Group H

Group H

Belgium: Mogi das Cruzes


Best price = 20/1

FIFA's key players
On paper, Belgium can call upon an armada of stars, all plying their trade in Europe’s most prestigious championships. The depth of their talent pool is striking, with Nacer Chadli threatening to eclipse crowd favourite Eden Hazard before the latter has approached anything near his peak. Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois and Toby Alderweireld are the latest stars to emerge, while the likes of Vincent Kompany, Thomas Vermaelen, Axel Witsel, Marouane Fellaini and Steven Defour have already established themselves as senior figures.

My key player: Vincent Kompany


Coach: Marc Wilmots
Best performances in a FIFA competition: FIFA World Cup Mexico 1986 (Fourth place), Men’s Olympic Football Tournament Antwerp 1920 (Winners)

Algeria: Sorocaba


Best price = 2,500/1

FIFA's key players
Madjid Bougherra is a key figure at the back, and he scored the all-important winner in the second leg against Burkina Faso. Sofiane Feghouli is an exciting attacking midfielder, while Medhi Lacen holds things down in front of the defence. Islam Slimani emerged as the most prolific option in attack during qualifying.

My key player: Sofiane Feghouli


Coach: Vahid Halilhodzic
Best performances in a FIFA competition: FIFA World Cup Spain 1982, Mexico 1986, South Africa 2010 (Group stages)

Russia: Itu


Best price = 100/1

FIFA's key players
This latest Russian side is built on solid defensive foundations. Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev did not miss a single minute of the qualifying competition and conceded just five goals during the course of it, while Sergey Ignashevich marshalled the defence with aplomb. Yet Fabio Capello’s most prized assets can be found in what is a technically gifted and astute midfield unit, where Roman Shirokov and Victor Fayzulin have continued to hone the partnership they have forged at Zenit St Petersburg, scoring six goals between them in the qualifiers.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the team’s top scorer was Kerzhakov. Though not always a starter, the Zenit striker helped himself to five goals during the campaign, the most important of them being that winner against the Portuguese. A lethal finisher, the former Sevilla man could wreak havoc in Brazil.

My key player: Igor Akinfeev


Current coach: Fabio Capello
Best performance in a FIFA competition: FIFA World Cup England 1966 (Fourth place)

Korea Republic: Foz do Iguacu


Best price: 500/1

FIFA's key players
The squad's make-up kept changing during the qualifying and under new coach Hong Myungbo, a new-look team has taken shape. A series of emerging stars, notably German-based Son Heungmin and Koo Jacheol, have graduated into the team's backbone force. Bolton Wanderers' Lee Chungyong is the new man wearing the captain's armband and home-based Kim Shinwook and Lee Keunho are proven goal-scorers.

My key player: Young-Gwon Kim


Current coach: Hong Myungbo
Best performance in a FIFA competition: FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan 2002 (Fourth place)

Group H Summary
Belgium have a staggering amount of quality throughout their team. When you look at names like Courtois, Kompany, Alderweired, Hazard, Fellaini, Witsel and Lukaku it's easy to see why they are favourites for Group H and 5th favourites overall. They are plenty short enough now at 20/1, but they are my ideas of Group winners here. The draw has been fairly kind to them, and they will play at three favourable locations. Their base of Mogi des Cruzes is perfect for their three group games and they won't experience Brazil's hot and humid parts in this group. Algeria have plenty of players in European leagues, and whilst they will probably think this group represents a decent opportunity to go through, I think it is a tough group and can see Algeria finishing bottom. Russialook a different proposition to previous years under Capello. Gone are the days when they had a squad full of players from Western Europe. This group almost all play in the strong Russian league, and that might be a good thing as Russia have seriously underperformed in recent World Cups. But it means Russia are tough side to figure out. This group could work out as a two horse race between the Russians and Koreans to qualify with Belgium. I'm surprised the bookies  favour the Russians so strongly (1/2) and I think Korea may represent a little value to qualify at 15/8. Korea don't have the star names of Japan, or even previous Korea sides, but they have enough quality to be taken seriously by everyone in this group, they've experience of South and Central America and I think they could cause a small shock by getting through to the knockout.

Bets
Korea to qualify 15/8