The greatest tournament on Earth is happening again.  No, it doesn't involve the greatest sport ever conceived by man, that's baseball...   but the greatest tournament is undeniably the World Cup.   Not just the Final, the whole thing....

Every fourth year and two-year tournament begins wherein every nation that can find twelve men, a ball and two goals - all 200+ of them get a chance to compete and win their way to the final round in a celebration.  Oceania has already chosen their champion, the plucky New Zealanders — who don't get an automatic berth in South Africa, but must gain entry by beating the 5th place team from Asia.

Speaking of Asia - any round of any tournament with round-robin groups usually inculde a "group of death"   A metaphorical gathering of such strong soccer teams that a deserving side will be eliminated from the tournament because only two of the three (or four) teams can advance...  In Europe, usually, such a group ends a Portugese or French or Slovak run or somesuch.

Asia made a historical breakthrough when Group 2 gathers NORTH KOREA, IRAN, CHINA, the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, and SAUDI ARABIA against South Korea in an ACTUAL Group of Death.

(In a previous round, group 5 consisted of Iran, Syria, the UAE and Kuwait — soccer scholars with no doubt debate which grouping is more deserving of the honor of the first literal Group of Death.)