Did Nostradamus Predict the Winner of the 2010 World Cup?

We've been getting quite a few inquiries about whether Nostradamus predicted the outcome of tomorrow's 2010 World Cup soccer finale between Spain and Netherlands, so let's put those to rest right now.

In 2006, there were reports that Nostradamus predicted Spain to win the World Cup, based on this vague passage:

"At the end of the sixth month of 2006, the King of Spain will cross the Pyrenees with his army. The legions of Beelzebub await the battle on the central European plains. Destruction and defeat will fall on the evil-doers. The Holy Grail will be returned to Spain by the triumphant King."

Clearly, Nostradamus was throwing crap against the wall and hoping it would stick, referencing a future war he foresaw. Obviously, there was no war, and the idea that the World Cup trophy is the holy grail is a little far-fetched. Of course, there is some accuracy with the month of June as well as the "battles" in central Europe, with Germany being the host country.

Regardless, this was in 2006, remember. So it's all null and void. There's been some confusion now that Spain is in the World Cup finals that they have been predicted to win it. That is simply not the case.

So what did Nostradamus predict? Well, if his proclamations carry any weight in your collective minds, you really ought to enjoy this World Cup final tomorrow. Nostradamus has been famous for predicting the end of the world, again in vague terms, making the 2010 World Cup the last such contest in human history.

On that note, enjoy the game!

2010 World Cup: Championship Game Pick

Here we are. After all of the excitement, the 2010 World Cup is down to a final game. The Netherlands and Spain will play for all the marbles (or at least, the one marble held by one or two people in the trophy design).

We picked Argentina to win it all--oops--but our second pick was Netherlands. And even as we begin to think Spain might have an advantage in some areas, we are sticking with our gut on this one. The Netherlands, undefeated in the tournament, appear to be a team of destiny. And we don't bet against destiny.

So Dutch, Holland, Netherlands, whatever. The orange team is our pick to win the 2010 World Cup. Either way, it's been a great journey, both to watch and to bet. Now let's cap it off by winning some green on the orange.

2010 World Cup: The Next Champion Will Be...

It's time for our 2010 World Cup champion pick. Who will it be?

At 4/1 odds, Spain and Brazil are the front runners, but cross them off the list. How about Italy, last year's champion, at 14/1 for the repeat? No thanks. 2006 Runner-up France at 20/1 won't be sniffing the Cup championship this year either.

We could go with a homer pick, the United States at 50/1, but while we picked the Americans to win Group C, we aren't that big of homers. Their Group C rival, England, is sitting on 8/1 odds, but we predict more struggles for the English when it comes to dealing with the expectations. All you can expect is an upset from them in the round of 16.

In our view, it's down to Netherlands (9/1) and Argentina (6/1), and we're going with the Argentines. Injury concerns have us frightened on the Dutch front, though you can expect them to be one of the final four teams remaining.

So there you have it. Your 2010 World Cup champion, according to the new and improved Stock Lemon gurus, will be Argentina.

But hey, there's only one way to find out--playing the games! Kick-off of the 2010 World Cup is tomorrow in South Africa, and you can bet that we will have plenty of coverage throughout!

2010 World Cup: Group E Betting

So far, we've forced you to lay a lot of chalk if you want to pick the correct group winners for the 2010 World Cup, and in Group E, that won't be any different. Let's take a look at our Group E odds.

Netherlands... -200

Denmark... +425
Cameroon... +450
Japan... +1400

We've mentioned that we aren't sure how big of an impact home field advantage will have for the African nations, but in this case, we do think it will give Cameroon an edge and help them to advance to the second round, a minor upset over Denmark. The Netherlands, Dutch and Holland will be the top teams in this group when all is said and done. What's that? They are all the same? Who knew?

No doubt, the Netherlands will look like three quality teams wrapped into one by comparison to this group, and that's more a testament to their skill level than it is a knock on the competition. Although, it is still a knock on the competition, especially the Japanese. Although the video below shows their unique practice methods, Japan will have more fond memories of World War II than they will of their group play performance this year. They are simply outmatched.

And so, our final standings look like this:

1. Netherlands

2. Cameroon

3. Denmark

4. Japan

Again, the upsets haven't been huge so far, but that's kind of how the pairings worked out this year. Big upsets in group play are relatively rare anyway, but this year in particular seems to have at least one and oftentimes two teams that are clearly a cut above the rest. In this group, the orange-clad Dutch are the runaway favorites.

With Group E in the rear-view mirror, we will continue to go right down the alphabet with our 2010 World Cup Betting analysis in the coming days. Keep coming back early and often as we keep giving you the World Cup group winners!