, but they do tell a lot. I will predict Mexico and Ecuador to be the teams that advance.

And there you have it. That’s my look at Group B of Copa America 2024. There are the two heavy favorites but the two teams not favored are capable of delivering upsets.