http://www.fifa.com/en/organisation/index/0,1521,138402,00.html?articleid=138402 --- Also taking place in Zurich around the time of the Congress is the meeting of the Finance Committee (Saturday 26 May), the Executive Committee meeting (Sunday 27 May), some preliminary draws for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ (Monday 28 May) and the inauguration of the new Home of FIFA (Tuesday 29 May). --- Most likely there will be three draws: OFC - South Pacific Games 2007. 11 teams to be split into two groups (1x5, 1x6). Seedings are likely to be based on FIFA ranks. A) FIJ-SOL, B) VAN-TAH, C) NCL-PNG D)TGA-SAM E)COK-ASA F)Tuvalu (non-entrant in World Cup qualifiers but entered in the SPG) CAF - Preliminary round. 52 entrants to be cut to 48 teams for the main draw in November. So, 8 teams in 4 knock-out ties. Based on FIFA ranks this would imply: Seeded - SLE, MAD, CTA, COM. Unseeded- GNB, SOM, DJI, STP AFC - Preliminary round. 42 entrants to be cut to 32 teams* for the main draw in November. So, 20 teams in 10 knock-out ties. While AFC has their own ranking system for WC quals, last time they used FIFA ranks for this stage only. Seeded - DPK, TJK, IDN, KGZ, MAS, MYA, MDV, SRI, TKM, IND Unseeded - TPE, CAM, BAN, PAK, NEP, AFG, MAC, MON, GUM, TLS * not certain. Is likely tho'. Also no guarantees the sides will be split into seeded and unseeded either. UEFA and CONMEBOL definitely won't be involved and I can't see why CONCACAF would be either. J
Surprised to see Sierra Leone doing so badly that they are in the bottom 8 of Africa. Comoros being seeded will boost their chances of playing another 6 games. From the African teams so far, Comoros has only played Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius and Réunion (i.e. their Indian Ocean neighbours) as well as Djibouti in the Arab Nations Cup qualifiers. So, a win in the prelims will give them 6 games against much better opposition and give them a chance to develop the national side. Tuvalu will play either Cook Islands or American Samoa and I think this could be a chance for Tuvalu to get a win. They are hoping to get associate member status of OFC (along with Kiribati) in the upcoming OFC Congress. In Asia, all the seeded teams should have no real trouble in advancing.
How will the African qualifiers work once there are 48 teams? Last time the final round had 5 groups of 6 (30 teams).
It would make more sense for the prelim round to have just 4 teams, the bottom 4-ranked. This would mean a second knock-out stage of 50 teams, producing a final group stage of 5 groups of 5 teams. Africa will have 6 teams at South Africa 2010 including the hosts.
Hopefully the CAF will have finally realized what everyone on BS has been saying for years. That the single 5 group, winner take all group stage is poorly conceived and unlikely to put Africa's best teams on the field in South Africa. One possibility: R1: 52 > 48 R2: 48 > 24 R3: 6 groups of 4, top 2 advance R4: 2 groups of 6, 1st and 2nd qualify R5: 3rd place playoff for final spot R3 is unlikely to knock out any powerhouses. R4 would be highly competitive, compelling soccer, almost every game.
FIFA's website seems a good bet. I think they are doing a live stream of some of the action as it unfolds.
hi, how can i get this live stream action...will this be on fifa.com (if they do it), soz i not that great with the internet lol...
nah soz there a timetable thing at bottom of page of the first link given but nothing for the draws or that
The disadvantage of this is that too many teams get too few games - which was a complaint from a number of the CAF sides in 2006 quals. More likely the first group stage will start with 12 groups of 4 - with the winners only advancing. That would take place in 2008. Then the 12 teams would be in 3 groups of 4 with the top advancing + best 2nd and the other 2 2nds playing off. While this is obviously not as "neat" as what you have above it means 6 games in 2008 and 6 in 2009 (+2 playoff in Nov2009). Having two groups of 6 means 4 more match days, which might be tricky -although Africa might be able to pull it off. 1 match in Feb, 2 in Mar/Apr, 2 in June, 1 in Aug, 2 in Sep, 2 in Oct + playoffs. This system would match Asia's. However, if they had the 12 groups in 2008 and then 2 groups in 2009 I think that would give the best mix - 48 sides get competitive matches in 2008 and (presuming the seeding for the first group stage weren't stupid) nobody that good should be eliminated (or if they do, it's pretty much their own fault). Anyway, presumably we'll see. The "cut to 48" thing was in FIFA press releases but I haven't seen anything on whether that will be followed through on Monday. J
Everyone tries to avoid these "odd-number" groups. Outside Europe they are all 4 or 6 sides to prevent byes in the last round. The "straight knock-out" with 50 sides means 25 sides get 2 games only. Many nations complained last time (and the guy who devised the system said he got it wrong). J
One possibility R1 52>48 R2 12 groups of 4, first place advance R3 3 groups of 4, first place teams and highest 2nd place team go through and other 2nd place teams do a playoff or... R1 52>48 R2 12 groups of 4, first place advance R3 2 groups of 6, top 2 advance and 3rd placed do playoff
http://www.worldcupweb.com/WCfootball/news/viewarticle.asp?id=1521 According to this, the prelim draws are in November.
That's the main qualifying draw. There are preliminary matches to be played before that, most notably the South Pacific Games in August-September, but probably in Asia and Africa as well - where games might be expected in October-November. Actually on current schedules Oceania will only have 4 matches left (2 rounds of 2 games) by the time Durban rolls around in November. J
Tomorrow (31st May) seems to be the business-type part of the Congress, beginning at 9am CET, so I presume if any draws are to be made, they will be made tomorrow, unless they were made on 28th and hidden from the public.
I'd have to go with the second - the Congress itself already has an official agenda. So unless they've already done it and are holding off then I can't see how they can fit it in to the programme. Last time (2006 quals) these draws were done in late June (and an Asian one was done in October IIRC) so maybe the initial press release was incorrect. J
Oceania really truly promise their first stage draw will be on 12 June (at 3pm Auckland time). PNG don't appear of the accredited list for the South Pacific Games - and someone rumoured that Kiribati entered late - so noone knows what's gonna go down. However, Tim "SuperTim" Cahill will be doing the men's draw and Brandi Chastain will do the Women's Olympic Qualification Pre-Pre-Preliminary Stage draw. J