Yes, unless FIFA come up with something different (e.g. in 2002 they had 11 UEFA teams in one pot and another pot with only 5 teams ( unseeded CONMEBOL plus unseeded AFC)). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_FIFA_World_Cup#Seeds But that lead to some very uneven groups, so I doubt they will repeat it. I hope they announce the official pots very soon after the Uruguay - Jordan match.
So we are assuming that France will be the lone Euro team in Pot 3 because they have the lowest ranking of the Euro teams?
FIFA has basically closed the deal re Pot 1, but I could see them with some sort of quick fix for this one (as in throw all 9 UEFA teams in one pot and a random UEFA team would be added to the CONMEBOL / CAF pot.
I think there is a better simulator which can be downloaded for Android. This simulator also places the teams from pots 2, 3 and 4 at random in the groups (A2, A3 or A4). https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jpbyerssoftware.worldcupdrawsim&hl=en It`s very interesting to try a couple of times.
Yes, I always figured it was the amount of bets they recieve, but I had no way of confirming it, but it does make perfect sense.
It's nothing personal, but any team that isn't the Netherlands, Italy, England, or France will be a relief from the UEFA pot from our perspective. You guys are more on our level. The CONCACAF/Asia pot just isn't as scary as the pot you guys are in.
This is exactly what it is, and don't discount the amount of people like my brother who simply put down money on their team without any consideration of the actual likely hood of the bet coming up. The opposite strategy of the sharps in Vegas.
I meant more the comment we were in the same ballpark as Greece. We beat them 3-1 at home (they scored in the (90+3') and we held them to a 0-0 draw away. I think we have proved we are a level above them. But otherwise I understand.
Bosnia showed itself quite better than Greece in qualifying, but this will be Bosnia's maiden World Cup while Greece has been there a few times (always done poorly though) and this is their 2nd consecutive qualification. Its possible that Greece will slightly out perform Bosnia for that reason. At the same time, the best way Bosnia can win over skeptics is to do very well at the World Cup with everyone watching. Loading a lot of expectations on your team and players in their maiden World Cup could have the opposite effect and, as you mentioned, you should actually be happy with folks underestimating Bosnia. That will make your team that much more impressive, surpassing expectations. All that said, I wish I could do my rankings again. I feel I have been unintentionally unfair to Bosnia in my ranking, influenced more by their lack of pedigree than actual record.
I tested it out. Results: Group A 1. Brazil 2. Greece 3. Cameroon 4. Iran Group B 1. Spain 2. USA 3. Bosnia-Herzegovina 4. Nigeria Group C 1. England 2. Chile 3. Switzerland 4. Honduras Group D 1. Argentina 2. Portugal 3. Algeria 4. Australia Group E 1. Belgium 2. Russia 3. Ghana 4. Mexico Group F 1. Colombia 2. Croatia 3. Côte d'Ivoire 4. Korea Republic Group G 1. Germany 2. Netherlands 3. Ecuador 4. Japan H 1. Italy 2. Uruguay 3. France 4. Costa Rica Last 16 Brazil - USA England - Portugal Belgium - Croatia Germany - Uruguay Spain - Greece Argentina - Chile Colombia - Russia Italy - Netherlands Quaterterfinal Brazil - Portugal Belgium/Croatia - Germany Spain - Argentina Russia - Italy/Netherlands Semi-Final Brazil - Germany Spain - Italy/Netherlands Bronze Brazil/Germany - Italy/Netherlands Final Brazil/Germany - Spain
What I managed to get Group B Belgium Australia Ecuador England Easy draw now only hope it would be like that for the main tournament
I have rated, for each pot, the teams that I least want Iran to face in order. The group of death for us would be a truly scary group, with Brazil, Italy, France, and Iran. Those kind of groups would be insane. On the other extreme, there are groups that I think give us as much as our mathematical chance to advance. For instance, Switzerland, Greece, Algeria and Iran. That would be awesome and I would be disappointed if we couldn't advance from such a group. Anyway, here is the list with the order of preference (least desirable to be in our group - to most tolerable) that I came up with: Pot 1: 1- Brazil 2-Argentina 3-Spain 4- Germany 5-Colombia 6-Uruguay 7-Belgium 8-Switzerland Pot 2 (unseeded UEFA sides) 1- Italy 2- Netherlands 3- Portugal 4- England 5- Russia 6- Croatia 7- Greece 8- Bosnia Pot 3 (France + CAF + Chile and Ecuador) 1- France 2- Chile 3- Nigeria 4- Ghana 5- Ivory Coast 6- Ecuador 7- Cameroon 8-Algeria Of course, since I am assuming Concacaf and the AFC teams will be put together, I skipped over that pot.
I have individual match tickets to three matches in Recife; 24, 34, 45. D4vsD2, A2vsA3, and G4vsG1. Obviously, until the draw on December 6, I have no idea who I will be seeing. I have made a list of all the teams in the tournament and categorized them into 4 groups; Dream Come True, Great Experience, Fun To See, and Don't Really Care. We already know where Brazil is playing and I won't be there. Dream Come True- USA - Argentina - Spain Great Experience- Mexico - England - Netherlands - Germany - Colombia - Uruguay - Portugal - Italy Fun To See- Belgium - Switzerland - South Korea - Japan - Iran - Australia - Costa Rica - Chile - Ecuador - Ivory Coast - Ghana - France Don't Really Care- Honduras - Algeria - Cameroon - Greece - Bosnia - Croatia - Russia - Nigeria The simulator says I would get... D2vsD4- Greece vs South Korea A2vsA3- Japan vs Cameroon G4vsG1- Netherlands vs Argentina
Interesting list. I am not going to be anywhere near Brazil at the time of the World Cup, but I will hopefully be watching these games through my television set. And for me, the most and least interesting teams to watch would be as follows: Must See (won't miss): Iran Most Interested to see (I will see their games, unless there is an unavoidable conflict): Japan, South Korea, Australia, USA, Germany, Argentina Like to See (If I am around to watch, I will definitely watch): Brazil, England, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, Ghana, Bosnia, Ivory Coast Would not mind watching (I will try to watch if I am around, unless I have something better to do): Portugal, Russia, France, Chile, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Uruguay, Cameroon Don't really care (might watch if I am totally bored and have nothing else to do): Croatia, Algeria, Greece, Switzerland, Ecuador, Honduras Of course, since even teams that I am not all that interested to watch will inevitably play teams that I really want to see, I will probably end up watching almost all these teams. That is what I have done in the past few World Cup and will likely be doing the same again.
Well... it's official: Switzerland a seeded team and France en route to create an epic group of death. =--- My final draw delivered a nice even;y spread out draw with the closest thing to a group of death being: Belgium, Portugal, Chile, Mexico Ghana gets this draw: Switzerland, Korea, England.
Thw winners of groups C, E and G will face Brazil before the final ( if Brazil wins Group A of course). The Final game in Rio will be likely beetwen the winner of bracket 1 ( A, C, E, G) and the other winner of bracket 2 ( B,D, F, H). Therefore the group draw is critical