The questions and debates have been going on for months now. What about the heat and humidity, do they favor the South Americans and Africans? Who’s injured, who’s recovered? How could incredibly stupid Coach X fail to put incredibly talented Player Y on his team? How many fans will make the long and expensive trip? Will Korea and Japan, two “baseball” countries, finally establish themselves as upper-tier soccer nations? What about the newcomers? This year, sport’s greatest stage welcomes China, Ecuador, Slovenia and Senegal. How will they fare? And the biggest question: Can anyone beat France, the overwhelming favorite?

The answer to that is yes, despite the fact that the French team seems even stronger than the 1998 World Cup and the European Championship-winning teams of two years ago. Zinedine Zidane, who still hasn’t lost his unofficial ranking as “world’s greatest player,” is fit and in fine form (as evidenced by his great volleyed goal for his club team, Real Madrid, in the European Cup Final on May 15). The team also features Thierry Henry (the leading scorer in England’s Premiership) and David Trezeguet, who ended the season for Juventus as the top scorer in Serie A. Then there’s the young, up-and-coming star Djibril Cisse, who led the French league in scoring with Auxerre; the maturing Patrick Vieira of Arsenal in midfield and Lilian Thuram and Marcel Desailly in the back. If the multiracial, multiethnic French–Jean-Marie Le Pen’s worst nightmare–win, they will be the first team to repeat since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

But the mighty can fall, as the Brazilians (the favorites in 1982 and 1998) and Italians (the hot choice in 1990) have shown. The only teams that can beat France are the supertalented Dutch (who through their own insouciance didn’t qualify), Brazil, Argentina and Italy (who lost to France in 1998 only through penalties and in 2000 were beating the French when Sylvain Wiltord tied it with 30 seconds left in the game). Unfortunately for France, the team might have to play all three in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final, respectively. There’s also a possible clash with England in the second round and tricky first-round opponents in Senegal, Denmark and underrated Uruguay. Look for Brazil, in that quarterfinal match to avenge its 3-0 loss to France in the 1998 final. If France goes ahead and wins, beating the aforementioned powers, the team will be considered the best ever.

The Italians, though, are masters at navigating these tournaments, though sometimes at the expense of worldwide popularity. They play a sophisticated tactical game that highlights their strengths–defense and counterattack. Italy, ranked third going into the tournament, understands that seven games in 30 days of heat and humidity is grueling, that a team has to pace itself. Winning all three first-round matches by multiple goals against weak opposition does you no good later in the World Cup.

That said, there are holes in the Italian armor. The team’s vaunted defensive players, notably Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta, had off years for the club teams Parma and Lazio. The 34-year-old captain, Paolo Maldini, who’s won everything except a World Cup, has only recently begun playing again after a long injury. And the team’s key playmaker, Roma’s Francesco Totti, is also just coming back from an injury. It’s possible Italy could tie or lose a game in the first round and still make the final (as it did in 1982, when it won it, and 1994, when it finished second to Brazil). Up front, the Italian team has three diverse options in Christian Vieri, Alessandro Del Piero, and the feisty little Vincenzo Montella. If Totti does stay healthy and the defense holds up to its usual standard, Italy will win the World Cup, beating the talented Argentines, the No. 2 ranked team, who will be depleted by June 30. That will make the Italian team the only nation to win the Jules Rimet trophy four times.

Now, let’s take a quick glance at the tournament’s first round, group-by-group.

GROUP A: FRANCE, URUGUAY, DENMARK, SENEGAL

France will win this group, but the team will have able sparring partners in Senegal, Denmark and Uruguay. Senegal, making its first appearance in the World Cup, has a team almost exclusively made up of players who play in France. The team is also coached by a Frenchman, and it should produce some attractive soccer. Senegal beat Nigeria in the African Nations Cup in March and finished second, losing to Cameroon in penalty kicks. Although the young El Hadji Diouf (easily recognizable for his bleached platinum hair) missed a penalty in that game, he scored eight goals in qualifying (against World Cup veterans like Morocco and Egypt) and was named African Footballer of the Year. Still, it will be difficult for Senegal to make it out of this group.

