France, Portugal miss out on World Cup seedings
Thursday, 3 December 2009
CAPE TOWN, Dec 2 (AFP): The Netherlands were among the eight seeded teams announced here Wednesday for the 2010 World Cup at the expense of France and Portugal, whose tournament just got a lot harder.
World football's governing body said the seeds were selected according to the FIFA rankings as of October, so Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, defending champions Italy, Germany, Argentina, and England made the grade.
South Africa were also seeded in Pot 1 as the host nation and will play the opening game of the tournament on June 11 at Soccer City in Johannesburg.
The 63 matches that follow will span South Africa, from Polokwane in the northeast to Cape Town in the southwest, culminating in the final in the capital on July 11.
The seeding criteria differs from the last World Cup in Germany when they were allocated on team's world rankings over the past three years, with performances at the previous two tournaments also taken into account .
France and Portugal's omission puts them in Pot 4 along with the rest of the UEFA contingent, including Denmark, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Switzerland.
World football's governing body said the seeds were selected according to the FIFA rankings as of October, so Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, defending champions Italy, Germany, Argentina, and England made the grade.
South Africa were also seeded in Pot 1 as the host nation and will play the opening game of the tournament on June 11 at Soccer City in Johannesburg.
The 63 matches that follow will span South Africa, from Polokwane in the northeast to Cape Town in the southwest, culminating in the final in the capital on July 11.
The seeding criteria differs from the last World Cup in Germany when they were allocated on team's world rankings over the past three years, with performances at the previous two tournaments also taken into account .
France and Portugal's omission puts them in Pot 4 along with the rest of the UEFA contingent, including Denmark, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Switzerland.