A perfect blend of Intelligence and Stupidity

Manager: Didier Deschamps

Captain: Hugo Lloris

Key Player – Paul Pogba 

Notable Missing Players –  Franck Ribery 

Surprise –  Paul Pogba can be surprise especially if he can be a dominant midfield in his position.

One to Watch – While all eyes in on the french attack and midfield. Their defense will have Raphael Varane

Young Star – Paul Pogba

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Stephane Ruffier (Marseille), Mickael Landreau (Bastia).

Defenders: Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle), Lucas Digne (Paris St-Germain) Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Laurent Koscielny, Bacary Sagna (both Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala (Porto), Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye, Blaise Matuidi (both Paris St-Germain), Clement Grenier (Lyon), Rio Mavuba (Lille), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille).

Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad), Loic Remy (Newastle, on loan from QPR), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich).

Captain: Gökhan Inler

Manager: Ottmar Hitzfeld

Another young squad of new emerging talents.

Key Player –  Xherdan Shaqiri , 

Notable Missing Players –  Eren Derdiyok ?

Surprise – Granit Xhaka 

One to Watch – Josip Drmić

Young Star – Josip Drmić ,  Xherdan Shaqiri ,   Granit Xhaka  , Ricardo Rodríguez , Fabian Schär .  Are u 23 stars that’s starting for Switzerland.  

Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg), Roman Buerki (Grasshopper), Yann Sommer (Basel).

Defenders: Johan Djourou (Hamburg), Michael Lang (Grasshopper), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg), Fabian Schaer (Basel), Philippe Senderos (Valencia), Steve von Bergen (Young Boys), Reto Ziegler (Sassuolo).

Midfielders: Tranquillo Barnetta (Eintracht Frankfurt), Valon Behrami (Napoli), Blerim Dzemaili (Napoli), Gelson Fernandes (Freiburg), Gokhan Inler (Napoli), Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich), Valentin Stocker (Basel).

Forwards: Josip Drmic (Nuremberg), Mario Gavranovic (Zurich), Admir Mehmedi (Freiburg), Haris Seferovic (Real Sociedad), Granit Xhaka (Borussia Monchengladbach).

Manager: Oscar Tabarez

Captain: Diego Lugano

Notable Strength –Frenetic attack , heavily rely on inter-flowing football during attack.

Notable Weakness – Unreliable Midfield , Uruguay wins games by outscoring them.

Projected Starting XI

Goalkeeper – Fernando Muslera 

Defenders -The inform Diego Godin  will the defense with Diego Lugano  Martin Caceres Maximiliano Pereira

Midfielders – Nicolas Lodeiro and Egidio Arevalo Rios  will be starting at the center , while Cristian Rodriguez  will be playing outwide.

Forwards –  Edison Cavani , Luis Suarez And maybe Diego Forlan .

Key Player –  Luis Suarez

Notable Missing Players – Gonzalo Castro 

Surprise – Cristian Rodriguez could provide a surprise on attack

One to Watch –  Cavani and Suarez , Probably the best striker partnership on paper. Besides Argentina’s forward line , Uruguay forward line could be one of the strongest in the tournament.

Young Star – Uruguay brought a veteran squad , but Abel Hernández could be surprise on the loaded forward line , while the defense could be reinforced by José María Giménez

Captain: Mario Yepes

Manager: Jose Pekerman

Costa Rica played solid defense on its way to qualification.Not a favorable group for them having England , Italy and Uruguay in the same group.

Notable Strength –Their defense pretty held up during the qualification.  Having Bryan Ruiz  and  Joel Campbell is a strength

Notable Weakness – Overall Costa Rica is a pretty decent squad , a pretty decent squad against big teams like Uruguay , Italy and England. Costa Rica

Projected Starting XI

Goalkeeper –  Keylor Navas  will start for them.

Defenders –Johnny Acosta  Giancarlo Gonzalez  Michael Umana  will be a sturdy defense.

Midfielders –  Celso Borges will expected to lead this midfield , who will expected to pressed in this talented group.

Forwards – Álvaro Saborío will be missing for Costa Rica at the forward line , Its not 100% attack , but Bryan Ruiz and Joel Campbell can give threats in going forward.

Key Player –Bryan Ruiz  At his best, he is a tremendously elegant player with a refined dribbling style and cultured left-foot. 

Notable Missing Players – Álvaro Saborío will be missing for Costa Rica , and that makes Costa Rica’s attack not 100%

Surprise – Bryan Ruiz could be surprise if he performs very well/

One to Watch –  Keylor Navas might underrated , but Costa Rica , but his shotstopping ability will be needed.

Young Star – Bryan Ruiz. 

Manager: Alberto Zaccheroni

Captain: Makoto Hasebe

The first team to qualify. The champions of asia. They have a myriad of excellent players in midfield, but whether they’re sturdy enough to match Ivory Coast and Colombia up front remain to be seen.  Japan is a surprise package in this world cup. Not a favorable group for them. As Ivory Coast and Colombia are clearly favorites to push through , but they can defeat them.

Notable Strength –  Flying Fullbacks with Yuto Nagatomo and Atsuto Uchida. Experienced and creative Yasuhito Endo and Makoto Hasebe at the midfield . Keisuke Honda Shinji Kagawa  on the attack.

Notable Weakness – Excellent Attackers , but a striker who can convert goals ? sure Kagawa can score , Honda can score . but neither is playing as a striker.

Projected Starting XI

Goalkeeper – Eiji Kawashima  starting for Blue Samurais

Defenders – Attacking fullbacks  Yuto Nagatomo  and Atsuto Uchida  will be expected to start for japan. With Yasuyuki Konno and Maya Yoshida will be at the center back.

Midfielders – Yasuhito Endo And Makoto Hasebe will as the engine for the Japanese midfield. Expect them to provide useful balls to Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa   who will be playing a more attacking role.

Forwards –  Shinji Okazaki can Start , Hiroshi Kiyotake is there also , Yoichiro Kakitani can also . Who will start ? who knows.

Key Player – Keisuke Honda is expected to lead this team. especially having a good cover from midfield for him.

Notable Missing Players – Hajime Hosogai is not the final 23 . The Defensive midfield could provide good cover for Endo and Hasebe

Surprise –  Yoichiro Kakitani ! Could be a surprise for Japan. A foreign club move for him is possible if he performs well in this world cup.

One to Watch –  Shinji Kagawa , He’s the one to watch. How he can play well with Honda who theoretically has been playing the same role as his.

Young Star -Hotaru Yamaguchi will provide cover in the veteran midfield , but Gōtoku Sakai will surely have his chances on that high flying fullback of japan

Projection

Making it out of the Group Stages , is not a easy task them for them . but they should because they have the capabilities to do it. Making it to the round of 16 is not a bad finish.

Complete Squad

Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Standard Liege), Shusaku Nishikawa (Urawa Reds), Shuichi Gonda (FC Tokyo)

Defenders: Yasuyuki Konno (Gamba Osaka), Masahiko Inoha (Jubilo Iwata), Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan), Masato Morishige (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Schalke), Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Hiroki Sakai (Hannover 96), Gotoku Sakai (Stuttgart)

Midfielders: Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Makoto Hasebe (Nuremberg), Toshihiro Aoyama (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka), Keisuke Honda (AC Milan), Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United)

Forwards: Yoshito Okubo (Kawasaki Frontale), Shinji Okazaki (Mainz), Hiroshi Kiyotake (Nurnberg), Yoichiro Kakitani (Cerezo Osaka), Manabu Saito (Yokohama F-Marinos), Yuya Osako (1860 Munich)