The second spot should go to either Uruguay (World Cup champions in 1930 and 1950) or Denmark. The Danes were one of the great surprises of the 1980s, with their emphasis on attack and pretty soccer. The team won the European Championships in 1992, and it surprised us again, four years ago, when it dismantled the fearsome Nigerians, 4-1. But now the great Laudrup bothers are gone, and so is the imposing ex-Manchester United keeper, Peter Schmeichel. Martin Jorgensen, who plays in Italy, is a good enough striker, but he’s no Preben Elkjaer-Larsen. Look for Uruguay, which has one of the world’s great players up front in Alvaro Recoba of Inter Milan (watch him on free kicks), and Paolo Montero, who anchors the impenetrable Juventus defense. Also keep your eye on Mario Regueiro, who can cause havoc up and down the left wing with his superior dribbling skills.

GROUP B: SPAIN, SLOVENIA, PARAGUAY, SOUTH AFRICA

Spain, perennial World Cup underachievers, should have no problem in this group. Maybe this year is its year, finally. The team has talent (but then it always has), this time led of course by the Real Madrid golden boys, Raul and Fernando Morientes, and Deportivo’s Diego Tristan. So they’ll win the group but then what? As for the second spot, it’s wide open. Paraguay hired Cesare Maldini, who coached Italy to the 1998 World Cup, before he was excoriated by the press and the public. It was an odd choice for Paraguay, whose most imposing player, the megalomaniacal goalkeeper, Jose Luis Chilavert, will be banned from the first match for spitting in the face of Brazil’s Roberto Carlos. Slovenia played well in Euro 2000, its first appearance in a major tournament, and somehow managed to beat out Yugoslavia, Switzerland and, then, in a playoff, Romania in this World Cup campaign. Slovenia’s main man to watch is Zlatko Zahovic, who plays for Benfica in Portugal. South Africa had a disappointing African Cup earlier this year, and some ensuing coaching problems. Plus, South Africa’s leading scorer and captain, Shaun Bartlett, who plays in England with Charlton, might not play because of a nagging injury.

GROUP C: BRAZIL, TURKEY, COSTA RICA, CHINA

Brazil, which had an unusually problematic time of it in qualification, was fortunate to end up in the easiest group. Finishing top of the group will also ensure that the four-time champions will play the second place team in the next weakest group: group H. This is not one of the great Brazilian teams, but neither was the 1994 team and it went on to win the title. Ronaldo (remember him?) had a quiet renaissance the last couple of months for his club team, Inter Milan. Rivaldo has had some injury problems, but should the current squad find a rhythm, it will be a force to be reckoned with. Psychologically, Brazil’s presence and history intimidate all but a handful of world soccer equals.

Turkey played well in Euro 2000. Hakan Sukur, formerly of Turkey’s club of clubs, Galatasaray, is the aging leader. Turkey, like Brazil, would play a group H opponent in the second round, and could, suddenly, end up in the quarterfinals. China is coached by the poster child of globalization: Bora Milutinovic, the Serb who has coached four other teams in the World Cup finals (Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States and Nigeria). Now he’ll lead soccer’s final frontier into its first World Cup. He’ll have commitment and speed but not much in the way of big-match experience. When he coached Costa Rica and the United States, his teams lost to Brazil 1-0 on both occasions. That one then could be a close game, but don’t expect much else. Costa Rica’s best player is Paul Wanchope, but he won’t have much support.

