World Cup Bracket 2014: Full Tournament Schedule and Group Predictions

After four very long years of waiting, the 2014 World Cup has arrived.

The 32 nations competing in arguably the globe's biggest sporting event have descended upon Brazil to decide who will be crowned world champion. And while a few early favorites—Germany, Brazil, Spain and Argentina—have surfaced leading up to the action, anything is possible throughout the course of 90 minutes.

Before it can be narrowed down, though, each team will play its round-robin fixtures against every team in their respective groups to determine who will advance to the knockout stage.

Let's get right to it and take a look at every upcoming fixture, as well as some predictions for how each group will unfold.

Date	Match	Group	Time (ET)	Venue	TV
June 12	Brazil vs. Croatia	A	4 p.m.	Sao Paulo	ESPN
June 13	Mexico vs. Cameroon	A	12 p.m.	Natal	ESPN2
June 13	Spain vs. Netherlands	B	3 p.m.	Salvador	ESPN
June 13	Chile vs. Australia	B	6 p.m.	Cuiaba	ESPN2
June 14	Colombia vs. Greece	C	12 p.m.	Belo Horizonte	ABC
June 14	Uruguay vs. Costa Rica	D	3 p.m.	Fortaleza	ABC
June 14	Ivory Coast vs. Japan	C	6 p.m.	Recife	ESPN
June 14	England vs. Italy	D	6 p.m.	Manaus	ESPN
June 15	Switzerland vs. Ecuador	E	12 p.m.	Brasilia	ABC
June 15	France vs. Honduras	E	3 p.m.	Porto Alegre	ABC
June 15	Argentina vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina	F	6 p.m.	Rio De Janeiro	ESPN
June 16	Germany vs. Portugal	G	12 p.m.	Salvador	ESPN
June 16	Iran vs. Nigeria	F	3 p.m.	Curitiba	ESPN
June 16	Ghana vs. United States	G	6 p.m.	Natal	ESPN
June 17	Belgium vs. Algeria	H	12 p.m.	Belo Horizonte	ESPN
June 17	Brazil vs. Mexico	A	3 p.m.	Fortaleza	ESPN
June 17	Russia vs. South Korea	H	6 p.m.	Cuiaba	ESPN
June 18	Australia vs. Netherlands	B	12 p.m.	Porto Alegre	ESPN
June 18	Cameroon vs. Croatia	A	3 p.m.	Manaus	ESPN
June 18	Spain vs. Chile	B	6 p.m.	Rio De Janeiro	ESPN
June 19	Colombia vs. Ivory Coast	C	12 p.m.	Brasilia	ESPN
June 19	Uruguay vs. England	D	3 p.m.	Sao Paulo	ESPN
June 19	Greece vs. Japan	C	6 p.m.	Natal	ESPN
June 20	Costa Rica vs. Italy	D	12 p.m.	Recife	ESPN
June 20	Switzerland vs. France	E	3 p.m.	Salvador	ESPN
June 20	Ecuador vs. Honduras	E	6 p.m.	Curitiba	ESPN
June 21	Argentina vs. Iran	F	12 p.m.	Belo Horizonte	ESPN
June 21	Germany vs. Ghana	G	3 p.m.	Fortaleza	ESPN
June 21	Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Nigeria	F	6 p.m.	Cuiaba	ESPN
June 22	South Korea vs. Algeria	H	12 p.m.	Porto Alegre	ABC
June 22	United States vs. Portugal	G	3 p.m.	Manaus	ABC
June 22	Belgium vs. Russia	H	12 p.m.	Rio De Janeiro	ESPN
June 23	Australia vs. Spain	B	12 p.m.	Curitiba	ESPN2
June 23	Chile vs. Netherlands	B	12 p.m.	Sao Paulo	ESPN
June 23	Brazil vs. Cameroon	A	4 p.m.	Brasilia	ESPN
June 23	Croatia vs. Mexico	A	4 p.m.	Recife	ESPN2
June 24	Italy vs. Uruguay	D	12 p.m.	Natal	ESPN
June 24	Costa Rica vs. England	D	12 p.m.	Belo Horizonte	ESPN2
June 24	Japan vs. Colombia	C	4 p.m.	Cuiaba	ESPN
June 24	Greece vs. Ivory Coast	C	4 p.m.	Fortaleza	ESPN2
June 25	Nigeria vs. Argentina	F	12 p.m.	Porto Alegre	ESPN
June 25	Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Iran	F	12 p.m.	Salvador	ESPN2
June 25	Honduras vs. Switzerland	E	4 p.m.	Manaus	ESPN2
June 25	France vs. Ecuador	E	4 p.m.	Rio De Janeiro	ESPN
June 26	United States vs. Germany	G	12 p.m.	Recife	ESPN
June 26	Portugal vs. Ghana	G	12 p.m.	Brasilia	ESPN2
June 26	South Korea vs. Belgium	H	4 p.m.	Sao Paulo	ESPN
June 26	Algeria vs. Russia	H	4 p.m.	Curitiba	ESPN2
June 28	Round of 16: 1A vs. 2B	-	12 p.m.	Belo Horizonte	ABC
June 28	Round of 16: 1C vs. 2D	-	4 p.m.	Rio De Janeiro	ABC
June 29	Round of 16: 1B vs. 2A	-	12 p.m.	Fortazela	ESPN
June 29	Round of 16: 1D vs. 2C	-	4 p.m.	Recife	ESPN
June 30	Round of 16: 1E vs. 2F	-	12 p.m.	Brasilia	ESPN
June 30	Round of 16: 1G vs. 2H	-	4 p.m.	Porto Alegre	ESPN
July 1	Round of 16: 1F vs. 2E	-	12 p.m.	Sao Paulo	ESPN
July 1	Round of 16: 1H vs. 2G	-	4 p.m.	Salvador	ESPN
July 4	Quarterfinals	-	12 p.m.	Rio De Janeiro	ESPN2
July 4	Quarterfinals	-	4 p.m.	Fortazela	ESPN
July 5	Quarterfinals	-	12 p.m.	Brasilia	ABC
July 5	Quarterfinals	-	4 p.m.	Salvador	ESPN
July 8	Semifinals	-	4 p.m.	Belo Horizonte	ESPN
July 9	Semifinals	-	4 p.m.	Sao Paulo	ESPN
July 12	Third-Place Match	-	4 p.m.	Brasilia	ESPN
July 13	Final	-	3 p.m.	Rio De Janeiro	ABC

