2010 World Cup Seeding: England in, France Out

Published by adam | Filed under Fifa World Cup South Africa 2010, Football (aka soccer), Miscellaneous

Who got lucky and who not so lucky with the FIFA change of seeding…

So the FIFA final draw procedure is in for the FIFA World Cup South Africa. The October 2009 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings were used instead of the November 2009 as teams that played more could have gained an unfair advantage. Unlike in the past, FIFA decided to find the best teams at the moment. Past World Cup performances were not considered in this years drawing. According to FIFA, “the most important change to the calculation of the ranking is that it will no longer take into account the last eight years of results but only four.” The Final Draw will be held in Cape Town on Friday, December 4th.


Pot 1
South Africa (hosts), Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina and England


Pot 2
Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic (Asia), Honduras, Mexico, USA (North, Central America and the Caribbean) and New Zealand (Oceania)


Pot3
Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria (Africa) Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay (South America)


Pot 4
Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland (from the remaining European teams)


The big story lies with the inclusion of England in Pot 1. Despite a FIFA ranking of 9, England was granted a spot in the top 8. Coach Fabio Capello and company, sit back, relax and enjoy your luck. Portugal and France, on the other hand, you are going to have to earn it to reach the knockout stages. Both Portugal and France, now ranked 7th and 5th respectfully, have out shined England in recent major tournaments. England, in the end, stated their case in the qualifiers for a top seed while Portugal and France find themselves in South Africa through play-offs.


Others believed the Netherlands were to miss out on a top seed. Holland, like Spain had a great qualifying run, winning all of their matches, thus deserving to be in the mix.


Other than that, FIFA has insisted that the French-Ireland incident had no bearing on the seeding decisions. The FIFA is now investigating the Henry incident. Why? And why this late? I do not know. After all this, the Fédération has declined the introduction of 5 referees for the World Cup, placing two extra behind the goals.





With this seeding, it becomes very likely of having more than one Group of Death. Denmark, Serbia, Slovakia, and Switzerland were all European qualifying group winners, while France and Portugal are perennial powerhouses, always competing for championships. All of these squads will be seeded with a top 8, making the South Africans the guinea pigs of the tourney. Several African nations are looking to breakout on the world stage with a perhaps, better than ever, chance at the Cup. “For the Good of the Game” (FIFA motto), which has taken certain hits as of late, a competitive tournament of this nature is needed.


After all, only 7 nations have ever won the World Cup. Check out the host nation trend. 1/3 of all World Cups have been won by the host nation. Good luck South Africa.


Argentina (1978*, 1986)
Brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
England (1966*)
France (1998*)
Italy (1934*, 1938, 1982, 2006)
Germany (1954, 1974*, 1990)
Uruguay (1930*, 1950)


* host nation