GROUP D: SOUTH KOREA, PORTUGAL, UNITED STATES, POLAND

Even casual American soccer fans have this one memorized. And South Korea, as cohost and veterans of the last four World Cups (though the team still hasn’t won a game), will make the Americans’ plight a difficult one. Portugal is being predicted as the easy winner of the group (and an eventual semifinalist). But don’t be too sure. The team’s great star, Luis Figo, has been nursing an injury and didn’t play particularly well in the Champions League Final with Real Madrid. His superb teammate, Rui Costa, himself had injury problems while playing for AC Milan this season and hasn’t been in good form. The Koreans could top the group. They’ll be looking to Seol Ki-Hyeon, their Anderlect star, to score the goals. Poland beat out the difficult Norwegians and the talented Ukrainians with Andrei Shevchenko to make its first World Cup since 1986 and the Boniek days. The team could advance, but it’s not likely. The same is true for the Americans. But if you are U.S. coach Bruce Arena, why not throw all your speedy youngsters at Portugal in that first game, and catch them off guard. If ever a giant is vulnerable, it’s in the first match.

GROUP E: CAMEROON, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, GERMANY, SAUDI ARABIA

Germany, like Brazil, had an uncharacteristically tough job during qualification, including the humiliating 5-1 home loss to archrival England. The German team eventually got in through the back-door playoff, and sure, you should never underestimate the Germans–the team has made the final game six times since World War II (as has Brazil). But the fact remains that this is not a very good German team. Couple that with key injuries and Germany might not even get out of a difficult first round. Cameroon is coming off its latest African Nations Cup title in March. They have skill and tactical awareness now with players like Patrick Mboma, Samuel Eto’o, and, Rigobert Song and are the African team to beat this time–not Nigeria. Ireland might be one of the toughest teams in the entire tournament. The Irish team went undefeated in a group that featured Portugal and the great Dutch team, which the Irish ostensibly eliminated. Despite the inspirational Roy Keane being sent home a week before the tournament, this able crew of steady Premiership players will be a stubborn opponent–before the heat takes its toll. A Saudi scored the best goal of the 1994 World Cup (reminiscent of Maradona’s gem in 1986), but the team was disappointing four years ago and won’t do much in one of the toughest groups.

GROUP F: ARGENTINA, ENGLAND, NIGERIA, SWEDEN

They’ve been talking about this one since the day of the draw, last December. Every Word Cup has a “Group of Death” but this is a startling one. Where to begin: the latest in what is becoming soccer’s best rivalry, England-Argentina; Sweden playing against countryman Sven Goran-Eriksson, who’s now coaching the England side, and Nigeria just strikes fear in every opponent it plays. “The Super Eagles” are the team no one wants to face, even if it did meltdown spectacularly four years ago against Denmark. This group, obviously, could end with any number of combinations and can impact the tournament in a variety of ways. For instance, if Argentina were to finish second, it would likely face France in the second round, with one of the top-two favorites prematurely eliminated. Or, even if Argentina wins the group, as the chalk would suggest, it could face a tough opponent in Uruguay in the second round. Could England, which matches up well against the world champions, play France in the second round? Might the Nigerians get another crack at the Danes? Why in the world is Argentina’s aging star from the 1990 World Cup, Claudio Caniggia, on the team and not the great young Javier Saviola? And don’t forget Sweden, semifinalists in 1994. And, no matter which team gets through, will it have anything left for the remainder of their games? Who knows? But it will be worth watching these live at 3:00 a.m.

GROUP G: ECUADOR, ITALY, MEXICO, CROATIA

Soccer pundits have all said that Italy got an easy draw. As close observers of the Italian team know, there is never an easy first round for the Italians, the world’s most notorious of slow starters. The team will have its hands full with an underrated South American team. Ecuador will be led by the stylish veteran Alex Aguinaga, the young Tenorio brothers and Ivan Kaviedes, who plays in Spain’s fast-paced Primera Liga. They are coached by a Colombian, Hernan Dario Gomez, and while not as spectacular as the great Colombian teams of the 1990s, finished second in the intensely competitive South American qualifying round and could be one of the surprises of the tournament. Croatia made the semifinals four years ago, and this time has the great Alen Boksic healthy. He’s already predicted at least a tie against the Italians. Mexico, while not the most fashionable team, is capable, as it proved in France four years ago, and has a realistic chance at the second round.

