Brazil 2014: If Great Britain Entered the World Cup, They Would Finish Fourth

As the national teams of Great Britain ready themselves for another round of World Cup qualifiers, unfortunately only England has a chance of reaching Brazil in 2014.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have always produced excellent individual players, but not in the numbers to create the robust squads required to give their best and brightest a platform to shine on the international stage.

Scotland haven't qualified for a World Cup since 1998 or a European Championship since 1996. Wales came close to qualifying for Euro 2004 but lost out in a play-off with Russia. Before that the Welsh national team made it the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup and the 1976 European Championship.

Northern Ireland have a similarly illustrious if inconsistent record in the past, also reaching the quarter-finals in 1958 and exiting the 1982 and 1986 World Cups at the second group stage and first round, respectively.

Even England have a relatively patchy qualification record for the country of their stature, having missed out on World Cups in 1974, 1978 and 1994, and the European Championship in 1964, 1972, 1976, 1984 and most recently in 2008.

Due to this lack of persistent competitiveness, the prospect of a united, full-strength team representing the whole of the UK has long been something of a dream for those who dislike watching some of the best British sidelined from the world stage.

It's a politically charged hypothetical that immediately sends fans and officials on their defensive over their nation's rights to compete as distinct football teams. It's unlikely to ever come to be, but how far could a Great Britain football team go if they were to enter next year's World Cup in Brazil?

Since we're dealing with a imagined scenario in a parallel football universe of our own creation, let's say that this Great Britain team was founded ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games with the agreement of all the relevant Football Associations to compete together after Euro 2012.

Having retired as manager of Manchester United, Britain's greatest living football manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, sets his sights on World Cup glory in 2014 by taking the job as the boss of Team GB.

Based on his winning formula of hard-working players, youth development and squad solidarity, Ferguson's GB squad features a couple of familiar player combinations from the club scene in defence and midfield to foster some decent chemistry in his team.

Selecting a Great British national squad

Using the 4-2-3-1 formation that Ferguson often deployed in his later years at United, Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey would be his first-choice midfield pivot with club mates Jonny Evans and Phil Jones reunited in a youthful yet highly promising central defensive partnership.

Down the left, Gareth Bale would be a major asset in Team GB's attack, joined by left-back Neil Taylor and Ramsey to complete the squad's Welsh contingent. Evans' fellow Northern Irishman, Roy Carroll of Olympiakos, would be the team's veteran goalkeeping back-up, but Scotland's stars would be limited to squad roles.

If fit, Darren Fletcher would be an experienced and assured defensive presence in midfield with Steven Fletcher acting as back-up to England's Daniel Sturridge and Alan McGregor named as Joe Hart's immediate understudy ahead of Carroll.

With Bale unleashed down the left, James Milner would be used to tuck in on the right to provide balance and support to the midfield, with Leighton Baines covering for and overlapping the Welsh winger. A fit-again Glen Johnson would add attacking vigour down the right as a wing-back, linking up with and supplying Sturridge.

Wayne Rooney's partnership with the Liverpool striker and ability to drop deeper to assist in the buildup play and midfield fluency would see him start in the hole. The rest of the squad would feature England players as able and ready back-ups and tactical alternative.

As a more attacking option on the right wing instead of Milner, Theo Walcott would play into Ferguson's passion for wingers gifted with goals and pace. The manager's penchant for youth would see Luke Shaw promoted as Baines as Taylor's back-up, while Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill would be Great Britain's senior defenders.

The squad would have plenty of options. Michael Carrick would allow the team to play a 4-5-1 with Ramsey and Wilshere playing more attacking roles as box-to-box shuttles, while an aging Steven Gerrard could still make major contributions whether selected instead of Rooney or Wilshere.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Danny Welbeck would the team's utility attackers, able to drop into roles up front, on the wing and even in the middle should the need arise.

The road to the Brazil 2014 World Cup

Let's replace England in the current qualification format with Great Britain, assuming that the other groups turned out fairly similarly without the presence of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Ferguson's team would probably be well in control of Group H at this point, with their added starters such as Bale and greater quality in depth helping them to shrug off the challenges of the Ukraine and Montenegro. With England's draw in Kiev wiped from history, Montenegro would be the favourites to qualify from the group in second place. 

However, Great Britain would beat Steven Jovetic and company 2-1 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, with their final group game against Poland scheduled to be played at Wembley, completing the team's tour of the UK through its qualifying group games.

With their tickets already booked to Brazil, the team would draw 2-2 with Robert Lewandowski's Poland.

How far could they go in Brazil?

At the tournament proper, Great Britain would find themselves in a competitive group due to FIFA's decision to base seeding on the world rankings. With the form of countries such as Belgium and Colombia unaffected by the emergence of a United Kingdom team, Ferguson's men would still miss the top pot due to their position outside the top six in the governing body's official standings.

That could lead to a group against the likes of Uruguay, Denmark and Egypt, which would be tough but winnable.

Scraping into first place on goal difference having beaten Denmark and Egypt and tied Uruguay, Great Britain would next face opposition such as Chile, USA or Greece.

Again, these would not be easy games, but with Bale, Rooney and Sturridge all warmed up after a hard-fought group stage, and Wilshere, Ramsey and Milner keeping the team stable in the middle, Team GB would be the favourites to progress.

A quarter-final match against Japan would match a World Cup winner of the past with an emerging superpower of the game looking to secure their own win the near future. This time however, the old order would hold firm, scoring a winner in the 91st minute to take Great Britain into the semis after a thrilling 3-2 victory.

There they would meet Spain leading to one of the highlight games of the tournament. In a showdown that pits Del Bosque's tiki-taka against Ferguson's direct counter-attackers, the press would hark back to the managers' former Champions League encounter in 2001 where the Spain boss' Real Madrid knocked United out of the competition.

With Spain's more patient play better suited to the sweltering conditions, Del Bosque would again win the day, but not until late into extra time with Great Britain's energy and strength sapped by their ball-hogging opponents and the humid conditions.

The 1-0 scoreline would not be representative of the football the beaten semi-finalists would have tried to play, winning the battle with the press to ensure a heroes' return at Heathrow.

This time however Ferguson's team had not been knocked out entirely, facing off against Brazil in the third-place play-off.

Buoyed up by the local crowds and their own determination to salvage something from their World Cup failure on home soil, Scolari's team would prosper over a drained Great Britain team, still reeling from their titanic duel with Spain.

Italy would beat Spain in the final, with Brazil claiming third and Great Britain coming at fourth in their inaugural World Cup appearance. Sir Alex would retire from football management for good, returning to Old Trafford as a director and adviser to the club.

How do you think a Great Britain team would fare in the 2014 World Cup? Who would be in your squad for Brazil?