Brazil Korea Ecuador Bosnia other than Brazil this isn't too bad of a group. just swap Brazil for Colombia
man pot 4 is scary as hell too. netherland, france, italy, england, croatia... I'll be devastated if we get stuck with the group of death. France has improved and they are a lot less dysfunctional now. Italy is getting better as well. I hope we get Swiss, Ecuador, South korea, Ukraine Easiest combination. Worst group Brazil Netherland Chile The african teams are not as strong as they were last year WC imo.
I could be wrong, but this simulator isn't taking into account that FIFA wouldn't allow any non-UEFA confederation to have multiple teams in a group. So, unfortunately, no "Colombia, Ecuador, SK and Bosnia" groups. As presented by the simulator, I'm imagining there may be two Pot 3's, one that contains only the African countries plus the sole UEFA outlier and a second pot that contains the African and South American countries. The European seeds and South American seeds would be separated in 2 groups and all the members of one group will get to draw first, followed by the 2nd. If European seeds chooses first, then the second pot 3 will include Chile, Ecuador and 2 balls marked "CAF". If you choose a CAF ball, you go into an additional pot that only contains the African nations and you choose your opponent. The 2 chosen African teams get removed from/not included in the first pot 3 that South American seeds will now get to draw from. The first pot 3 now contains the three remaining African teams and the UEFA outlier. If South American seeds chooses first, a pot of the SA seeds needs to be created and either one seed is chosen before the draw of the first pot 3 to ensure that they get the UEFA outlier, or is possibly selected after the draw of the first pot 3 if the UEFA outlier isn't chosen and that particular seed's African pairing is removed and placed into the second pot 3. In either case, the second pot 3 has Chile, Ecuador and the remaining 2 African teams. It may not play out this way, but a complicated system has to be created to prevent 2 South American teams and 3 European teams from playing in the same group. Another scenario would involve a regular draw of pot 3 with two additional pots, each grouping the continental seeds. If a South American seed picks a South American team, then you pull from the European seed pot to pair with either Chile or Ecuador. If a European seed picks the UEFA outlier, then you pull from the South American seed pot to pair with that outlier. Even in this scenario, it would be better for one continent's seeds to select first, followed by the other continent's seeds, just so you're not constantly pulling balls/creating new pots after every Pot 3 selection.
Actually, this grouping is not possible, even if Burkina Faso and Iceland both qualify because Iceland, if they do make it, will be in the same pot as the 5 CAF teams. So my ideal group would be: Colombia Korea Burkina Faso/Iceland Romania or Swiss Korea Ecuador/Burkina Faso Romania
This Stimulator is also wrong in that Russia can't be the UEFA outlier in Pot 3. Since Pot 3 will include the lowest-ranked qualified UEFA team, then that team will be one of the following: Ukraine(20), France(21), Sweden(25), Romania(29), Iceland(46).
Team 1Agg.Team 21st leg2nd leg Portugal Sweden15 Nov 201319 Nov 2013 Ukraine France15 Nov 201319 Nov 2013 Greece Romania15 Nov 201319 Nov 2013 Iceland Croatia15 Nov 201319 Nov 2013 Now that the UEFA playoff have been, it's looking better for Iceland, playing against Croatia, and Romania, playing against Greece. I will be rooting for Iceland and Romania to pull through. With Portugal drawn against Sweden, either Ronaldo or Zlatan will miss out on the WC. Bad to viewing public, good for the rest of the WC teams.
yeah. They had the 2nd to the easiest group in the UEFA qualifications. Swiss had it soooo easy thus their inflated FIFA ranking. A good thing in a way though. I hope we draw swiss so we get our revenge I'd say they are more organized than last year. They had so many old vets that were dragging them down in 2010. They are definitely stronger than their 2010 squad side.
Predictions: My likely scenario Portugal, France, Greece, Croatia. Wimpy predictions but the logical ones to me. The scenario I would like Sweden, Ukraine, Romania, Iceland Hmm.....
I don't really remember WC10 having so many sides that were able to take on each other and have a fair chance. A lot of teams that are qualified or on the road to qualification seem really level in skill with many other teams
not They barely qualified in 2010, coming in 2nd in their group (swiss, latvia, israel, luxembourg and moldova) with 20 pts, then barely beating Ukraine in the playoff. This time they got 25pts in an arguably tougher group (bosnia, slovakia, lithuania, latvia, liechtenstein), going 8-1-1 and giving up only 4 goals in 10 matches. I doubt we would have gone 8-1-1 in this group with 4 goals allowed. this Greece team is is certainly better than the one from 2010, one reason why I will be rooting for Romania.
I'll take any group that doesn't have a S. American team on it. We just cannot stop the flair for whatever reason.
I don't follow your reasoning. Why would we want Greece to qualify as opposed to Romania or Iceland? Even if you think Greece is just as beatable as Romania or Iceland (which I disagree with), why does it matter that they are higher ranked?
Its not that Greece is as beatable which is not the case. Its that the worst ranked teams like Iceland would be in the weakest pot vs Greece would be in a higher pot. So Greece would be easier than the teams in its pot vs Iceland which would be in our pot or be only marginally different than other teams in its pot.
It's my understanding that, if as expected Uruguay beats Jordan and Mexico beats NZ, one pot will consists of the 4 AFC and 4 CONCACAF teams, one will have the 8 UEFA teams, and the last pot will have the 5 CAF, Chile, Ecuador and the lowest-ranked UEFA (which can only be one of the following: Ukraine, France, Sweden, Romania, and Iceland). This is roughly how FIFA composed the pots for the 2006 WC, with the outlier UEFA team (Serbia) being in a special pot that was really a subset of AFC/CONCACAF pot. So unless I am completely missing something, if Greece qualifies they will not be in any other pot than the one w/8 UEFA teams.