Which World Cup team is your NFL team?

With the World Cup just around the corner, earlier today talk in the NFL office turned to which NFL teams shared characteristics with World Cup teams. As you will see from the list below, while there were some easy fits that seemed to make sense, there are also some very tenuous links!

Buffalo – Mexico – near the border and no-hopers
Miami – South Africa – this year’s hosts with no chance of making the final
New England – France – team of the 2000’s but on the decline now
New York Jets – England – lucky win in the 1960’s being talked up now like they are a sure thing when in fact it definitely won’t happen

Baltimore – Cameroon – Always dangerous, and physical – nobody wants to come up against them
Cincinnati – Algeria – Up and down team who blow hot and cold from one year to the next
Cleveland – Switzerland – No great expectations from a team whose defense has more holes than Swiss cheese
Pittsburgh – Germany – Efficient team who win big games through defense

Houston – Slovakia – An expansion team (in their first World Cup)
Indianapolis – Spain – Favourites with lots of offense
Jacksonville – Serbia – Does anyone honestly want to spend time in either of these places?
Tennessee – USA – tough to beat with a no-nonsense head coach

Denver – Paraguay – Recent doubts about their passing game from a team used to playing at altitude
Kansas City – Nigeria – Christian ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Okoye played here – that was good enough for me
Oakland – Argentina – Villains of the World Cup with a history of winning championships and a controversial coach
San Diego – Holland – Pretty to watch but ultimately disappointing

Dallas – Brazil – Brazil is the World Team just as Dallas is America’s Team
New York Giants – Ghana – Traditionally the strongest team in their region and they’re both nicknamed the ‘G-Men’ (I think)
Philadelphia – Portugal – Have not won the big one this decade despite having a golden generation
Washington – Japan – Lots of money in the game but nothing to show for it recently

Chicago – Italy – A history of strong defense and championship calibre teams
Detroit – North Korea – Walk the streets of these northern locations and something bad will happen
Green Bay – Uruguay – Winners of the first World Cup and Super Bowl match up nicely
Minnesota – Ivory Coast – Could be among the worst or best depending on the arm of their star player (Brett Favre / Didier Drogba)

Atlanta – New Zealand – The proudest moment of both teams is a defeat – NZ lost 5-2 to Scotland for their most memorable moment, while the Falcons’ only Super Bowl appearance finished in a 34-19 loss to Denver
Carolina – Slovenia – Another expansion team (See Jacksonville and Houston)
New Orleans – Chile – Attack-minded teams with a coach who loves to watch film
Tampa Bay – South Korea – Shock semi-finalists in the 2002 season had their big year at the same time as the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl win

Arizona – Greece – Unfancied team came through to a shock final appearance – and it’s scorching in both places
San Francisco – Denmark – Both teams wear red and have not won anything since the 1990s despite being a popular choice for fans
Seattle – Australia – Seattle’s better known for coffee and Frasier than for their Seahawks, while Australia is associated with cricket, surfers and barbecues, not football
St Louis - Honduras - …OK, maybe this wasn’t a very good idea!

Can you follow my admittedly poor effort with any of your own? Looking forward to hearing your ideas.