1.MEXICO

2. IRAN

3.ANGOLA

4. PORTUGAL

Hmm take your chance!! yes that's right they'll be suprises in this group as long as the underdogs take their chances

just Imagine Angola Vs Portugal!! who wont like beating their colonial master 

_{analysis n infos below of bbc.co.uk n fifa.com}

MEXICO: FACTS

Mexico have qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals 12 times  more often than world powers such as France and England for example. And their best results have come when they have hosted the tournament.

They reached the quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986, on both occasions losing to the eventual runners-up. In 1970, Italy defeated them 4-1 and in 1986, the home team were devastated after losing the penalty shoot-out with Germany.

The Mexicans have collected their fair share of silverware in regional tournaments, including the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Central America Championships, CONCACAF Champions Cup and Pan-American Games.

How did they get to Germany: Very comfortably from a weak group, as per usual. Mexico finished second behind the USA in the Concacaf group, seeing off the likes of Panama and Guatemala.

Qualifying star: All-action midfielder Jaime Lozano is more concerned with getting goals than stopping them and he struck 11 times during qualification.

Manager: The Mexicans have only lost twice since Ricardo La Volpe took over in October 2003 and the Argentine predicted his side would qualify with no problems.

Captain: Rafael Marquez is the only player in the team who could argue to be genuine world-class. Marquez plays just in front of the back four for country and club, Barcelona, and helped the Catalans to their Champions League success.

World Cup legend: Hugo Sanchez. The somersaulting Real Madrid striker only bagged once at the World Cup finals, but he played in three tournaments and remains comfortably the country's best ever player.

Present star man: With fiery striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco not selected there will be increased pressure on Bolton's non-scoring, non-playing striker Jared Borgetti in front of goal.

Strengths: The goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez is in the form of his life and along with the solid defence and presence of Marquez, Mexico should be able to keep it tight at the back.

Weaknesses: Scoring against Dominica is slightly different to scoring against Argentina. Of the two who could hit the back of the net, Blanco has not been selected and Borgetti has spent more of the season picking splinters from his bum than the ball from the net.

Did you know? The first substitute to score a goal in the World Cup finals was Mexico's Juan Basaguren against El Salvador in a 4-0 victory in 1970. They have lost more games than any other nation in World Cup finals history (22).

World ranking: 4

Odds: 50/1

Local view: "We haven't ever got to the semi-finals and the only times we reached the last eight the tournament was in Mexico, so we are not hoping for much. But they will qualify from their group." Pedro Ivan Santana, Servicio Universal de Noticias news agency.

Our verdict: one of the favourites might go far!

The team

IRAN

How did they get to Germany: Iran produced a strong performance and qualified with little trouble, booking their berth with a game to go.

Qualifying star: Playmaker Ali Karimi's dazzling performances won him the 2004 Asian Footballer of the Year award as well as a move to Bayern Munich.

Manager: Croatian Branko Ivankovic earned plaudits for rebuilding the squad after a disappointing defeat to the Republic of Ireland in a 2002 World Cup qualifying play-off.

 
Captain: Ali Daei, who scored nine goals in qualifying for the World Cup finals.

World Cup pedigree: World Cups come every 20 years for Iran - or at least they used to. They made their debut in 1978 and a second appearance in 1998, but bucked the trend with qualification for Germany 2006.

_{World Cup high: In six matches they have tasted victory just once - but that 2-1 win over the USA in 1998 was sweet. World Cup low: After the high of beating the USA came a heartbreaking 2-0 defeat to Germany in the very next game, a result which saw them miss out on a qualifying spot for the knockout phase.}
Present star man: Ali Karimi followed Ali Daei and Vahid Hashemian in opting to sign for Bayern at the start of the season.

Strengths: They can boast some good quality in their forward line.

Weaknesses: The squad has a lack of top-level experience.

Did you know? Iran had the biggest attendance for any game in the qualifying for the World Cup finals when Japan visited Tehran in March 2005 and were watched by a crowd of 110,000.

