Argentina, France and Italy were picked as the favorites to win the 2002 World Cup by 88 journalists from 56 nations polled by Argentine magazine El Grafico. Four other nations were given a chance to lift the trophy. The poll, which did not include journalists from Argentina, revealed FranceÆs Thierry Henry as the top pick for leading scorer and his countryman Zinedine Zidane as the favorite for MVP honors.
El Grafico World Cup 2002 poll results
CHAMPION
Team: votes Argentina: 46 France: 38 Italy: 9 Brazil: 3 England: 1 Spain: 1 Germany: 1
MVP
Player (team) votes Zinedine Zidane (France) 30 Juan Sebastian Veron (Argentina) 19 Luis Figo (Portugal) 11 Francesco Totti (Italy) 8 David Beckham (England) 6 Rivaldo (Brazil) 5 Thierry Henry (France) 4 Michael Owen (England) 3 Rui Costa (Portugal) 3 Patrick Vieira (France) 2 Michael Ballack (Germany) 2 Alessandro Nesta, Francesco Toldo, Vincenzo Montella, Roberto Baggio (Italy), David Trezeguet (France), Mehmet Scholl (Germany), Raul (Spain), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Gabriel Batistuta, Javier Saviola (Argentina).
LEADING SCORER
Player (team) votes Thierry Henry (France) 24 Christian Vieri (Italy) 16 Hernan Crespo (Argentina) 14 Raul (Spain) 13 Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina) 10 David Trezeguet (France) 7 Michael Owen (England) 7 Vincenzo Montella (Italy) 2 Rivaldo (Brazil) 2 Filippo Inzaghi (Italy) 2 Nuno Gomes, Luis Figo (Portugal), Christian Karembeu, Zinedine Zidane (France), Francesco Totti (Italy), Diego Tristan (Spain) 1.
TEAM MOST LIKELY TO DISAPPOINT
Team: votes Brazil: 26 Germany: 18 England: 12 Spain: 10 France: 7 Nigeria: 6 Portugal: 3 South Korea: 3 Japan: 3 Cameroon: 2 Costa Rica, China, Mexico, Croatia, South Africa, USA: 1.
TEAM MOST LIKELY TO SURPRISE
Team: votes Senegal: 11 Portugal: 11 Cameroon: 11 Japan: 10 Turkey: 6 Spain: 6 Nigeria: 5 Ecuador: 5 Costa Rica: 5 South Korea: 4 Solvenia: 4 Switzerland: 3 USA, Uruguay, Croatia, Poland, Mexico, England, Ireland, Russia, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, Saudia Arabia, Germany, China: 2
