World Cup 2014 Analysis - Group D: Is England Good Enough to Get Out of Group Stage?

England has been a perennial underachiever on the international level, but the team has often managed to get out of the group stage relatively unscathed throughout the last few World Cup tournaments. However, the team faces a monumental challenge in 2014. Will the Three Lions play in the knockout rounds this summer?

History
England played in its first world cup back in 1950 and finished in eighth place; the team then got to the quarterfinal four years later in Switzerland and finished sixth. An 11^th place finish followed in 1958, but since then England has managed to get out of the first round in every tournament that the country has qualified. In 1962, the team finished eighth and in 1966 England won the tournament at home. In 1970, the English finished eigth again and did not qualify for the following two World Cups. In 1982, the Three Lions wound up in sixth place while in 1986 the team finished eighth. A fourth place finish in 1990 was followed by ninth place finish in 1998; the team did not qualify for the 1994 tournament in the USA. In the 2002 and 2006 tournaments England was eliminated in the quarterfinal, while in 2010 the team was embarrassed by Germany 4-1 in the round of 16. That latter game actually featured a disallowed goal that should have counted.

How did they get here?

England was drawn into a group that included Ukraine, Montenegro, Poland, Moldova and San Marino. The team managed six wins and four draws while only conceding four times in the entire tournament. England's biggest win of the group round was an 8-0 destruction of San Marino. Wayne Rooney led the team with seven goals but England got scoring from 12 different players.

Top stars

Wayne Rooney is obviously the main man for England, even though his performances have not been great in past World Cups. Rooney has 38 goals in 98 games for England, but he has never scored a single goal in a World Cup. He will need to step up in a big way if this team hopes to make a deep run in this tournament.

Fortunately, England has a plethora of other solid players. Daniel Sturridge has had a fine season for Liverpool and could be the major X-factor for England in this tournament. Danny Welbeck has not been particularly great for Manchester United, but he can also make an impact; Jermain Defoe is another strong forward with potential. In the midfield, this team has the likes of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard. Both players are well over 30 years old (Gerrard is 33 and Lampard is 35) and it is likely that they will be on the bench for most of the tournament. It will be interesting to see if manager Roy Hodgson gives youngsters like Jack Wilshere, Ross Barkley and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a chance to start on this team.

The team's defense is an area for concern as Leighton Baines is the only reliable defender at Hodgson's disposal. Joe Hart will have to prove that he is as good as his recent form; he still has not proven himself to be the elite keeper he was prior to the Euro 2012.

Can they get out of the group stage?

England faces a tough task of overcoming Uruguay and Italy in the group round. Both sides are looked upon as bonafide contenders and it is likely that the English will be third best in the group. The Uruguayans have offensive weapons that would completely destroy England's weak defense while the Italian defense has repeatedly shown that it can shut down England with facility; just look at the 2012 Euro quarterfinal match.

Can they win it all?

They are unlikely to finish higher than third in their tournament and even if they did, the English have not proven to be a team capable of making a deep run in the last decade. Expect a group exit.