2014 World Cup Bracket Predictions

[drone]

It's been four years since Secura shamed us all, now is our chance for redemption! Guess the World Cup bracket results, and win the respect of fellow Orgahs and the admiration of women across the globe!

Rules:
Entries must be either posted in this thread or PM'ed to me (if you don't want to tip others with your picks) before the start of group play on June 12th, 1600 ET. No edits should be made to these entries after the start of play, smack talking and discussion should be made in separate posts.
PM'ed entries with be made public once play starts.
I will try to post results and updated brackets/tiebreaker stats/point standings at the end of each round.
The person with the most points wins. In the case of a tie, the tiebreaker entries will be used in ascending order to determine the winner.

Scoring:

• Group Stage - 1 point (team advances out of group)
• Group Stage Bonus - 1 point if team placement, 1st or 2nd in group, is correct
• Round of 16 - 2 points per team advancing
• Round of 16 Bonus - 2 points per pick if team is on the correct side of bracket
• Quarterfinals - 4 points per team advancing
• Quarterfinals Bonus - 4 points per pick if team is on the correct side of bracket
• Semifinals - 8 points per team advancing
• Semifinals Bonus - 8 points per pick if team is on the correct side of bracket
• Finals - 32 points for correct winner pick, 16 points for correct 3rd Place team

So to get the bonus points in all stages, you will need to correctly determine the group winners and runner-ups.

For reference, here are the groups:

1. Brazil , Cameroon , Croatia , Mexico
2. Australia , Chile , Netherlands , Spain
3. Colombia , Greece , Ivory Coast , Japan
4. Costa Rica , England , Italy , Uruguay
5. Ecuador , France , Honduras , Switzerland
6. Argentina , Bosnia-Herzegovinia , Iran , Nigeria
7. Germany , Ghana , Portugal USA
8. Algeria , Belgium , Russia , South Korea

Cut the table section and tiebreakers for your entries here (You can "reply with quote" this post to get the table coding). Replace the group placements in the table(1A, 2B, etc) with your group winners and runners-up, and then the rest of the bracket (R16, QF, SF, Winner/3rd) from there.

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Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups
1A								1B
	R16						R16
2B								2A
		QF				QF
1C								1D
	R16						R16
2D				Winner				2C
			SF		SF
1E				3rd				1F
	R16						R16
2F								2E
		QF				QF
1G								1H
	R16						R16
2H								2G

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): ___
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: __
3: Golden Boot winner: __________
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": __________
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites:__

[naut]

Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 164
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 21
3: Golden Boot winner: Diego Costa
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": England Australia
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites: 4

[The Stranger]

whats wooden spoon?

this post is also place holder for my predictions which will follow later

[drone]

Here's my initial go, although I haven't processed all the injuries yet...

Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 157
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 16
3: Golden Boot winner: Messi
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": Australia
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites: 2


The Wooden Spoon goes to the last place team. It's the team with the least amount of points in the groups, with goal differential and then goals scored as tie-breaks after that.

[naut]

The Wooden Spoon goes to the last place team. It's the team with the least amount of points in the groups, with goal differential and then goals scored as tie-breaks after that.

Ah ok, I was thinking more in terms of expected result vs. actual.

[Gaius Scribonius Curio]

My entry:

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Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 141
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 19
3: Golden Boot winner: Miroslav Klose
4: Wooden Spoon "winner":
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites: 0

I fully expect to finish last, and given my home country () and my current home () I do not expect a 'fun' group stage...

[Fragony]

Holland seems to have lost all credibility
Not that I mind, chaos this WC

[drone]

If you didn't put the USA as winning the whole shebang, you're wrong. This is our time!

(Seriously though, we'll be lucky to make it out of the group stage...)

If I put down the US to advance, it definitely won't happen, hence my reverse jinx bracket. But it's a brutal draw, even if that Ghanian witch doctor successfully keeps Ronaldo on the sidelines.

Holland seems to have lost all credibility
Not that I mind, chaos this WC

Either Spain or Holland will get out of group B, Holland just has a higher chance of imploding. Bad luck for the Aussies, I don't think they are the worst team in the finals, but that group gives them no chance.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Just call the entire thing off now.

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Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 164
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 23
3: Golden Boot winner: Jozy Altidore
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": Ghana
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites: 0

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

My actual predictions to follow...

[GeneralHankerchief]

Okay, here goes. I just started following things basically this past week, so this should be interesting.

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Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 164
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 19
3: Golden Boot winner: Fred
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": Australia
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites:1

My flawless rationale for these picks:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

USA makes the knockout round because AMERICA (seriously though, I'll say we beat Ghana and draw both Germany and Portugal).
Chile makes it out in Group B over the Netherlands because I'll take Fragony's word for it (I'm a good scout, guys!).
Cote d'Ivoire escapes Group C because Africa needs a team and it better freaking not be Ghana.
Ecuador over Switzerland in Group E because apparently home-continent advantage in the World Cup is a thing(???)
Iran makes it out of Group F because I don't feel like spelling out Bosnia-Herzegovina at all.
South Korea over Russia in Group H because I want to see which country Putin takes it out on.

