Get To Know World Cup Group E
This week we take a look at what Switzerland, Ecuador, Honduras, and France are bringing to the tournament.
With the World Cup just around the corner (OK, like a really big corner), we’ll be taking some time every Friday to investigate the best ball-kickers (it’s a technical term, don’t worry about it) of each World Cup group. Today, Group E!
(Photo: Frank Fife / AFP / Getty Images)
France
First these assholes get to coast through life drinking wine, smoking, and eating cheese while still falling in the top 15 for life expectancy, and now they get to coast through the first round of the Cup in what is inarguably the easiest group in Brazil. Almost nobody will give the French a challenge here (unlike Ukraine, which almost took them out of the tournament entirely during the playoff). The young and talented Paul Pogba goes a long way to throwing France’s beret into the ring as a real tournament contender, but they will likely have trouble with any of the heavyweights given their lack of depth and muted attack. Au revoir!
Ecuador
Led by Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia, Ecuador is a high-flying squad that scores more from headers than any other team in the tournament. Unfortunately for them, that’s about all they do. But landing in the softest group could be a blessing, as they’ll fight it out with Switzerland (which is somehow the seeded team in this group) for the second spot in knockout stages.
Switzerland
The Swiss will be a good matchup for Ecuador, as they have the stoutest defense in the group. They were able to keep a clean sheet in almost three-fourths of their qualifiers, and most of Group E isn’t any tougher than the teams they qualified against. Their chances of advancing will depend heavily on stopping Ecuador’s aerial attack in the first match of the group and ending up with the early three points.
Honduras
Don’t completely count out Honduras; this squad could very well surprise this group. They have a past and present MLS player-heavy squad, plus some European club players to boot. They could be a dark horse to see extra games in Brazil. But also, probably not.
More Sports on Maxim.com:
Get To Know World Cup Group A
Get To Know World Cup Group B
Get To Know World Cup Group C
Get To Know World Cup Group D
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