World Cup Soccer Picks

The entire world will be watching when the 2010 FIFA World Cup of soccer is held in South Africa from June 11 through July 11.

The World Cup is held every four years and pits the world's greatest soccer power nations first in pool play and then in a single-elimination, 16-team tournament, called the Round of 16. Thirty-two teams qualified for the World Cup by playing in qualifying matches that began in 2007.

In pool play, commonly called the group stage, eight groups of four teams were created by a blind draw in December 2009. During the group stage, each team plays the other three teams in its group. Based on record and, if needed, various tie-breaking procedures, the top two teams in each group advance to the Round of 16, which begins June 26. The championship match will be held July 11 in Johannesburg.

The United States soccer team will play in Group C, which includes England, Algeria, and Slovenia. England is listed as a 4-to-11 favorite to win Group C, while the United States has been picked a 4-to-1 favorite to win the group. Other group favorites include:

Group A: France (10-to-11) Group B: Argentina (1-to-2) Group D: Germany (4-to-5) Group E: Holland (8-to-11) Group F: Italy (4-to-9) Group G: Brazil (8-to-13) Group H: Spain (1-to-3)

World Cup 2010 will be the 19th time the World Cup has been contested. Brazil, which has won five previous World Cup titles, is predicted again in World Cup 2010 with odds of 5-to-1, along with Spain (4-to-1), England (11-to-2), Italy (10-to-1), and Argentina (9-to-1) selected to win.

South Korea is the longest shot to win World Cup 2010 (1,000-to-1). New Zealand is another long shot at (750-to-1), while the United States is 65-to-1. Italy is the defending World Cup Champion after defeating France on penalty kicks in the 2006 World Cup, held in Germany. Italy has won four World Cup titles, just ahead of Germany's three titles.

World Cup 2010 will be the first World Cup tournament held on the African continent. Host nations often perform well in the World Cup. Germany finished third as the host in the 2006 World Cup, and South Korea placed fourth in 2002. France won its only World Cup as a host nation in 1998. However, South Africa is expected to finish behind France and Uruguay in Group A, leaving South Africa out of the Round of 16.

Brazil will host World Cup 2014, and FIFA has received almost a dozen bids to host World Cup 2018 and World Cup 2022 from Australia, Belgium/Netherlands, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Qatar, Russia, South Korea, Spain/Portugal, and the United States. Those host nations will be announced in December 2010.