Mark Lawrenson's view

Another group where it's difficult to see any real surprises emerging over the course of the six games. Germany have not had the best of times since winning the European Championships a couple of years ago and one or two of their key players, not least Juergen Klinsmann, appear to be disappearing over the wrong side of the hill.

It's awfully difficult to win this tournament unless you possess at least one striker of the highest quality. Oliver Bierhoff, prolific for Udinese in Serie A this season, may just be the answer to their prayers, however. The Germans will, of course, intimidate other sides, but when it boils down to those few sides who believe that they have a genuine chance of winning the trophy, they may not be quite as commanding as they were in the past. They'll be back, no doubt, and before long, but I think we may have seen the best of this particular German team two years ago and I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they didn't make the semi-finals this time around.

As it happens, if Berti Vogts could draft Yugoslavia's Pedrag Mijatovic into his frontline, then his side would look a far better bet for glory this summer. The Real Madrid striker was superb during the qualifiers and should be one of the stars of the finals. Behind him, though, there is not enough genuine class for Yugoslavia to cause too many upsets in the latter stages, even if they do give a few of the more fancied teams something to worry about.

The group's other two sides will do well to figure in the final shake-up. The Americans, though well coached and enthusiastic, have not really come on as well as they might have since hosting the competition four years ago and will certainly miss the home advantage they enjoyed then. The Iranians, who have done well to get this far, might even fancy their chances of beating the Americans if their strikers can cope with the dramatic step up in standard from the qualifiers, but if they were to make to the second phase, it would be the shock of the tournament.