World ranking: 23

Odds: 500/1

Local view: "If they enjoy good morale and self-confidence, they might qualify for the second round." Behnam Saremi, Iran Daily.

Our verdict: THEY'll need all the luck and mathematical possibilites to advance to the next round- imposible is Nothing 

the squad

ANGOLA

How did they get to Germany: Sprang a major surprise by finishing top of a tough group containing Nigeria. The two teams finished level on points but Angola went through with a better record in the head-to-head games.

Qualifying star: Fabrice Akwa. Scored some crucial goals, including the winner against Nigeria and the only strike against Rwanda that clinched their qualification.

Manager: The hugely popular Luis Oliveira Goncalves. Achieved great success with the Under-20 side by leading them to the African Youth Championship and was put in charge of the senior side in 2003.

Captain: Akwa. Angola's sportsman of the year is a veteran of the national side who leads from the front and is highly respected. Not as quick as he once was but has a knack for being in the right place.

World Cup pedigree: Have never qualified for a finals before and rarely looked like doing so. Their goal is usually to make the African Cup of Nations. [color=#990000][/color]

Present star man: Benfica striker Pedro Mantorras has yet to achieve his potential, partly due to a knee injury, but has the ability to take over from Akwa as the focal point of the side.

Strengths: Goncalves has moulded the team into a very efficient defensive unit and they will be looking to cause a major shock in Germany.

Weaknesses: The team lacks a playmaker of international class and they can sometimes struggle for goals.

Did you know? Angola almost got knocked out at the preliminary qualification stage. They lost 3-1 to African minnows Chad in their first leg, which led to the sacking of Brazilian coach Ismael Kurtz, before winning the second leg 2-0 to go through on away goals.

World ranking: 57

Odds: 750/1

Local view: "Angola will be a very, very strong underdog. We have a lot of ground to gain to compete with these powerful nations. They will play a collective game with strong emphasis on defence and try to spring a few surprises on the counter-attack." Jose Cunha, LAC radio station.

Our verdict: they are likely to find the step up to the international stage a tough one.

the team

PORTUGAL

How did they get to Germany: Easily. Portugal were unbeaten in their group in which they thrashed Russia 7-1 and finished seven points clear.

Qualifying star: Striker Pauleta ended the campaign with a brace that saw him overtake Eusebio's record of 41 goals for Portugal. He came top of the scoring charts in the European zone with 11.

Manager: Charismatic Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari. Known as "Big Phil" and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Gene Hackman, Scolari guided Portugal to the final of Euro 2004 but has yet to win over the Portuguese public and was hunted by England as a replacement for Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Captain: Luis Figo. Back from international retirement, the talismanic figure of Portuguese football was quickly given back the armband that he regarded as his own and he is now definite this will be his swansong.

World Cup pedigree: Patchy. Just the three so far. Portugal's first attempt in 1966 was highly successful but the 1986 and 2002 campaigns left a lot to be desired.

World Cup high: Reaching the semi-finals in 1966, beaten in the end by home nation and eventual champions England.

World Cup low: The 2002 World Cup was a disaster for the Portuguese. The USA and South Korea both beat highly-fancied Portugal, who finished bottom of their group.

World Cup legend: Difficult to see beyond Eusebio, a true footballing superstar and a great of the game who was the top scorer at the 1966 tournament.

Present star man: Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo is the heir apparent to Figo. With his dazzling feet and blinding skills he has the ability to illuminate the finals.

Strengths: Solid in defence, exceptional in midfield and with plenty of options in attack, Portugal are not short of highly-rated personnel. The remaining players from the 'golden generation' of Portuguese football are determined to win a major trophy.

Weaknesses: Despite the exploits of Pauleta in qualifying he has failed to deliver in major tournaments. The goalkeeping position remains a major problem. Benfica's Quim and Sporting Lisbon's Ricardo are competing for the jersey that many want to be seen given to the out-of-favour Vitor Baia.