Knockout round:
Colombia over Uruguay because Uruguay seems to be the consensus "hey, don't sleep on these guys!" pick and those teams NEVER win in the end.
The USA's honor satisfied, they bow out in the Round of 16 against Belgium to nationwide praise. AMERICA WINS AGAIN.
Chalk mostly wins the day in the quarterfinals but Belgium, buoyed by the support of the Americans after their victory, runs on Freedom Fuel® takes advantage of a busted bracket and defeats Ecuador to make the semis.
Their luck runs out in the semis as Spain smothers them to death like they've apparently done to everything since 2008 (see how good my research is?).
Spain over Brazil in the finals, causing a nationwide riot, a multitude of political assassinations, and the eventual Balkanization of the country in a decade. The 2016 Olympics are switched to America because the IOC was so impressed with our group play performance. Belgium takes third largely because of the same reason.

Oh, Fred wins the golden boot because I love the fact that there's a player at the highest levels of the sport whose name is Fred.

[drone]

Two days left until the start, get your picks in.

Guess the World Cup bracket results, and win the respect of fellow Orgahs and the admiration of women across the globe!

The winner also gets a €20 Steam gift. If respect from your fellow Orgahs isn't enough...

[Ishmael]

I don't often post in the Frontroom, but this looks like a good way to add some excitement to the matches I don't have a stake in. Prepare for some left-field (read: utterly stupid) picks, most notably with respect to Australia. Hey, I'm an optimist .

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Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 171
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 19
3: Golden Boot winner: Lionel Messi
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": Netherlands (you saw it here first)
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites: 0

[The Stranger]

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Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 142
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 20
3: Golden Boot winner: Neymar
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": Iran
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites:0


brazil wins cuz the thing is rigged ofcourse :)

[drone]

Just a few more hours to get your picks in or fine tune your selections.

[The Stranger]

told ya, its rigged XD 2 dubious decisions lead to 3-1 instead of 2-2 :O

[drone]

Collected entries:
naut

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 164
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 21
3: Golden Boot winner: Diego Costa
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": England Australia
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites: 4

drone

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 157
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 16
3: Golden Boot winner: Messi
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": Australia
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites: 2

Gaius Scribonius Curio

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 141
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 19
3: Golden Boot winner: Miroslav Klose
4: Wooden Spoon "winner":
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites: 0

GeneralHankerchief

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 164
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 19
3: Golden Boot winner: Fred
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": Australia
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites:1

Ishmael

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 171
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 19
3: Golden Boot winner: Lionel Messi
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": Netherlands (you saw it here first)
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites: 0

The Stranger

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

Tiebreakers:
1: Total Goals Scored in Tournament (not including shootout PKs): 142
2: Total Number of Red Cards (straight up or 2 yellows) in Tournament: 20
3: Golden Boot winner: Neymar
4: Wooden Spoon "winner": Iran
5: Number of delayed game starts caused by unprepared sites:0

[drone]

Maybe I should have used "Mindblowingly poor refereeing decisions" as a tiebreaker...

[GeneralHankerchief]

Good start, GH.

-edit- good lord

[Ishmael]

And they said Australia would be the whipping boys of group B. Of course, my wooden spoon prediction is looking a little shaky.

[The Stranger]

everyone's predictions are shaken by these results :P

i did speak to a guy at work today who had predicted right the first goal of the match at 27 minutes, the correct end result of 5-1 for holland and also 2-1 for chili vs australia... shouldve asked his number, if he goes on like this i can make big money at the bookies!

[naut]

Should have kept my original Costa Rica prediction.. doh.

[Fragony]

Maybe I should have used "Mindblowingly poor refereeing decisions" as a tiebreaker...

It wasn't against the rules and it didn't look like it was intentional, ozzies play a fair game, just bad luck on our part. We barelily got away it was pretty damn tense. There were some questionable decisions but hey, we still won. Nice to see two relentless teams duking it out, last 20 minutes were really tense.

Australia

[Shaka_Khan]

Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups

[The Stranger]

lol ur kinda late with ur predictions XD

[Shaka_Khan]

Shhh...

[The Stranger]

also holland cant be both 2nd and 3rd in ur prediction :P

[Ibrahim]

The USA shall emerge victorious from the group of doom!

dreamer...

[drone]

Germany v Ghana, awesome match. US better beat Portugal tomorrow, Germany is going to be motivated for that third game...

[The Stranger]

portugal > usa
germany > usa
ghana > portugal

!!! GHANA TO 2nd ROUND!

[Shaka_Khan]

also holland cant be both 2nd and 3rd in ur prediction :P

Oh thanks, I misunderstood the table. Here's the new and revised edition:

Groups	Round16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Semifinals	Quarterfinals	Round16	Groups