Jump to content

World Cup Seeds


Guest R9

Recommended Posts

England have been confirmed among the top eight seeds for Friday's draw for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.Reports had suggested that Fabio Capello's side were in danger of missing out on being a top seed, but those fears have proved to be unfounded.However, 1998 winners and 2006 finalists France, who secured their place at the tournament with a controversial play-off win over Republic of Ireland, are not one of the top seeds.Fifa's World Cup organising committee used the world rankings from October to determine who would be in Pot 1, with England having been seventh in the standings at that time.Joining England as top seeds for Friday's draw are hosts South Africa, current holders Italy and five-time winners Brazil.European champions Spain, Holland, Germany and Argentina will also come out of Pot 1 for the first-round stage.Also joining France in missing out on top billing are fellow play-off winners Portugal, with the European duo in Pot 4 alongside Denmark, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Switzerland.DecisionPot 2 comprises teams from the Asian, Oceania and Concacaf federations, with Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Honduras, Mexico, USA and New Zealand those teams involved.The remaining African nations - Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria - and Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay from South America will come out of Pot 3.The decision to use world rankings alone breaks with Fifa's previous formulas when they used a combination of rankings with performances in previous final tournaments.Had they used the old formula France would have been one of the top seeds and Holland would have missed out.Rankings alone have not been used in the past, but Fifa relaunched the system with much fanfare a couple of years ago, boasting the new-look rankings were much more indicative of a country's current position in world football.Geographical criteria will also be used for the draw, meaning that, with the exception of European teams, no two countries from the same federation can be drawn together.So, hosts South Africa will not face one of the African teams from Pot 3, while Argentina or Brazil will not meet a fellow South American side.Seedings:Pot 1 - South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain.Pot 2 - Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Honduras, Mexico, USA, New ZealandPot 3 - Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Chile, Paraguay, UruguayPot 4 - Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Switzerland

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...