Brazil 2014 has reminded us how gloriously unpredictable soccer can be

I have just checked my fixture list and am stunned that the World Cup has only been going a week – it feels like a whole season. The whole thing has been wonderful and it has all happened in less time than it takes to get from the Syrian border to the suburbs of Baghdad.

Who would have thought that, eight days in, England fans would be keeping fingers crossed that Italy would “raise their game enough to beat Costa Rica” – yes, Costa Rica – to keep England in the cup? Costa Rica, whose star player can’t get into the Arsenal squad – kept out by Nicklas Bendtner! I saw Italy in a miserable 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland at Craven Cottage two weeks before the finals, which saw them extending their failure to win to some seven games. I thought they were awful without Pirlo and Mario who have made the difference. (But not, alas, against Costa Rica, who beat Italy to send England packing.)

My pulse raced most over the past week when Australia took a 2-1 lead against Holland on Wednesday. This was off the back of Holland thrashing Spain when Holland weren’t that good and Spain really not that bad. Even though the Dutch restored normal service, the Australia game offered a glorious few minutes where we could celebrate the permanent possibility of football defying logic to glorious results. Better was to come when tiny Costa Rica put four-time world champions Italy to the sword.

Perhaps the other high point was Robin van Persie’s first goal v Spain. I didn’t see it coming; didn’t understand what I was seeing as it happened; and didn’t know what had happened as the ball hit the net. How could something so relatively simple and normal leave a student of the game so perplexed?

Contrary to all predictions, the European teams are looking pretty good – notably Germany – leaving aside Spain, England and Portugal of course. Despite the evidence, I am not yet convinced by Holland, but France and Italy – even after defeat to Costa Rica – are looking like reasonable bets for a place even though neither were very fancied. On the other hand, Belgium were awful against Algeria and didn’t look like a team at all. And isn’t it unfair that Greece has to still field the same side that won Euro 2004? Dear me, they are as truly awful as they were a decade ago.

Only genuine insomniacs will lament the demise of tiki-taka – imagine what Iniesta and others could have achieved without those shackles, in terms of entertainment at least. Delighted to see Pedro, Busquets, Piqué and even Ramos shown up for the mediocrities that they are, and how on earth could Vicente del Bosque persist with Casillas after his performance against Atlético and then Holland?

The Latin Americans have not looked up to their best apart from Costa Rica, of course, whose wins over Uruguay and Italy must come close to North Korea in ’66 as all-time World Cup finals shocks. It would be unwise to rule out Brazil and Argentina despite their under-achievements so far, though. If they match Uruguay’s improvement in form they could be unstoppable, and it is hard to imagine they will continue to be so disappointing.

Chile have done really well, but there is something missing. Sánchez and Vidal could cover for the lack of creativity elsewhere, and it is hard to argue with their results.

The real disappointment thus far has been the African teams. After Cameroon’s debute in 1990, it looked as if  they could go from strength to strength.  A generation laster, with nearly all their players now based in Europe, the spontaneity has gone with no apparent commensurate improvement in shape and organization. Algeria, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana have all been very flat, terminally so in the case of Cameroon who look exhausted after their pre-tournament pay dispute.

In terms of punching above their weight by measure of population size, Croatia are not far behind Uruguay. They were desperately unlucky to lose against Brazil.

As of today, however, it would be hard to bet against the pre-tournament favourites – Brazil, Argentina and Germany -- but also impossible yet to rule out Holland, France and Italy.