There’s no way around it: this is one of the classic David vs Gol-iath clashes which make these opening rounds such fun. Surely with the resources and tradition of the United States of America ranged against them, there is no hope for even the […]

More action now from the group of draws, Group B. Greece ranked as outsiders ahead of the tournament, while Nigeria were hotly tipped in some quarters to go somewhere near All The Way. But the table doesn’t lie and they go into this game all sq[…]

The first round of games in Group B finished all square – draws all round. It’s a position to conjure with, as fancied outfits try to recover from the disappointments of points dropped, while outsiders find their confidence boosted by poi[…]

Well this is going to be a titanic struggle, if either France or Mexico lose this one they’re on the first flight to face the brickbats (and possibly bricks) of the fans back home. Tom and Alex will both be hoping it’s not their head the […]

Hello there, due to Tom’s ridiculously busy life and burgeoning media profile (you’ve all read Shiny Shiny, right?), Tim and I will be taking over putting the PWC tracks up for the next few weeks.
We start the second round of matches with[…]

The last of our 32 teams take the field of pop: Spain open their campaign against Switzerland. Spain’s Alberto is new to pop management at this level: his opposite number in the Swiss dugout is Greg Fanoe. Good luck to them both!
Voting for thi[…]

Group H begins with an intriguing clash between the relatively unfancied Chile and the relatively even more unfancied Honduras. Points on the board important here – both sides have experienced pop managers: Chile has turned to Jel, whereas Hond[…]

Our Group E round-up sees Roger Bozack off to cover the Pop Winter olympics so it falls to analyst Pete Baran to helm the coverage in South Africa. The first all Europe tie, Denmark vs Netherlands, followed by the very intriguing Camaroon vs Japan. P[…]

Group G’s second game sees Brazil take on North Korea. Brazil are the most successful side ever in the football World Cup – in pop competition they are more of a sleeping giant, and it’s down to Chris Ambrose to revive their fortune[…]

With the defending Pop World Cup champions Czech Republic failing to qualify for this year’s tournament, Portugal are the most successful 2006 team represented here. Managed by Job de Wit, they open Group G with a game against the Ivory Coast, […]