Quick commentary on the first matches in the first four groups.  As of the end of Sunday, we’ve seen 16 teams play so far.

Two of those 16 squads will reach the semifinals of this tournament.  Right now, you’d have to say Germany is playing the best of anybody in Groups A-D.  Argentina had a strong performance, as did South Korea.  Mexico, South Africa, the United States, England, France, Uruguay, and Nigeria both showed moments of promise, and moments of disappointment, while Greece and Australia both looked like they shouldn’t even be in the World Cup.

There’s still a lot of football left to be played for all teams.

Here’s where we stand.

Group A

In the first game of the World Cup, host South Africa tied Mexico, my favorite to win the group.  Later Friday afternoon, France tied Uruguay.  So after one match, all four of these teams are completely even, and anybody can move on.

Considering South Africa is the host nation, this was the first match of the World Cup, and all the expectations and emotions the Mexican side was going up against, getting a draw was a positive result.  Even though France and Uruguay are both tougher competition than South Africa, Mexico’s road to the knockout stage actually gets easier from here.

South Africa played surprisingly well, and looked like they could possibly advance.  Their play on Thursday against Uruguay will be very telling.

France is the favorite of this group to a lot of people.  Uruguay is a sleeper in this group, and I had them advancing out of group play.  Both teams played poorly, I thought, and both must play a lot better if they are to have any chance against Mexico and South Africa.

I had Mexico beating South Africa, and Uruguay and France tying.  One game right, one game I undervalued the importance of the first match for the host country.  On Thursday, I originally predicted Uruguay to beat South Africa, and Mexico to beat France.  I’m standing by those predictions, but after watching the first matches I think the Uruguay/South Africa game could go either way.

For now, I’m content with my prediction of Mexico finishing first and Uruguay finishing second.

Sharkey's Group A Record:  1-1

Group B

Argentina is everybody’s clear favorite to win this group.  They played well in their first match against Nigeria, and got the result they wanted; but they were far from dominant.  Nigeria had plenty of chances to get back in the match, but wasn’t able to.  Both teams should still move on, and I expect to see a much more dominant performance out of Argentina next time they take the pitch.

I took a lot of heat, both on this website and in talking to people, for how much I ripped on the Greece squad in my column last week.  I stand by it, and a lot of people who criticized me have since gone quiet.  Greece played uninspired football on Saturday against South Korea, and were completely dominated in every aspect of the game.  Their next two matches are much more difficult, and its hard to imagine Greece even earning a draw in either of them.

South Korea, on the other hand, obviously looked great in beating Greece.  I’ll wait until they play Argentina on Thursday before putting too much stock in their performance.  I have a feeling their play was more a result of Greece’s ineptitude than it was South Korea’s own talent and drive.

I originally had Argentina and Nigeria advancing, and am very confident in that prediction.  I took Argentina over Nigeria and South Korea over Greece in the first matches, and got them both right.  On Thursday, I have Nigeria over Greece, and Argentina over South Korea.   Nigeria knows they must win this match to realistically have a chance of advancing, and I expect them to come out firing, and beat Greece easily.

Sharkey's Group B Record:  2-0

Group C

I could write an entire column on the USA-England match if I wanted to.  I believe it’s been covered enough in the media these last few days, though, so I won’t waste your time telling you things you’ve already heard one thousand times in one thousand different ways.

For the US, the result was exactly what they needed, while the play left a little to be desired.  England, on the other hand, has to be extremely disappointed, as they are not only the better squad in general, but they were the better squad on Saturday as well.

In the Slovenia/Algeria match, neither team was overly impressive.  Slovenia won, on a goal almost as weak as the US goal, and therefore has taken over the lead in Group C.  Next up for them is the US.  The US should win, but as I said last week, Slovenia is very capable of upsetting the USA in this match, and if they can force a draw, their chances of advancing will be even greater than they already are.

Unfortunately for the US, I expect a draw on Friday.  In this group, I had England and the US drawing in the first match, while I had Slovenia beating the Algerians.  I also have England crushing Aleria this Friday, while the US and Slovenia battle to a draw.  This will put England and Slovenia in first, with 4 points, and the US in third with 2 points.

I still have the US and England advancing, though, as I expect England to beat Slovenia in the final match, while the US beats Algeria and moves one point ahead of Slovenia for 2nd place.

I hope I’m wrong, and I hope the US beats Slovenia on Friday.  If I’m right, then the five days between the Slovenia match and the Algeria match are going to be very, very long.

Sharkey's Group C Record:  2-0

Group D

This is the first group where I was way off.  Germany looked fantastic yesterday, and completely dominated Australia in every sense of the word.  They looked like a squad that is capable of going the distance in this tournament, and you’d absolutely have to consider them the best of the 16 squads in Groups A thru D right now.

Ghana and Serbia looked pretty evenly matched, and that was a fantastic game yesterday.  I’m still confident in my Serbia pick, but they didn’t look as impressive as I was expecting, and Ghana (and particularly A. Gyan) looked much better than I was expecting.

Last week, I predicted that Serbia would beat Ghana, while Germany and Australia would battle to a draw.  It’s clear now I couldn’t have been more wrong.  For their next matches, I originally had two draws; as I expected Serbia and Germany to tie, while Australia and Ghana tied.  While I obviously can’t change that pre-tournament projection, I expect much different results now.  Australia looked awful, and I think Ghana should be able to beat them.  And Germany looked fantastic, and will probably beat Serbia.

If that happens, Germany and Ghana will both have six points heading into their match on June 23rd, and both teams will have already locked up places in the knock-out stage.

It’s safe to say my Serbia first and Germany second prediction is on life support right now.

Sharkey's Group D Record:  0-2

Sharkey’s World Cup Record:  5-3

Next update will be Wednesday evening as I examine the first matches of Groups E-H.