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H
Brazil	Spain	Colombia	Italy
Croatia	Netherlands	Greece	Uruguay
Mexico	Australia	Japan	England
Cameroon	Chile	Ivory Coast	Costa Rica
France	Argentina	Germany	Belgium
Switzerland	Bosnia-Herzegovina	Portugal	Russia
Honduras	Iran	United States	Algeria
Ecuador	Nigeria	Ghana	South Korea

Notable Predictions

Germany, Portugal to Escape Group of Death

Featuring four teams that made it out of the group stage in the 2010 World Cup, Group G has been pegged as the "group of death" ever since the fateful draw took place.

But simply by glancing at the list of teams in Group G and their respective rosters, there's absolutely no doubt as to which two national teams are best suited to escape it still alive—Germany and Portugal.

Germany is a shoo-in favorite to make the semifinals with a stacked roster and plenty of weapons, but Portugal has a commodity no one else can match—Cristiano Ronaldo—and some complementary pieces that can mesh well at times.

The Portuguese may get off on the wrong foot, as they will face Germany in their opener, but with Ronaldo playing some of the best football of his career heading into Brazil, he won't let his squad be knocked out by the likes of the U.S. and Ghana. The talent gap is simply too large for Portugal's attack not to come through at least a few times.

Meanwhile, Germany may not even draw a game en route to the knockout stage, and a positive result against Portugal in the opener will be the start of a deep run.

England to Stumble, Fall Victim to Tough Group

The English have long been due a thrilling run deep into the World Cup, but once again, this year isn't shaping up to be the year for Roy Hodgson and company.

Group G may be the group of death, but Group D boasts the three best teams of any foursome, as England join Italy and Uruguay in the group. Costa Rica rounds it out. 

The English come into Brazil touting a noticeably young roster that is sure to undergo some growing pains, and it hasn't left hopes too high back home for the national team. According to Reuters (via The Guardian), even the British government has put a low ceiling on the team's upcoming performances.

Meanwhile, Italy is coming off a Euro 2012 final run that shows the squad (still) isn't too old and that the infusion of now 23-year-old striker Mario Balotelli can take it to the next level.

On the other end of the spectrum, Uruguay made the World Cup semifinals in 2010. Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani have blossomed into world-class attackers, and Diego Forlan—the hero from four years ago—is still chugging along.

Facing Italy in their opener, the Three Lions won't quite be up to par with their opponents early on, and that will put them at a disadvantage in the group with Uruguay likely to coast past Costa Rica. From that point on, it's an uphill battle for Hodgson's crew. 

Belgium Will Win Group over Russia

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

With Group D and Group G filled with standout national teams, that leaves groups with notably less intrigue like Group H—where Belgium, Russia, Algeria and South Korea will vie for two round-of-16 spots.

Although it isn't heavy on international intrigue like some other nations, Belgium is loaded with star players who are no strangers to competing against world-class players from the other nations, and they'll take that mentality into the group stage.

Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku both have been tearing up the pitch in England, and they've been building up for this chance to shine on the international stage. Vincent Kompany leads a defense that can afford to fly around a bit more thanks to the Manchester City defender's reliability. 

Russia will be the big test for Belgium, but that doesn't come until the latter's second match in Brazil. The Belgium squad will face Algeria first, which didn't score a single goal in its 2010 World Cup appearance, and building confidence from that will allow Belgium to slip past Russia and take out South Korea to dominate Group H.