GROUP H: JAPAN, RUSSIA, BELGIUM, TUNISIA

This is anyone’s guess. Japan will come under tons of pressure, not only to make the second round, as all host countries do, but to outperform regional rival and cohost, South Korea, for bragging rights. Coached by the irreverent Frenchman Phillipe Troussier, Japan has at least one world-class player in the orange-haired Hidetoshi Nakata, who is a veteran of Italy’s Serie A wars. Since he was transferred to the dismal Parma, his game hasn’t necessarily lifted. But he’s still the best overall player on the team. Shinji Ono is a star on the rise with Feyenoord in the Dutch league, and the new-ish J League is comparable to the MLS, in that it gives young Japanese players a place to play in an otherwise big baseball country. If Japan succeeds, it will play Costa Rica, Turkey or China, with an excellent chance of going to the quarterfinals. Coming in second in the group, and it will play Brazil. Belgium or Russia are two of the least fancied teams in Europe. One will emerge victorious but isn’t likely to make any noise, despite Belgium beating France in a friendly match earlier this month. Tunisia was a disappointment in the African Nations Cup, and its build-up has been dismal. Even the team’s coach, the well-traveled Frenchman Henri Michel, has quit.

SECOND ROUND:

Here’s where the elimination round begins but not necessarily the high drama. The highlight will be a possible head-on collision between France and England on June 15. Argentina will probably play Uruguay or Denmark. A match with the former could be tricky. In qualifying, Uruguay’s scores against Argentina were impressive (tying 1-1 and losing 2-1). And Uruguay’s Montero is familiar with the Argentine strike force from Italy’s Serie A. This could be an upset.

The second round is where extra-time and penalty kicks, the bane of the sport, come into play. France has already won three games (versus Paraguay in 1998, Portugal and Italy in 2000) with the new “Golden Goal” rule. The Germans are outstanding at penalties, as are the Brazilians. The Italians are horrible, having been eliminated from the last three tournaments through soccer’s version of Russian roulette. Less skilled teams often try to play for penalties, thinking they’ll have a 50-50 chance. The hope, of course, is that games will end in regular time or extra time.

THE QUARTERFINALS:

This is where the tournament starts humming–or deteriorating because of injuries, poor refereeing or stifling weather. The big match could be a rematch of the 1998 final, France against Brazil. Surely the Brazilians want revenge, and they’d also like to keep the French from repeating as champions. Brazil isn’t as talented as the French team, but it might just will itself to win.

Prognosticators who go with favorites will no doubt have Germany penciled in against Italy. (You heard it here first: that won’t happen, the Germans don’t have the talent this year.) Or an all-Iberia derby, Portugal-Spain, which has a good chance of standing up. Argentina could end up playing Japan, although it would prefer to play the Turks. Cameroon and South Korea could meet and that could be a doozy. Ireland will try to force Italy into penalties but will it have luck on its side?

For years now, the question has been posed: Are today’s top players, with the European Champions League, forced to play too many games? Are they burnt out? The question will come up again, at about this stage in the tournament.

THE SEMIFINALS:

Cameroon just may take African soccer to the next level, just as it did by reaching the quarterfinal in 1990. Look for Cameroon to play, for Italy to gain momentum after a slow start and for old foes Brazil and Argentina to meet in the other semifinal.

THE FINAL, JUNE 30, YOKOHAMA, JAPAN:

Argentina will be running on empty at this point, and the Italians will be a tad fresher, but not by much. Expect a 1-0 game, an early Vieri goal with the Italians fending off various Argentine attacks for the rest of the match. That or penalties, in which case give the edge to the South Americans.