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| Passersby walk past a wall decorated with a mural depicting soccer player Neymar of Brazil during the 2014 soccer World Cup in Indaiatuba, near Sao Paulo, Wednesday. / AP-Yonhap |
By Kim Tae-jong
The world's biggest sporting event will feature 48 games in the first round through June 27 (KST), starting with the kickoff match between Brazil and Croatia on Friday.
It will be two solid weeks of the best international soccer on the globe ― three, sometimes four matches in a day ― and there will be at least one big match every day, which you don't want to miss.
The following is a quick look at the most intriguing and potentially entertaining matches to watch during the group stage.
For Koreans
The matches of their national team will definitely be the must-see games.
Korea will have a first match against Russia at 7 a.m. on June 18, before taking on Algeria at 4 a.m. on June 23 and Belgium at 5 a.m. on June 27.
In fact, other matches of Group H, which Korea belongs to, are all important for Koreans, who are eager to see their team advance into the knockout stage.
It is considered a relatively soft group, compared to so-called "Group of Death," which is either Group B or Group D depending on to whom you talk. The former consists of Spain, Chile, Netherland and Australia, while the latter has Italy, England, Uruguay and Costa Rica.
But none of its opponents in Group H will be easy for Korea. They have had no losses in their recent friendly matches, while Korea suffered losses in the last two friendly matches ― 0-1 against Tunisia and 0-4 against Ghana.
Experts say Belgium is the strongest, full of star players such as Vincent Kompnay, Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku, and the other three teams are expected to compete for the remaining ticket into the second round.
Although injuries are a concern, Russia is favored to make it into the second round, and Algeria has many players who belong to European clubs. Koreans think Algeria could be the banana skin in this group, but the rest of teams seem to think their game against Korea is the one they shouldn't lose.
Big matchups
The first and the biggest match will be the one between Spain and Netherlands at 4 a.m. on Saturday. They will meet again four years after the World Cup final in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010, when Spain defeated the Netherlands 1–0 with a goal from Andres Iniesta four minutes before the end of extra time.
On the following day, at 7 a.m., England will play against Italy. They have met in 24 previous matches, but Italy has had more wins, including their most recent game in the UEFA Euro 2012 quarter-finals, in which Italy won on penalties after a 0–0 draw.
But Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has recently said his team is the best England squad he has ever been a part of and one of which he feels Italy should be afraid of.
At 1 a.m. on June 17, Germany and Portugal will play, two major favorites in the World Cup. The game is important as their Group G is full of strong competitors including Ghana and U.S., who all made it into the knockout stages in the previous World Cup.
Germany, with its "golden generation," is said to have a chance to go all the way to the final for the first time in 24 years, but it will face a first and massive hurdle as they fight Portugal, led by the Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best football players in the world.
The matchup between Spain and Chile at 4 a.m. on June 19 will also be interesting, as the defending champion meets the dark horse. Chile is said to be its best yet, notably holding both Brazil and world champions Spain to 2-2 draws and beating England 2-0 last year.
Other matchups that have drawn much attention include those between Uruguay and England at 4 a.m. on June 20; and Italy and Uruguay at 1 a.m. on June 25.
Uruguay is also aiming high to make it into the final for the first time in 64 years with high expectations on striker Luis Suarez, who is fast recovering from keyhole surgery to his left knee.
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