Pool 3 ranking

[Charlie Beagle]

Paraguay, Ecuador, Australia, Togo, Ghana, Ivory coast, Tunisia, Angola

mine are-
1 Paraguay
2 Australia
3 Ghana
4 Ivory coast
5 Ecuador
6 Tunisia
7 Angola
8 Togo

[English_Warrior]

This is the hardest group to rate as there areso many unknowns.

Paraguay and Ecuador stick out as being the most known (and have the highest world rankings...I think)

After that i would have to pretty much guess:

australia
Ivory
ghana
tun
togo
angola

[Team Melli forever]

1 Paraguay
2 Ivory coast
3 Ghana
4 Australia
5 Ecuador
6 Tunisia
7 Angola
8 Togo

[Krutch]

Paraguay
Tunisia
Ivory Coast
Ghana
Ecuador
Togo
Australia
Angola

[YCashMoney42]

Paraguay
Ivory Coast
Ghana
Australia
Tunisia
Ecuador
Togo
Angola

[Mani]

Ivory Coast
Paraguay
Ghana
Australia
Tunisia
Ecuador
Angola
Togo

[Spectreman]

Paraguay
Austraila
Ecuador
Ivory Coast
Tunisia
Ghana
Togo
Angola

[Vinnievin]

Paraguay
Australia
Ivory Coast
Ghana
Tunisia
Ecuador
Togo
Angola

[1800-WorldCup]

Pool 3 is actually the European teams, although they will be drawn second.

Makes sense. :eek:

[scaryice]

1-Paraguay
2-Australia
3-Ecuador
4-Ghana
5-Tunisia
6-Ivory Coast
7-Togo
8-Angola

[Argentine Futbol]

1. Paraguay
2. Ecuador
3.Ivory Coast
4.Australia
Ghana
Tunisia
Ecuador
Togo
Angola

[Franchise]

Getting a bit repetitive, but the ELO ranks for this bunch (from http://www.eloratings.net/world_cup.html ) are as follows:

Australia (ranked 24th[t] globally; 1761 points), Paraguay (26; 1755), Ecuador (33; 1733), Tunisia (35; 1711), Ivory Coast (37, 1705), Ghana (56, 1597), Togo (57; 1584), Angola (67, 1545).

The ELO points distance between Australia and Ivory Coast and the distance between Ghana and Angola are both smaller than the gap between Ivory Coast and Ghana. This data agrees with my suspicions pretty well. Teams in other pots will be fortunate to draw with one of the weak teams from this group. I can imagine Angola or Togo losing all three games quite soundly, and I don't think Ghana is nearly as good as many think.

In fact, I don't think the African teams this time around are especially good. Even Tunisia and Ivory Coast, are, IMO, very beatable opponents for most teams with a chance at advancing. This is, I believe, the weakest of the pots. Even the best of these teams advancing will come as a mild surprise to me--Australia or Paraguay, if they get lucky draws, could be favored to advance, but they would only be slight favorites in something like 10-15% of the draws.

[spoonman]

Paraguay
Ivory Coast
Ghana
Ecuador
Tunisia
Angola
Australia
Togo

[Sunderj]

Using the best objective criteria we have...

By FIFA WC seeding formula
Paraguay(15), Tunisia(22), Ecuador(23), Ivory Coast(27), Australia(28), Ghana(30), Angola(31), Togo(32)

By current FIFA ranking
Tunisia(19), Paraguay(21), Ecuador(24), Ivory Coast(26), Australia(28), Ghana(29), Togo(31), Angola(32)

By current ELO rating
Australia(19), Paraguay(20), Ecuador(23), Tunisia(24), Ivory Coast(26), Ghana(29), Togo(31), Angola(32)

By Bookmakers odds
Ivory Coast(15), Australia(18), Ghana(21), Paraguay(24), Tunisia(25), Ecuador(26), Togo(27), Angola(28),

(Each rating is out of the 32 WC qualifiers)

Never argue with the bookies IMHO

Conclusions?
A different group winner by each criteria suggest a hard group to call.

Paraguay is clearly the most consistently well rated.

Tunisia, Ecuador, Ivory Coast & Australia are quite tight, followed by Togo & Angola

[Zman Gunner]

Latest World Cup winning odds from William Hill - English bookie:

Pot 3 - Africa, Oceania, S. America
1. Australia - 49:1
2. Ivory Coast - 66:1
3. Paraguay - 125:1
3. Ecuador - 125:1
5. Ghana - 200:1
6. Tunisia - 300:1
7. Angola - 400:1
7. Togo - 400:1

[ShaRule]

1 Ivory Coast
2 Paraguay
3 Ghana
4 Australia
5 Ecuador
6 Tunisia
7 Angola
8 Togo