The FIFA World Cup Finals, the biggest sporting event on Earth, is taking place this summer in Brazil from June 12 to July 13.

This year’s tournament has the potential to go down as one of the most exciting World Cups ever, with clashes between young, dynamic teams like Brazil and Germany, and experienced, composed squads such as Spain and Italy. Plus, the host country is one that lives and breathes football.

So, for those of you who are looking to wager on this tournament, or just want to look like you know what you’re talking about, let me share with you my predictions for theWorld Cup.

GROUP A (Rankings in order): Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon

This group was very tough to call, except for the number one spot. Brazil, the host country, has a fast, energetic, and skillful team led by Thiago Silva in the back and Neymar Jr. up front. This team feeds off the energy of their fans, which helped them thrash back-to-back European Cup winners and previous World Cup winners Spain 3-0 in the finals of the Confederations Cup held in Brazil last summer.

Brazil will undoubtedly finish at the top of its group and Croatia should be the team to be the runner-up. Mexico, a team that barely qualified from a relatively easy group, and Cameroon, a team heavily reliant on veteran striker Samuel Eto’o, do not look like they’ll match up against a strong Croatian team led by Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric and Mario Mandzukic, the top goal scorer in Germany.

GROUP B: Spain, Chile, Netherlands, Australia

Spain, looking to become the only team in history to win two back-to-back European and World Cups, will likely finish at the top of their group. Its strong defense and composed central midfield led by Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta will be dangerous near the goal, especially with the addition of Brazilian-born striker Diego Costa whose stellar performance for club Atlético Madrid led them to the top of the table in Spain over heavyweights Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as to the Champions League finals.

Chile looked very promising in its tough, impressive qualifying campaign, led by striker Alexis Sanchez and attacking midfielder Arturo Vidal.  Netherlands will also contend for second in this group after cruising into the World Cup. Australia just got unlucky with this one.

GROUP C : Colombia, Ivory Coast, Japan, Greece

Colombia, currently ranked fourth in FIFA’s World Rankings, had an astounding qualifying run in South America, allowing the least number of goals, while scoring the third most. This was much due to the attacking threat that is Radamel Falcao, the AS Monaco striker whose injury in January was devastating to Colombia’s World Cup hopes.

But Falcao is hopeful he’ll be ready to play Colombia’s first group match against Greece. Ivory Coast may even take the top spot of this group, having its strongest squad in years behind midfielder Yaya Toure and striker Didier Drogba.  The team has some added talent from players such as Kolo Toure and Gervinho, both of whom have been key players for their clubs.

Disciplined Japan and defensive Greece could also pull some upsets in this evenly matched group.

GROUP D: Uruguay, Italy, England, Costa Rica

Uruguay, which shocked the world by finishing fourth in the 2010 World Cup, has only gotten better in the past four years. While Diego Forlan, a key player for Uruguay in 2010 who won the Golden Ball (like MVP), hasn’t shone so much in the past years, striker Luis Suarez is many people’s’ top choice to win the FIFA Player of the Year Award in 2014, as he leads the English Premier League in both goals and assists.

Edinson Cavani also has been very solid for club Paris Saint-Germain as it won the French Ligue 1 for the second year in a row. This duo will be deadly against the defenses of Italy, England, and Costa Rica.

Italy suffered a terrible performance in the 2010 World Cup, not even making it out of the group stages after having won in 2006. But the Italians, led by veterans Gianluigi Buffon and Andrea Pirlo, have gained attacking and defensive skill in the likes of Leonardo Bonucci, Mario Balotelli, and Stephen El Shaarawy, and miraculously beat Germany in the semifinals of the 2012 European Cup.

The Italians’ composed style of play should bode well for them in this group, as England and Costa Rica lack healthy players and overall team strength.

GROUP  E: France, Ecuador, Switzerland, Honduras

France got the luck of the draw in this one, as this revitalized team led by Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema are starting to gain form again after flaming out in dramatic fashion in 2010.With bigger roles being played by young players such as Paul Pogba and a strong defense led by Raphael Varane, Laurent Koscielny, Eric Abidal, and Hugo Lloris in goal, this French side has the potential to make it very far into the tournament.

Switzerland (somehow) ranked eighth in FIFA’s World Rankings and Honduras do not seem to have the potential for big, world-stage performances. A new wave of exciting Ecuadorian footballers, led by wingers Christian Noboa and Antonio Valencia, and forwards Jefferson Montero and Felipe Caicedo, shoud help the team earn the second spot.

GROUP F: Argentina, Iran, Nigeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Argentina, like France, should have no problems cake-walking through this group. The lethal attacking prowess of the fast Argentinian side, led by Lionel Messi, the four-consecutive-year FIFA Player of the Year, as well as Sergio Agüero, Angel di Maria, Ezequiel Lavezzi, and Gonzalo Higuain, would be overwhelming for any team, let alone three far inferior teams.

It may just be my personal bias as an Iranian, but I truly believe that this new, young Iranian side, the top Asia team under former Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz, will be able to stand its ground against equally matched teams like Nigeria and Bosnia. If Iran can beat Nigeria, the reigning champions of Africa, in its opening  match, it will have the momentum and motivation to pull off a win against a Bosnia.

GROUP G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA

Sorry ‘Murica, but this was just bad luck. Germany and Portugal, both dominant European teams will be unstoppable against Ghana and the U.S.

Germany’s offense will by led by a midfield of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Özil and Mario Götze, while Portugal relies on the speed and talent of Cristiano Ronaldo, Helder Postiga, and Nani, who are hungry for the world title

The third and fourth spots, although they don’t matter, are debatable, but the U.S. has had troubles against a Ghanaian team that nearly reached the top four in 2010. Germany, the most consistent national team, should win the group and all three games.

GROUP H: Belgium, Russia, South Korea, Algeria

Belgium is a  young team with lots of attacking and midfield strength split between players such as Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Marouane Fellaini, and Kevin de Bruyne. The team also has a solid defense behind Vincent Kompany, Thomas Vermaelen, and one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Thibaut Courtois. Belgium is coming into this tournament with lots of excitement from fans around the world, so this group should not be much of a problem.

The runner-up position was hard to determine, as all three teams match up relatively evenly. Russia, although not home to any star footballers, had a good qualifying campaign under management of Fabio Capello, a manager with good World Cup experience. Korea and Algeria both made it to the World Cup Finals by slight margins, but either could take second.

FINAL WINNER: BRAZIL

For me, this whole tournament is either going to Brazil or Germany. I picked Brazil over Germany in the semifinals for two reasons. First, Brazil has the natural home-field advantage and a crowd to keep the spirits high.

Second, Germany has a tendency to choke in semifinals against big teams. This can be seen when they lost in the 2006 and 2010 World Cup semifinals to Italy and Spain, respectively.  Germany also lost to Italy in the 2012 European Cup semifinals.

There is no way of knowing who’ ll win, so we’ll all just have to enjoy the beautiful game.