Did you know? The Portuguese squad were so unhappy with their training camp at Saltilho, Mexico in 1986 that they threatened to go on strike. One practice match saw them line up against staff from their hotel.

World ranking: 7

Odds: 20/1

Local view: "I think Portugal will be in the top eight teams in Germany. They are more prepared for competition than at Euro 2004 and the coach understands his players better." Luis Octavio Costa, Publico newspaper.

Our verdict: EXPECTED TO GO THROUGH BUT WITH SWEAT

the squad

i see portugal and mexico going through to he 2nd round. no surprises here for me.

@LoverBwouy

Good analysis

Very very organised comments.

A big challenge to me.

Nice comment.

I just hope it's Portugal and Mexico!

Mexico and Portugal definitely

I love to see those two teams play!

I think Iran has a very good chance, they will be somewhat underrated plus they have nothing to loose and more to gain if they sting some few teams they have very good attacking players with pace, can be very shaky at the back though

Angola are very good at defence they have similar gameplay as portugal-who also are good in terms of defense but they have very good midfielders, they Angolan holding teams to draws will call for mathematics n maybe more head to head rules

Mexico very good at the back and also good going forward

Well Mexico and Portugal are undoubtedly the favourites in this group, however i **see** Iran shaking out one of the aforementioned teams for the top 2, or second spot to be precise. Angola, well if they want to surprise us, thats left solely to them,  ciao,   

Iran is capable of going to the second round, the slip up will be from Portugal if that eventually happens.

spot on mate

these teams will definately slow down some big guns

i see portugal even topping the group. i dont know why. just a feeling.

Portugal owns that group

Portugal will definitely qualify from this group as leaders

and

the likely runner-up will be Mexico 

Angola lost all its three friendly matches hope they wont disgrace us like saudi disgraced themselves to germany
Portugal well hopefully they'll perform
Iran oo the arabs boy can they really play well
Mexico i see them as group winners but for the runner up am not sure tho

Who wouldn't know?

Iran tops the group, followed by portugal

iran topping the group? very funny.

on second thought, nothing is impossible. esp. in football. (whoever thought ecuador could beat polland by 2 unreplied goals?)

Yes, I saw the two goals coming even before the start of the match.

The Poles were tough though!

Did you see how Mexico trashed Iran and Portugal beat Angola. Mexico will definitely beat Portugal but who knows what will happen between Iran and Portugal

Iran and Angola will definately tie points

The iranians played well during the first half but the mexicans were something else when they returned for the second half.
Ah angola played fine with lots of defensive blunders fabrice akwa dissapointed me bigg time but figueiredo and mantorras played fine.i wonder why their coach subbed him tho and bought him late, They almost gave the portuguese a run for their money but they were unlucky, If they continue playin like this maybe they'll qualify

Portugal! (DD) should know that big names never count in Africa.
Angola! that was a fantastic 2nd half. I was personally impressed, But next time give Matias ad Akwa good balls. Where was rhe famous Flavio?
Luis figo and Cristiano Ronaldo carried the day true assets and very attentive players. Simao Sambrosa did little contributions a shadow of himself.
Hope< hope is the last thing I will ever want it to die in me.
With Ronaldo playing a very selfish game, it was that Angola defence was full of loop holes in the first20 mins. Otherwise!
Jaba! This defender just sinked Angola with his poor defence
Started off very slowly and hey! Angolans! We need ideas just like Portugal.
Question: Must Akwa turn upside down to score or kick a shot?
Yes, a good player but he dis-appointed me.
So many adopted Portuguese in Angolan team that is a ploy against Africa in the name of “Palancas Negras” Figueiredo?
I dint expect such good performance in a war-torn country like Angola!

Flavio really made me laugh yesterday with his COACHY attitude towards an Angolan player at the start of the Second Half of the match yesterday! Really was an interesting match!